The San Diego Padres should probably be thankful that the New York Mets exist because being baseball’s second-most disappointing team is slightly easier to live with. That being said, the Padres are an absolute mess.
Despite heading into the season with baseball’s third-highest payroll and stars throughout the lineup, the Padres are falling rapidly in the National League West standings. And Thursday’s loss against the Pirates won’t make for an enjoyable trip to the weekend series in Cincinnati.
The Padres threw away a win. Almost literally.
With San Diego up by two runs and runners on second and third in the seventh inning, the Pirates managed to tie the game on a soft grounder that didn’t even make it to first base. That’s because pitcher Tim Hill made a complete mess of the play.
Oh no Padres pic.twitter.com/lNTMCkB8Kk
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 29, 2023
Instead of picking up the ball and conceding the run (limiting the damage to a single), Hill made a barehanded, spinning effort without even checking if first base was covered. His erratic throw went by everybody around first base and into right field. Just like that, the Pirates tied the game.
A couple batters later, Henry Davis knocked in the go-ahead run on a single, and the Padres took their fifth straight loss.
There was no telling how the game would have played out had Hill made the smart decision with the grounder, but you can’t really blame MLB fans for piling on the Padres after that embarrassing play.
There’s no excuse for such a talented team to be *that* bad.
This was how Twitter reacted
Tim Hill needs to be DFA’ed immediately. He’s my least fav at this point. He’s blown so many games recently. I can’t watch him throw another pitch in brown and gold https://t.co/IdPXcdeqnJ
— Josh (@Notorious_L_I_B) June 29, 2023
Tim Hill really can’t throw to 1st 😂 https://t.co/nWE1JTafx0
— AwkwardEric (@DeTrinidadJames) June 29, 2023
Wow the Padres need to sell https://t.co/uZXxXofshy
— JC🇵🇷 (@CantH0ldMe_) June 29, 2023
I was so wrong about this team in the preseason. With all this star power they still stink. 5th worst record in the NL https://t.co/6TMht7A7uY
— Smoove (@Smoove_702) June 29, 2023
every single day this team has a new meltdown. genuinely never seen a bigger group of losers than the 2023 Padres. https://t.co/KhpPQvtNCy
— brent says Go Padres 🟤🟡 (@realbrentreed) June 29, 2023
Padres need to cut that pitcher by tomorrow morning https://t.co/UAH3R4Joh4
— Le5-6 (@deepyy_) June 29, 2023
How much more do they need to see before they sell? https://t.co/ya7fhsv7TJ
— YankeesShillEarl (@YankeesFanEarl) June 29, 2023
I don’t watch them often, if ever, but this just makes zero sense. They have no business being THIS bad.
Building a championship baseball team has to be the most difficult job in all of the big four sports, right? When it comes to team-building, that is https://t.co/k4GJwCfsVO
— Jon (@JWag85) June 29, 2023
No matter how much money they spend they’ll never win because you need to be disciplined to win baseball games. The pieces have to fit together https://t.co/gnfOyVIXiS
— KingMac74 (@Mac74King) June 29, 2023
Yeah…they’re blowing this train wreck up
Recent reports have also suggested they don’t even really like each other. Too many stars trying to be the man https://t.co/ybEp69hvF5
— Mel (@mellow_nie91) June 29, 2023
First time I’ve ever seen a team out-Pirate the Pirates. https://t.co/kqh0o8QuKl
— Will Aldrich (@WillAldrich_) June 29, 2023
Come back from my lunch break just to find out this is how I lost https://t.co/I2MhpgAll9
— Rob💂🏾♂️🌵🍊 (@RobFrmAZ) June 29, 2023
They really need to blow this team up at the deadline. It’s not getting better anytime soon.