Mat Latos

With the playoffs around the corner, potential matchups are being examined. The regular season is winding down and the hunt is heating up. For the Padres and Phillies, two playoff hopefuls, there is a chance the two will face each other in the postseason.

Whether the Phillies and Padres win the wild card or their divisions, there is a good chance they'll face each other, making for an intriguing matchup.

Let’s take a look at three player’s whose stock rose yesterday, as well as three players whose stock took a hit:

Three Up:

Ah, it's good to be back...

Last Night Rewind

The Padres have been leading the NL West for virtually the whole season. Recently, a week or so ago they extended their lead to 6.5 games over the Giants. 

At this point, the team showed no signs of slowing down. Their pitching was still magnificent and their hitting was getting it done. 

The Padres also seemed to show no signs of having a major weakness, even though they didn't have a major strong point besides their pitching staff. 

2010 has blessed Major League Baseball with a memorable rookie class.

Fantasy owners in Dynasty and Keeper leagues were quite familiar with this cast of characters long before they arrived in the show.

In commemoration of their foresight, let's take a gander at the top 10 pitching keepers for 2011.

Check out our Positional Rookie List too!

With the 2010 Major League Baseball season nearing the final six weeks of action, it’s time to take a quick glance at 10 worthy Most Valuable Player candidates that no one is talking about.

And from Delmon Young, to Carlos Gonzales, to a handful of other overlooked stars in the majors this season, we’re going to be counting down the 10 MLB MVPs no one is talking about.

This year, the San Diego Padres have taken the West by storm and it's no secret that they are at the top of their game.

The Padres have constructed a team that include good, young arms, contact hitters, and a well managed front-office.

Bud Black has been nothing more than stellar when it comes to game day and has showed off the potential of his squad. Combine that with power hitting in Adrian Gonzalez, and young pitching in Mat Latos, and your team will go a long ways.

The San Diego Padres are simply too strong for the Cubs.

The Chicago Cubs could not avoid the sweep by the NL West leaders Thursday afternoon.  Once again, their bullpen sank and a careless defensive play in the seventh inning put them down 5-3 in the series finale.

The NL West hasn't gone the way most of the "experts" thought it would. The team leading the division, the San Diego Padres, was expected to be the bottom feeder, while the predicted leader, the Los Angeles Dodgers, sits in third place seven games back.

That sets up for a showdown in the bay area this coming weekend between the first place San Diego Padres and the second place San Francisco Giants who are just two and a half games back. The two teams have met eight times this season with the Padres coming out victorious in seven of those games.

The National League West isn't known for its rivalries in the same manner as the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees feud.

However, San Francisco Giants pitcher Jonathan Sanchez is doing his best to change that.

After the Giants lost 6-3 to the Atlanta Braves Sunday that extended San Diego's division lead to two games, Sanchez fired some heavy words in a tall statement.