One of the beauties of Opening Day for many professional sports teams is the hope it provides: the hope that an MVP season could be on the horizon, the hope that a playoff run could be in the cards, even the hope that a championship parade might be visiting nearby downtown streets at season’s end.
The 2015 iteration of the San Diego Padres was one such team. Backed by the acquisitions of marquee names like Justin Upton, Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, and James Shields, hometown fans had set their sights on big things from the Friars. Unfortunately, that ultimately was not the case, as the Padres stumbled to a fourth place finish amid struggles to adapt the new roster pieces to the unique ballpark environment that is Petco Park.