Padres Weekly Watch: Mets playoff rematch, bashing Brewers pay a visit

This week the San Diego Padres play the New York Mets in a rematch from last year’s postseason and get a visit from the powerful Milwaukee Brewers.

The San Diego Padres finished a grueling series against the Atlanta Braves out in Georgia. Next up they’ll embark on a stretch of seven games with the first three on the road and four more at home.

The Padres’ opponents in these seven games are no slouches. A pair of teams they could meet in the postseason are on the schedule for this week. Now is the time to jump on board and see what the Padres are made of.

DIRECTV carries the most local MLB games, so die-hard baseball fans with the CHOICE package or higher can stay connected to their teams all season long with their regional sports networks, where available (Blackouts and additional fees may apply). 

Here’s what Padres fans should be watching for this week:

Apr. 10 Padres vs. Mets

The Padres were the ones who had the New York Mets playing a sad trombone last October instead of Edwin Diaz’s trumpets. The two clubs met in the Wild Card round at the location of this series, the Big Apple, only for the Padres to dispose of them rather easily. The two big spenders of the National League meet again early on. The opener projects to have the Mets put Max Scherzer on the mound against Yu Darvish. Scherzer hasn’t gotten off to a strong start and considering the Padres handled him well in Game 1 of the 2022 postseason, no-hitter should be shaking in their cleats. It should also help to have Darvish on the mound. He has been a thorn in the Mets’ side regardless of the uniform he wears.

Apr. 11 Padres vs. Mets

The second game of this series projects to be a battle of southpaws. Ryan Weathers would get the nod for San Diego with David Peterson going for New York. Naturally, it’s a chance for the right-handed batters to take advantage. Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado should look to take advantage of facing Peterson as much as possible for however long he stays in the game. Weathers, meanwhile, can enjoy facing a Mets lineup that has been consistently below-average versus left-handed pitchers. Watch out for Pete Alonso with runners on base. He’s the one true power threat in their lineup.

Apr. 12 Padres vs. Mets

On Wednesday one team will be going for the sweep or we’ll get a rubber game to determine the winner. This may be a Blake Snell vs. Tylor Megill game. Regardless of who ends up starting for San Diego, it’s important to steal at least one win away from the Mets. The Padres have had a tough schedule to start the year. Some of it is their fault. They should have taken advantage of the Colorado Rockies more. Taking a series from the Mets is a good way to signal to the rest of the league that they are a true threat for more than just the division. It’ll be especially helpful because their next opponent after New York already swept them in the first week of the year.

Apr. 13 Padres vs. Brewers

The Padres return home to San Diego for what should be yet another potential playoff preview. The Milwaukee Brewers have looked good this year. Their pitching and power came up short in 2022. This season, even with Corbin Burnes not looking right, it has been effective early on. Most notably, this series is a chance for Padres closer Josh Hader to prove the Brewers made an epic mistake trading him to the Padres last year. Everyone already knows he’ll hope to close out as many of these games as he can while embarrassing the Milwaukee hitters who sometimes get a little too caught up in swinging for the fences.

Apr. 14 Padres vs. Brewers

Game two of any series can help make or break the direction a team heads in. Lose the first and second of four and suddenly your team can get caught looking ahead to what’s next. What we need to see in this series for the Padres are hard-fought victories. The Brewers can hammer the best pitchers in the league. They can also shut down an offensive juggernaut. Fans should expect a hard-fought battle and big swings from relatively unknown Milwaukee players like Brian Anderson and Garrett Mitchell. Bob Melvin will need to manage his pitching staff carefully. This means knowing when to pull the hook on the starters and saving enough ammunition for game number three and four.

Apr. 15 Padres vs. Brewers

By the time we get to game number three of the series, the Padres should know a thing or two about what the Brewers are capable of. It goes both ways. No one should sleep on what the Padres can accomplish either. It’s a good time for any early Padres slumpers to contribute in any way they can. Even a 1-for-4 day with a go-ahead sacrifice fly will be needed. Juan Soto is certainly the guy Padres fans are hoping to see more from. If by April 15 he doesn’t look like the generational talent we know he can be, panic may have officially set in.

Apr. 16 Padres vs. Brewers

If we get our wish, this game has the potential to be a duel of aces. Joe Musgrove could be back in the rotation by the time the final game of this series arrives. He’ll go up against Corbin Burnes as the Padres bats aim to take advantage of the 2021 NL Cy Young winner’s rough start to the year. More importantly, it’s the first chance to see Musgrove toe the rubber after his preseason weightlifting accident. It’ll be a huge momentum boost for San Diego to get Musgrove back this early. However the series is going, he’ll be entrusted to get them through at least a few innings in this one while relying on the bats to provide some runs.