.500

So..........

Raise your hand if you thought that 10 games in to the season, the Padres would be at .500?

*waits patiently*

Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way:

THE PADRES ARE AT .500!

Not only that, but we've won two of our first three series- one of which was against the Giants, who have more or less dominated the NL West this decade.

This is the same team that ESPN could not find a single reason to have hope for before the season kicked off.

They couldn't be more wrong- this team is overflowing with reasons to hope. 

First off, Manny Margot. The man looks like an absolute star in the making- before, we knew that he could be a first division regular easily. The only thing missing was the power- if it developed, he'd be a bona fide five-tool star.

And boy, does it look like it's developing. He's currently tied for eighth in the league with three home runs, and has also shown impressive gap power. Even though small sample size is valid reason to temper our expectations for Margot's ultimate power potential, the early results aren't just promising- they're justification for outright euphoria.

So now that we have one potential star in the making, we AT LAST have one that we can pair with a certain first baseman....  who just happens to go by the name of Wil Myers. Who we also just happened to sign to an extension. Who, because of that extension, essentially makes him the face of the franchise. Wil Myers also just happened to hit for the first cycle of the 2017 season against the Rockies- the second in team history. So, I guess you could say he's off to a good start.

Other starters like Ryan Schimpf, Hunter Renfroe, and Yangervis Solarte have all been off to solid starts as well- after all, I told you hitting would be the one thing this team is good at! 

And don't forget about Clayton Richard- the man who shut out the all-powerful Dodgers through eight innings on the strength of his ground-ball inducing skill alone!

Admittedly, the rest of the pitching staff isn't so good, and Austin Hedges looks absolutely terrible with a bat in his hand. There are parts of this team that probably wouldn't compete against Triple-A squads. This .500 pace is likely not something the Padres can keep up, with regression to the mean being a total thing and all.

HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Long story short; we weren't supposed to be at .500 this deep into the season. Yes, I wholeheartedly believe neither the national media, advanced statistic community, nor the casual fan believed the Padres could sustain a 5-5 record- even 10 games into the season. 

But yet, here we are. THIS IS A BIG DEAL. 

This team can win baseball games. They might not win A TON of them, but they can win them nonetheless, which is something that nobody expected.

This Padres team is going to be notable, not being a World Series contender, but for being one that shows everyone glimpses of excitement and hope no matter how fleeting they are- like when Manny Margot leads off an inning with a homer, or when Rule-5 pick Miguel Diaz (who never threw an inning above single-A!!!) fires a perfect inning out of the bullpen. THAT IS ENOUGH FOR HOPE. 


So, hey ESPN! Pay attention to what I'm about to say: What I mentioned above, in and of itself, is a perfectly valid reason to have hope for this Padres team. 

The future is bright.