The San Diego Padres had a truly amazing postseason run last year.
Against all odds, they defeated the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Wild Card and Division rounds, respectively.
Those were arguably the two best teams in the National League.
They put up a fight against the Philadelphia Phillies but ended up losing in the Championship Series.
Still, the team was able to show what it is capable of in the upcoming season.
The most amazing part is that they did it without the suspended Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts, signed this season to a $280 million deal.
Now, entering the 2023 campaign, the Padres have a true “fearsome foursome” in Tatis, Bogaerts, Manny Machado, and Juan Soto.
Soto is excited about the year ahead and firmly believes that the Padres have what it takes to go all the way in 2023.
After a trip to the NLCS in 2022, Juan Soto and the @Parents are ready to take that extra step in 2023.#Parents | #TimeToShine pic.twitter.com/8cAUkWBqj5
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) March 6, 2023
In the video above he talks about his experience with the Washington Nationals, a team with which he won the World Series in 2019.
That was a really good team, with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman, Trea Turner, Patrick Corbin, Anibal Sanchez, Daniel Hudson, Sean Doolittle, and other stars.
This Padres iteration, however, looks even more impressive on paper.
Those four hitters to open the lineup will give pitchers all kinds of nightmares and headaches.
After them, you also have to consider solid hitters such as Jake Cronenworth, Nelson Cruz, Trent Grisham, Ha-Seong Kim, and Austin Nola, not to mention the potentially great catcher Luis Campusano.
Soto might be right: the Padres will find some tough foes, but they are one of the strongest squads in all of baseball.
NEXT:
Padres Players Make Their WBC Predictions
