It’s the time of year when May gray is real in San Diego, as the persistent marine layer hugs the coast to rob its citizens of a full day of sunshine.

Usually the May gray chatter is restricted to the weather segment of San Diego’s newscast, and oh how the locals would cherish returning to those good old days.

With the over-hyped and underwhelming San Diego Padres producing a spectacularly stunning run of inept performances to open the season, May gray has a fresh connotation.

Welcome to Padres baseball, 2023, where game after game it’s proven — with apologies to the New York Mets — that San Diego fills the bill as the worst team money can buy.

We know all about inflation, but this is ridiculous.

Free-spending Padres owner Peter Seidler scribbled a franchise-record $250 million in checks this season for a collection of athletes that have rewarded him with a 20-24 record, good enough to be fourth in the National League West.

That the Padres are one game from the last-place Colorado Rockies and eight games from the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers before Memorial Day is amazing, considering how the incessant talk before the season was whether San Diego’s World Series title parade would be by land or sea.

It’s those conversations, and a belief by Padres fans who’ve already produced 10 sell outs, that seem so incredulous before the squad reaches the 50-game mark.

The Padres, losers of nine of their past 11 outings, are off on Thursday and yes, that counts as a win for a wobbly team that is seeking relief in any manner.

“We just have to fight through it, somehow break through,’’ exasperated Padres manager Bob Melvin said.

Most Mays, that’s folks talking about the sun coming out. This May, it’s about a dreary team that was toasted as the preseason king of the NL West but instead has fallen as flat as day-old glass of champagne.

Padres backers, those lapping up the expensive craft beers and pricey jerseys, have had it and they let the players have it during Wednesday’s pratfall against the lowly Kansas City Royals, who took two of three from San Diego.

While the sun’s rays struggled to rain down on the spectators during the matinee affair, the home team’s faithful booed as if once San Diego, and now Los Angeles Chargers owner Dean Spanos had been introduced.

“There’s a lot of expectations on us and we’re not performing right now,’’ Melvin said in his post-game remarks, although that refrain has been true for weeks. “Our fans come out and support us. They’re hungry for more. I can’t blame them.’’

So where does the fault fall for constructing a roster which has an offense which flirts with the Mendoza Line with runners in scoring position, has a dramatically top-heavy batting order, has almost as many shortstops as starting pitchers, has a second baseman playing first base, a shortstop playing right field, scant production from the catcher and center field positions and a one-time superstar second-guessing himself on why in the world he turned down a $440 million contract?

We’re looking at you, Juan Soto, with that last remark but really this is general manager A.J. Preller’s baby and at some point it quits crying and learns how to walk, right?

Maybe or maybe not, because baseball doesn’t care what you are supposed to do. There are no shortcuts to greatness and plopping a collection of star-studded players on the field, and the return of an All-Star in Fernando Tatis Jr., following his sentence for cheating, guarantees zilch.

The Padres’ shortcomings are so glaring that for all the dough Seidler spent, somebody should be held accountable.

It’s doubtful that it will be Preller, as his relationship with Seidler is rock solid. But since arriving in 2014, Preller has proven he can acquire veteran players to build a team, then tear it all down, then bring in some more veteran players.

What he hasn’t proven is that a squad with his fingerprints on it can win on a consistent basis.

We give Preller and the Padres props for eliminating two 100-win teams in the last year’s playoffs, the Dodgers and Mets.

While there is no denying San Diego got hot during the postseason, the regular season showed them finishing 22 games behind the Dodgers.

But that was so last year as this offseason Preller brought in free-agent shortstop Xander Bogaerts on a $180 million deal, extended third baseman Manny Machado’s contract to max out at $350 million and pushed right-hander Yu Darvish’s compensation out to 2028 for a $108 million.

Preller also boosted first baseman Jake Cronenworth’s fortunes with an $80 million pact and while the money flowed, the victories haven’t.

That’s why after the Padres’ clubhouse doors slammed shut in the wake of the latest embarrassing showing and they stayed shut long after the normal cooling off period. The players gathered around to talk about what everybody else in San Diego is conversing about: why are the Padres so bad?

“It’s just a very unhappy time in the clubhouse,’’ first baseman Matt Carpenter told The Athletic. “You know, we haven’t been able to execute like we were hoping to at this point. So something’s got to be done.’’

The options are limited after Preller gutted the farm system to acquire Soto for the last year’s stretch run from the Washington Nationals.

And the Padres’ black cloud grew darker on Wednesday when it was learned that Machado could be absent for an extended period with a broken hand after getting struck by a pitch earlier in the week.

Of course Machado hears boos no matter where he plays, save Petco Park. But that’s no longer the case as the Padres faithful let the fumbling Padres hear about their disgust.

“I don’t blame them,’’ Machado said. “We’re not playing well right now.

“There’s an expectation that we had coming into the season, and they expect us to go out there and win every game...things aren’t really rolling our way right now.’’

What’s trudging along is the once-promising season, and on the plus side, there are still 118 games remaining for the Padres to find their groove. Their backers’ fingers are crossed that they will, or the team could be another example of what follows May gray in America’s Finest City.

That would be June gloom. It’s something that the Padres hope to play better during it, instead of being stuck in it.