Padres see signs they might actually have length in the lineup

PEORIA, Ariz. — It is a rite of spring for every team.

At this time each year, it seems, they all have the best offense full of the best hitters anyone in the organization can recall having.

So it is with the Padres again in 2026.

They did finish the ‘25 regular season with their lineup playing at its longest, and almost all of the players who comprised that offense return.

The occasion of Ramón Laureano being in yet another spot in the order in Monday’s 7-5 Cactus League victory over the Milwaukee Brewers provided an opportunity to talk about the Padres’ purported lineup length.

Laureano, who hit in six different spots in 50 games for the Padres last season, hit first in his second start of the spring after hitting second in his first start. He will likely hit in one of those top two spots at various times in 2026, though early indications are that he won’t be in the top third of the lineup on the regular.

“He could be anywhere, honestly,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “You want your lineup to be long. You don’t want any break for the pitcher. I think that’s the advantage we have with all the guys that we have in camp right now, is we can make our lineup long. Just because you’re batting six, seven, eight, nine doesn’t mean you’re not a good hitter. It’s how can we produce offense as a lineup, not how can each individual produce offense. But can we be a collective nine rather than just nine.”

Yes, here we go again.

True lineup length generally proves elusive.

But every once in a while a group of hitters can frequently enough over 162 games stack good at-bat after good at-bat “one through nine.” So every contending team enters the season believing that describes them.

Because length matters.

“Obviously it’s really good when the lineup is deep,” Laureano said. “It is extremely beneficial for a championship ballclub.”

It is simplifying things only slightly to say the Padres will go as far as they are carried by the offensive production of their core four position players — Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr., who could very well hit in the top four spots in the batting order. That is a reality of such magnitude that it bears repeating virtually every time one of the team’s ancillary components is discussed.

If those four don’t do enough damage, it simply might not matter what everyone else does.

However, as Laureano noted, four players cannot on their own lift a lineup into the postseason.

So where Laureano, Miguel Andujar, Luis Campusano, Nick Castellanos, Jake Cronenworth, Freddy Fermin, Gavin Sheets and Sung-Mun Song slot in and how they perform must be a concern.

It was Laureano who helped demonstrate what can happen when the rest of the lineup contributes in a meaningful way.

He arrived via the trade deadline and transformed the offense when he was initially put in the bottom of the order. While batting sixth or seventh 20 times, he hit .333 with four doubles, two triples and six home runs over his first 23 starts with the Padres.

Even when he moved to the No. 5 spot, his presence contributed to making the lineup longer.

In the 49 games he played before fracturing his right index finger on a swing during his first at-bat on Sept. 24, the bottom three spots in the Padres order hit .260 with a .736 OPS. Those same spots produced a .217 average and .602 OPS before the trade deadline.

It was not just Laureano.

Fermin, who also came over at the deadline, hit .244 while mostly in the No.9 spot. That was an improvement of 33 points over the Padres’ other catchers (and usual No.9 hitters).

Cronenworth had his most consistent season, finishing with a career-high .367 on-base percentage. And he had a .400 OBP in 49 games in the No.8 spot, 39 of which came after the deadline.

Sheets, while jockeying between fourth and sixth in the order, hit .326 with 13 doubles and four homers in 28 games from mid-August to mid-September.

It’s the kind of collective down-order production that, should it bleed into this season, would allow the Padres to keep talking about lineup length.

“It makes the pitcher work,” Stammen said of that potential eventuality.

“There’s no inning that he can take off, there’s no batter that he can take off. … We feel really good having Ramón Laureano now for a full season, having Freddie Fermin for a full season, adding Miguel Andujar, Nick Castellanos. Those names matter to the pitcher when they’re seeing them in the box and they see their stats on the scoreboard.”