5 monster MLB series you’ll want to see live in July
By Tim Boyle
3. MLB monster series: San Diego Padres at New York Mets, July 22-24
While the Giants and Dodgers look to punish each other out on the West Coast, the other contender from the National League West, the San Diego Padres, will face the New York Mets for three games in the Big Apple. Two teams that may not have been the favorite in their division at the start of the season have their eyes on doing more than making it to the playoffs. They want to capture the division and maybe even secure a first-round bye.
The Padres and Mets both collapsed last year after what was such a promising start to the season. Each is in the market to add a bat for the DH spot. We can expect them to target some of the same names.
Traveling from west to east can be a grind on the Padres but their strong pitching staff could be enough to handle the sometimes absent Mets hitters. It also goes the other way. The Padres have a starting lineup that leaves a lot to be desired. Outside of Manny Machado, they could use an improvement just about anywhere.
These two clubs might not have much of a connection, but they did nearly make a blockbuster trade in the offseason which would have swapped Dominic Smith for Eric Hosmer, Chris Paddack, and Emilio Pagan. Things would have been much different if the trade did actually happen.