The San Diego Padres were hot for 2023. They just came off a good 89-73 season in 2022, squashing the Snakes, and qualified for the play-offs before steam-rolling into the NLCS for the first time since 1998, where the Phillies, somewhat surprisingly, kept them out of the World Series.
But, like I said, the Padres were hot for 2023. They signed Xander Bogaerts in the off-season, saw Fernando Tatis Jr. return from suspension and also added a new rotation member to their squad in former Met Seth Lugo.
The Padres’ fans had already been really gearing themselves up in the NL West and were like “f*** yeah” and “we’re the f***ing Padres” and saw a Dynasty coming up, maybe also inspired by words of owner Peter Seidler.