Mets pitcher jokingly wishing injury on Padres absolutely reeked of desperation

Unlike previous seasons, many of races for playoff spots in 2024 are still quite close. Four of the divisions currently have gaps between first and second of five games or fewer. The wild card race in the National League is also rather tight with eight teams realistically competing for three spots, and the San Diego Padres are leading the way there.

Given the way the Padres are playing, their spot seems pretty safe. They are four games clear in the NL wild card and are playing their best baseball right now.

Sure, Ha-Seong Kim's injury and the uncertain statuses of Yu Darvish and Fernando Tatis Jr. cloud the picture a bit, but the core that has gotten them to this point remains intact with no signs of slowing down.

The Padres are playing so well, in fact, that their rivals are apparently giving up hope that they can catch them through conventional means. In a funny exchange with reporters, Mets pitcher Luis Severino was talking about the bad injury breaks the Braves have suffered, and when informed that the Diamondbacks also lost Ketel Marte to the IL, Severino jokingly asked, "“How about San Diego? Nothing on San Diego?”

Mets' Luis Severino disappointed to find out Padres remain quite healthy

To be clear, Severino was being tongue-in-cheek here and was (hopefully) not actually wishing injuries on the Padres. Severino also apparently didn't get the memo that the Padres already had to deal with Joe Musgrove being out for quite a while, still have Kim, Tatis Jr., and Darvish on the shelf, and are still well ahead of the Mets in the wild card race.

Look, we get it. Being a member of the Mets organization is embarrassing at this point and the team's success is contingent on the misfortune of others because it is abundantly clear that New York is incapable of getting the job done themselves. Half of the Braves' roster is out of the foreseeable future and the Diamondbacks did almost nothing for the first two months of the season, and the Mets still don't occupy a playoff spot. That has to feel pretty bad.

That said, keep the bad vibes away from the Padres. They are busy actually competing for something while the Mets players are busy spending Steve Cohen's money.

More Padres News from Friars on Base