The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.If you see magic for enough days in a row, sometimes you forget it’s magic. So, let’s pause and acknowledge what we’re seeing from Shohei Ohtani.Plus: We’ve got Ken Rosenthal on the Padres’ deadline plans, a deep dive into why some teams get injured more and [deep sigh] I found another rabbit hole. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!WHAT?! Ohtani is just not normalWhen watching Ohtani, human nature can almost trick me into forgetting just how distinct a player I’m seeing.Take last night, for example: Ohtani reached base five times (3-for-4 with two walks) while pitching six innings, allowing no runs on two hits and one walk and striking out six in a 7-0 win. Further, his ERA after 10 starts is now 0.74. According to MLB’s Sarah Langs, that’s the third-best such mark in MLB history, trailing just 2021 Jacob deGrom (0.56) and 1966 Juan Marichal (0.66).Don’t forget: This is also the first player in MLB history to post a 50 HR/50 stolen bases season. The guy who has led the sport in runs scored and total bases in each of the last two years.Even if you’re getting used to it, it’s just so incredibly not normal.More Ohtani: Elise Devlin tells us about the system Ohtani has employed since high school to achieve his goals.Middle Relief: Can Padres be buyers after being bought?Today, we have an excerpt from Ken’s latest notes column. If Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill fail to hit to their accustomed levels, Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller might consider it futile to adopt his usual frenzied approach at the trade deadline.But seriously, does anyone expect that out of the executive who gives the entire sport whiplash virtually every year?If anything, Preller could become even more dangerous once the Padres’ $3.9 billion sale to José E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, is finalized. At the past three deadlines, Preller operated with limited payroll flexibility. Some teams hear that Feliciano and Jones, while not yet approved, plan to grant him greater financial leeway.The Padres’ farm system, depleted from all of Preller’s wheeling and dealing, is the worst in baseball, according to The Athletic’s Keith Law. But people seem to say that every year, and every year Preller comes up with prospects to trade.The bigger questions, perhaps, are whether the Padres will merit reinforcement at the deadline, and what their biggest needs might be.Somehow, the Padres are tied with the Cardinals for the first wild-card spot in the National League. With Tatis, Machado and Merrill all sporting OPSes below .700. With the offense through Tuesday ranked ahead only of the Royals in runs per game. With right-hander Yu Darvish spending all season on the restricted list while recovering from major elbow surgery, and with Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove still not close to returning from injuries.