Henry Roldán
After almost making it to the World Series last season, the San Diego Padres will begin the 2023 MLB season as one of the top favorites to win the championship.
Since last season, the Padres’ management has shown that they are willing to put everything on the line to get the first World Series ring for the team, and they certainly have what it takes to fight for it.
In addition to retaining outfielder Juan Soto for one more year through salary arbitration, San Diego extended Manny Machado and Yu Darvish’s contracts for 11 and six seasons, respectively.
Likewise, Bob Melvin’s team retained an important core of players such as the versatile infielder Jake Cronenworth, the speedy outfielder Tren Grisham, and the stellar closer Josh Hader.
As for the offense, along with Soto and Machado, the Padres are waiting for the return of Fernando Tatis Jr. in late April, who will begin the season after completing his 80-game suspension for the use of banned substances, and for what their biggest move in free agency, Xander Bogaerts, can add to the roster.
Meanwhile, the rotation will be made up of Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell, Nick Martínez, and the newest addition to the team, the veteran Michael Wacha.
Predictions, Odds, and Betting Preview for San Diego Padres for the 2023 MLB Season
All odds are provided by Draftkings.
San Diego Padres in the 2022 Season
Last season was a real roller coaster ride for the San Diego Padres: just as the team’s general manager, A.J. Preller, made one of the biggest moves in baseball in recent years by acquiring Juan Soto and Josh Bell, the lowest blow ever for the team, Tatis Jr.’s suspension, went out.
That decision of course changed the plans of the Padres completely. Besides, Josh Hader, one of the best closers in the league in recent seasons, and Brandon Drury, a utility player who hit 28 home runs last year, also joined the Padres’ roster.
Despite the absence of Tatis Jr., the Padres had a truly fearsome offense. However, it wasn’t truly threatening until the end of the regular season, which is why they qualified in the last minute as one of the National League wild cards.
In the Wild Card series, they defeated the New York Mets by a score of 2-1, while in the Division Series they pulled off the upset by defeating their West Division rivals (the Dodgers) by 3-1, who had won the series with a 22-game lead over them.
With that boost, it looked like the Championship Series against the Phillies would be much more evenly matched, but Philadelphia showed no mercy against San Diego and defeated them by 4-1, and put an end to the organization’s championship dream.
San Diego Padres Odds for the 2023 Season
As we already mentioned, the Padres’ aspirations for this season are quite high, and even not winning the West Division against the mighty Dodgers could be considered disappointing. In Las Vegas, they seem to be on the same page regarding this, so at JefeBet we bring you a countdown of the most outstanding odds for the San Diego Padres.
Regular Round Wins: Over 93.5 (-105) – Under 93.5 (-115)
If we take into account the recent history of the Padres, this number of victories seems quite high since they have not won at least 90 games since the 2010 season, and only four times in their history have they won more than 90 games.
However, last campaign they reached 89 victories and, with the arrival of Bogaerts and the return of Tatis Jr., that number should again be above 90.
Will They Make It to the Playoffs? Yes (-400) – No (+330)
If losing the West Division would be disappointing, not reaching the postseason would be a complete and utter failure for the ninth led by Bob Melvin.
That’s what experts are saying in Las Vegas and that’s why they see it as almost impossible for this team, with six playoff spots available, not to achieve a berth in the National League.
Odds of Winning Western Division (+115)
This is where it gets a little tricky. While the Dodgers are not the same reckless team they were last year, we should keep in mind that they beat the Padres by 22 games in the West Division of the old circuit.
Even though, in nine of the last 10 seasons, the Californians have finished first in the group, we can’t rule out an upset this year. San Diego’s offense is to be feared and, if the pitching responds, the Dodgers will be in trouble.
National League Champion (+475)
While last year they came close to winning the National League Championship title, the Padres will have a much tougher challenge this season after several teams from the East of the old circuit reinforced heavily.
In Las Vegas, only the Braves and Dodgers are above them in projections to win the league. What’s more, the Mets also match them at (+475), and two spots back are the Phillies at (+900).
In addition, we must not forget the presence of the always complicated St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers, which are candidates to fight for the Central Division.
World Series Champion (+950)
Of course, it doesn’t bode poorly for the Padres to be fifth in the odds to win the 2023 Major League Baseball World Series.
That speaks of the high expectations for them, but in order to fulfil everybody’s expectations, they will have to have a great offensive production from a highly promising lineup. Ahead of them in Las Vegas are the reigning champions, the Astros, followed by the Yankees, Braves, and Dodgers.
JefeBet Prediction
In a nutshell, watching the San Diego Padres this upcoming season should be a treat. This team’s lineup looks like one of the strongest in the league with MVP names like Soto, Machado, Tatis Jr., and Bogaerts.
However, there are some doubts about the pitching. While the bullpen has solid arms in Robert Suárez, Luis García, and Josh Hader, the starting pitching could be in trouble.
Darvish is a great pitcher, but at 36 years old, we’ll see if he can stay safe and sound throughout the entire season. Almost the same applies to Snell, whose talent is proportional to his lack of control and susceptibility to injury.
Musgrove has been one of baseball’s most consistent pitchers in recent seasons, but Wacha has a 4.00+ ERA, and Martínez had a decent year in 2022 after registering an ERA of nearly 5.00 in four seasons with the Rangers.
Prediction: The Padres win 92 games and reach the National Division Series as a wild card.
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