How the Padres' October disappointment inspired 2025 success - ESPN

Last October, the San Diego Padres came within one game of knocking the Los Angeles Dodgers out of the playoffs early — one game. San Diego manager Mike Shildt thinks of that division series race often, but not with regret, or bitterness, or frustration; he is not fixated on crossroad moments in the losses in the final two games of the best-of-five series.

What is embedded in Shildt's memory, he recalled in a conversation earlier this week, is how the Padres players responded in Game 2, when fans pitched garbage at them at Dodger Stadium. They supported each other, Shildt said; they lifted one another, with third baseman Manny Machado gathering the players in the dugout to address the chaos. «In a huge moment, a riotous atmosphere, our group got even closer together,» Shildt said, «and we played even better.»

In that moment and throughout the series, the Padres demonstrated they can thrive in the biggest moments on the biggest stage, and after Los Angeles went on to win the World Series, manager Dave Roberts and some Dodger players acknowledged that San Diego was the best team they faced in the playoffs. This year, the Padres are back and better than ever, and Machado and others have credited that near-miss of last October for helping launch the Padres into this season with an even greater confidence and more swag. On the backs of baseball's best bullpen and the best version of Fernando Tatis Jr. that we've ever seen, the Padres have started 15-4, allowing only 51 runs, dominating despite an early wave of injuries that sidelined center fielder Jackson Merrill and second baseman Jake Cronenworth.

«It speaks to the depth,» Shildt told reporters after the series win earlier this week against the Chicago Cubs. «It speaks to