Should The San Diego Padres Panic?

The sky might be falling for the San Diego Padres.

Over the weekend, the Padres were swept in a three-game series against the New York Mets. Those three consecutive losses pushed the Padres to below .500 on the season, sitting at 37-38.

It’s already been a brutal road trip for San Diego. However, they’ll continue the road trip with another three MLB games against the Philadelphia Phillies to start the new week.

The Phillies won’t be an easy matchup. Instead, they are the National League’s best MLB team, currently 47-24 on the year.

With another series loss, the Padres and their fans could start to think about hitting the panic button.

• In the first game of the series, oddsmakers aren’t giving the Padres a high probability of winning, either. San Diego is +151, with the Phillies at -165. Meanwhile, the total is at nine, with both sides at -110.

Knowing all of that, take a look at our Padres vs Phillies betting preview for this huge battle to start the week.

San Diego’s A Little Off

No team in the MLB is trying to compete with the best of the best more than the Padres. San Diego has been in multiple headlines since spring training, including trades for Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez.

Yet, despite these trades, the Padres are below .500 in the middle of June. All-star third baseman Manny Machado itted to the media that the Padres have been a little off.

The Padres will soon get back Yu Darvish, which will help the rotation. But until the whole team starts to click again, the Padres will look like a .500 team this season and probably miss out on the MLB playoff bracket.

Trea Turner’s Return

After six weeks away from the baseball diamond, the Phillies’ starting shortstop, Trea Turner, will make his return to the field.

The speedy right-hand batter was hitting .343 when he injured his hamstring on May 3. Now, he’s expected to return to begin this series. He’ll also play shortstop when he gets back.

Padres vs Phillies Betting Odds For Game 1:

RL: Phillies -1.5 (+125) ML: Phillies -165, O/U: 9 -110/-110

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⚾ Game 1 ⚾

• Monday, 6:40 pm ET
• Randy Vasquez vs Cristopher Sanchez

The Padres will roll with Randy Vasquez to begin the series. The right-handed pitcher has only struck out 15.3% of batters. He’s also allowed a .215 ISO and wOBA of .385 despite allowing only 4.1% of walks this MLB season.

Ultimately, Vasquez has allowed 29.9% of line drives and nearly 42% of hard . That’s been the reason for his lackluster season.

Against righties, the Phillies’ projected lineup has hit a .160 ISO and wOBA of .307 with just 18.6% of strikeouts in the last 30 days. However, Trea Turner should help the wOBA increase, if nothing else.

Meanwhile, the Phillies will throw Cristopher Sanchez. The left-handed pitcher has only added 19.3% of strikeouts, but he’s also held teams to a .056 ISO and wOBA of .284 with 62.1% of ground balls over the last 30 days.

Sanchez will be the first of two lefties the Padres will face in this series. The lineup hasn’t hit for a ton of power, but the Padres are still getting quality and consistency from Jurickson Profar and Donovan Solano.

Notice we didn’t mention Fernando Tatis or Manny Machado. Those two righties have been unable to provide power against lefties over the last 30 days. They’re also not even close to being near the top of the MLB home run leaders.

We’d trust the Phillies in Game 1.

⚾ Game 2 ⚾

• Tuesday, 6:40 pm ET
• Michael King vs Aaron Nola

Michael King will get the call in the series’s second game. King has a 3.58 ERA on the season and has held his last 113 batters to a .108 ISO and wOBA of .243. King has also earned 30% of strikeouts in the previous month and has limited walks to 7.1%.

He’s been better against righties but has still held lefties to a wOBA of .282 over the last 30 days.

Aaron Nola will get the start for Philadelphia. He’s allowed a .190 ISO and wOBA of .349 to his last 48 righties. It’s unusual for Nola to struggle against righties, but that’s been happening over the last month.

The Padres have a wOBA of .343 with their projected lineup over the last month against righties. However, they’ve still hit an ISO of .147 and only have three batters hitting an ISO of above .127.

That said, the Padres are good at keeping strikeouts down against righties, striking out only 15.2% of the time over the last 30 days with their projected lineup.

We wouldn’t be surprised if the Padres finally earned a win in Game 2. They’ll be in our MLB picks on Tuesday.

⚾ Game 3 ⚾

• Wednesday, 1:05 pm ET
• Matt Waldron vs Ranger Suarez

Knuckleballer Matt Waldron has been sensational for the Padres over the last month. He has earned 24.5% of strikeouts and limited teams to a .053 ISO and wOBA of .229 in that time. Waldron’s ERA is now down to 3.66, as he’s been one of the more consistent arms in the rotation.

However, Waldron hasn’t been anything close to what Ranger Suarez has been. Suarez has a 1.77 ERA with the Phillies this season. The left-hander has added 27.5% of strikeouts with a .097 ISO and wOBA of .237 this season.

The Padres have been poor against lefties over the last month. Back the Phillies in this potential rubber match of the three-game Padres vs Phillies betting preview.

For MLB betting news, Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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