Xander Bogaerts Sounds off on Padres' Struggles After Dropping Series vs. Nationals

San Diego Padres star Xander Bogaerts defended the team's effort level but lamented a series loss to the Washington Nationals that dropped the Padres to 37-41.

"Lack of fight—I don't even feel any of that. You know?" the veteran shortstop told reporters Sunday. "But maybe trying to do too much might be one.

"C'mon, man. We're playing the Nationals. … I don't think they have playoff aspirations. I mean, they obviously have a young team and they fight. They do fight. But I wouldn't say anyone picked the Nationals to be in the playoffs. So you have to beat the teams that you have to beat."

Bogaerts expressed hope San Diego could win 10 of its final 15 games heading into the All-Star break:

"Obviously, we're already two losses in, so that's not a good start. But, you know what, it's not how you start. It's how you finish. So we still have a chance to turn that around and … end on a really strong note. But we have to start. We have to. There's not a lot of tomorrows left, you know. The season is coming to an end—I mean, not soon, but it is. If we keep tacking on losses, it's gonna come by quick."

Last week was a perfect microcosm of the Padres' season, one which they've failed to establish any sort of consistency.

San Diego mustered nine combined runs over three straight defeats to the San Francisco Giants before blitzing the Giants for 10 runs last Thursday to avoid a sweep.

Bob Melvin's squad followed up by beating the Nationals 13-3, raising the hopes of fans that the team was finally turning a corner. Then Washington took the next two matchups to claim the series.

The Padres are now 9.5 games back of the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West and 6.5 games off the pace for the final wild-card spot. FanGraphs gives them a 41.4 percent chance of reaching the playoffs.

The top end talent on San Diego's roster is so good you'd expect the results to improve at some point. But it's looking more and more like this simply won't be the Friars' year.