As the Dodgers battered and sprayed baseballs around Petco Park on Sunday, a painful early-season reality became even more so for the Padres.
You can't win long term with this offense, or lack of same. You definitely can't win, consistently at least, against a team that specializes in abusing baseballs like the Dodgers.
Nothing shouted it louder than the 10-2 rout that magnified the run-producing gulf, so far, in the National League West.
The most disturbing question for the Padres, even though it's just 17 games into the season: What can they do about it? When big-bat DH Luke Voit shuffled onto the injured list, the corresponding move brought up a third catcher who hit .088 last season in 34 at-bats.
That's a sign.
When top-slugging Triple-A prospects James Wood, Trayce Thompson and Nomar Mazara sit out of reach because they're not currently on the 40-man roster, that's another sign.
It's scuffling time in San Diego.
"We're still winning some games without the offense and I really believe it's going to come," manager Bob Melvin said, after the Dodgers sewed up their fourth consecutive series victory against the Padres. "I think it's going to take a couple games in a row. … (But) it has to be more consistent."
Each team had eight hits Sunday, but they were nowhere close to the same types of hits.
The Dodgers hammered three home runs, two by Cody Bellinger, when the game was still, well, a game. When they hit the 10-run mark in the sixth inning, six of the top seven hitters in the lineup had driven in runs. The Padres, 1-through-7? One.
There was only one inning among the first six when the Dodgers failed to score. They're tied with the Cubs with 77 RBIs, the most in baseball. The Padres, meanwhile, came in the bottom half of baseball in OPS, slugging, average, runs and total bases.
Lineup regulars Jake Cronenworth, Wil Myers and Trent Grisham are all hitting .193 or less, with the OPS totals of Myers and Grisham in the .400s. Toss in veteran bats Voit and Matt Beaty (averages of .143 and .125) and the offense currently has far too few places to turn. Only Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer are hitting above .230.
You get the idea.
Since it requires designating a player for assignment or placing someone on the 60-man injured list to bring up minor-leaguers not on the 40-man, there are no reinforcements in sight.
Rock, meet a very hard place.
"You stick to the things that have always worked for you, which is your plan," said catcher Austin Nola, who was hitless in two at-bats as the DH Sunday. "Simple things. Simple thoughts. I truly believe that's what pays off in the end, especially in tough stretches.
"It's still early. All it takes is just a quick game where it's bam-bam, there you go. Offense is so much riding waves."
The offensive seas, though, remain flat.
Outside of a pair of double-digit blowouts against the Diamondbacks and Braves, the Padres have scored more than five runs three times — two coming against the 3-13 Reds.
For now, it's hurry up and wait.
The offensive wheel-spinning amplifies the loss of superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., who cannot get to Petco Park soon enough. As everyone knows, it will not be soon in any way, shape or form after a motorcycle-riding brain cramp that hurts more by the day.
Frustrations gain fuel when you consider how well Padres are playing in other corners of the game. They rode a historic defensive start with 16 errorless games to start the season, before Sunday miscues by Ha-seong Kim and Cronenworth.
The Padres have received cap-tip-worthy starting pitching. They entered the Dodgers series leading the NL in walks. They stood second in baseball for sacrifice flies. The baserunning has been superb.
The whole of it seemed to tell the story of a team off to a polished and promising start. The offense, however, has stamped a very large asterisk on things. Six of the Padres' 10 wins have come against the Reds and six-win Diamondbacks.
Melvin hunted optimistic context, while acknowledging the bat-swinging silence.
"If we continue to win games, we've won some series, we had a sweep, and do it without some offense, those are the silver-lining-type things you look for," he said. "But at some point in time, we'll have to get it going."
Three of the organization's top four prospects — 21-year-old CJ Abrams, Campusano and pitcher MacKenzie Gore — are currently in the big-league clubhouse. Only Gore should be.
Abrams remains a good story who's piling up valuable experience, but not offensive production. He's your tomorrow, not your today. The truth of it: Cronenworth, Myers and Grisham have to provide more, soon.
Ditto that for Voit, when he returns from a biceps injury.
"A lot of guys do have track records and you have to rely on that," Melvin said.
Right now, the Padres are forced into doing just that.
