MLB Heat Check: San Diego Padres Are Scorching (9-1 Last 10)

Form is the story the standings tell slowly and the last ten games tell fast. Right now the fast version of MLB is easy to summarize: San Diego Padres are rolling, Colorado Rockies are reeling, and the gap between those two feelings is enormous.

Who's hot

San Diego Padres own the league's best recent ledger at 9-1, and the +24 runs margin underneath it says the record is earned. Per game the numbers read 7.1 for and 4.7 against, a gap that does not happen by accident across 10 games.

Milwaukee Brewers are the closest thing to company at 8-2, with a +32 runs margin that says the record is no fluke.

Tampa Bay Rays (8-2) round out the warm end of the ledger.

For scale, the league as a whole is averaging 4.5 runs a game over this window, San Diego Padres are clearing that bar by 2.6 a night all on their own.

Who's cold

Colorado Rockies are the cold front. They have gone 2-8 over their last 10, and the -23 margin underneath means the losses have not even been close, roughly 2.3 runs a game the wrong way.

They have company at the cold end: Cincinnati Reds, 3-7 over the same window.

Do not ignore the middle class, either: Baltimore Orioles (5-5) and Arizona Diamondbacks (4-6) sit close enough that a single hot or cold series flips their order.

The board

The top of the ledger, at a glance:

The fine print

Records fib a little and runs margins fib less. When the two columns disagree about a team, trust the margin, it is the slower liar.

Next up on the slate: San Diego Padres against Los Angeles Dodgers. Check back after that one goes final.