San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts wasn't pleased with his team's performance during a weekend series against the Washington Nationals.
"C'mon, man. We're playing the Nationals. … I don't think they have playoff aspirations," Bogaerts said postgame Sunday, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic.
"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."
The Padres dropped the series thanks to an 8-3 loss Sunday. Washington owns the second-worst record in the NL.
Bogaerts, who's mired in a 4-for-31 slump over his last eight games, doesn't believe the club's poor results have been due to a lack of effort.
"Lack of fight - I don't even feel any of that," Bogaerts said. "But maybe trying to do too much might be one (reason)."
The defeat dropped San Diego to 9.5 games out of first in the NL West and 6.5 games out of the final wild-card spot.
The Padres entered the season with World Series aspirations in large part due to their star-studded roster, which has the third-biggest payroll in baseball.
