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The San Diego Padres know they have to be at their best all season long if they want to stay in contention with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West Division.
Unfortunately, the Blue Crew has been playing well while the Padres have had their bits of inconsistency. The young pitching staff has done well, but it's the offense that has given this team problems.
Just look at Fernando Tatis Jr. While he's hitting .279, he only has two home runs across 305 plate appearances this year, which isn't helping an underperforming offense.
MORE: Padres once again tabbed as best trade fit for Red Sox All-Star outfielder
Padres bounce back with a winning week to jump up the power rankings
The Padres were really struggling going into their series last week. They had lost their previous four, but had the struggling Cincinnati Reds rolling into town.
There, they ended their cold streak, winning the series 2-1. They carried that momentum into their weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles, where they won that 2-1 as well, which made for a nice 4-2 week.
With the turnaround, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter has bumped them up a few spots from No. 14 last week to No. 12 this week.
"The Padres entered last week riding a skid of four straight series losses, but they successfully righted the ship before dropping below the .500 mark with a 4-2 week against the Reds and Orioles. Samad Taylor has given the offense a nice boost while replacing the injured Ramon Laureano in left field."
Reuter believes some of this turnaround comes from Samad Taylor, who has gotten an uptick in playing time with Ramon Laureano on the IL, and after undergoing labrum surgery, Taylor's name will likely be called upon for the rest of the year. He has been hot at the plate lately, and hopefully, that sparks some more players to find their groove at the plate, like Fernando Tatis Jr.
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