The question, though clear and direct, is anything but simple: How do the Padres begin to chip away at closing the win-loss gap with the Dodgers?
Where do you start when the Padres can’t see the blue behemoth to the north without binoculars, again? How do you prioritize the button-pushing when the distance between the organizations remains Grand Canyon-wide?
The tired and sloppy narrative points to the big-market checkbook. Things far more fundamental — reasons anchored in operational bedrock — explain why the Padres finished their most recent series with the Dodgers 33 games behind the NL West champs.