Good morning,
A few themes have become clear in how Craig Stammen operates when considering his lineup day to day.
He is not afraid of new.
He is eminently in tune with his players’ health.
He is going to make sure everyone feels a part of the team.
And all those tenets fit together to create a kaleidoscope of lineup construction.
The Padres have had 15 different batting orders in 15 games, which along with who they have chosen to play and where they have chosen to play them has made each game’s lineup reveal one of the most interesting parts of each day.
“He’s not a guy that is just gonna bore us,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said yesterday. “So it’s been fun, and you know, he’s been leading the team the right way. I mean, we went off to a little bit slow start, but here we are today. A lot of good wins back to back to back. And man, we’re just finding a way how to win ballgames.”
They are one of eight teams to have used a different batting order every game. No other team has mixed and matched to the extent the Padres have.
Stammen said recently the Padres might settle on a regular lineup but that it isn’t guaranteed.
Here is a look at who has batted in what spots and how often they have done so:
(There are only about 250 million variations of a batting orders Stammen can use. So he will run out eventually.)
The big news before last night’s 9-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies was Tatis making his first start ever at second base while Xander Bogaerts got a day off. Jake Cronenworth moved from second base to shortstop in Bogaerts’ place, and Nick Castellanos started right field for the first time for the Padres and the 1,052nd time in his career.
Basically, the Padres assessed Ty France is not a good option defensively, Sung Mun Song is not ready to come up from Triple-A and Tatis can do do pretty much anything on a baseball field.
“Felt like Tatis was the best option at second base and the most fun and exciting option at second base,” Stammen said. “Get that kid smiling a little bit might help too. … He’s an amazing athlete that can do about anything. That’s really all it is, just really confident in who he is as a person, who he is as an athlete. I think you put something in front of him, he’ll be able to do anything. Keeps his brain active, keeps him, keeps him engaged and having fun and showing up to the ballpark with something new to achieve.”
You can read more about the move, with more thoughts from Stammen and insight from Tatis, in Jeff Sanders’ pregame story (here).
Earlier this week, Stammen suggested just mixing things up can break up a season that can feel like Groundhog Day.
“That’s a big part of it too,” he said. “You know, a long season can get monotonous at times, and sometimes just throwing a curveball in there piques everybody’s interest and gives them a little ‘Oh, I’m hitting in this spot today.’ It’s exciting (for fans) to come to the ballpark and see what the lineup is. Maybe our players feel that way. Maybe they feel it needs to be more consistent. It will hopefully be a bit of both throughout the year.”
Moreover, though, Stammen will steadfastly make sure his players are rested.
Bogaerts got the day off yesterday. Ramón Laureano got his second day off on Thursday. Manny Machado has already had a day off, 138 games before he had his first day off last season.
Bogaerts and Machado are 33. Laureano is 31, plays extremely hard and has at times throughout his career missed extended time due to various injuries.
Stammen will protect that trio of regulars. He also will keep a meter on the playing time for Nick Castellanos, who is 34, and Miguel Andujar, who is 31 and has not played more than 94 games since 2018.
“Age, history of how many games he’s played in the past and injuries and all that stuff,” Stammen said of the criteria for determining frequency of off days. “It’s just trying to keep these guys healthy for a full season and get them at their peak when we’re really playing games at the end.”
Stammen has been used excessively as a member of a bullpen. He has seen teammates not at their best when the games were biggest because they had pushed through fatigue or injury earlier in a season. He was around the club last year when Machado played 149 games before getting his first game off. The issue there was that Machado essentially insisted on playing (and was playing well) early, and then-manager Mike Shildt felt he had to play a dragging Machado in August and September as the Padres struggled to win consistently.
“They can play early, and then also you’re like, ‘Well, we need them to play because we’re struggling’ or something like that,” he said. “Hopefully you have a longer-point view, and you can strategically trust that we’re going to be a good team throughout the whole year.”
Even 22-year-old Jackson Merrill had a day off already.
That was more about the last of the three lineup tenets.
Merrill sitting April 4 in Boston helped get extra outfielder Bryce Johnson a rare start.
Stammen thinks it is crucial that everyone feels like they are contributing. That is a part of the overall chemistry and culture, he believes. And the goal is to have players confident and physically ready when they are asked to do contribute.
“That’s a very important part,” he said.
What is happening so far with playing time is also another example of the working relationship between Stammen and Padres president of business operations A.J. Preller.
Preller and his lieutenants do not make lineup decisions, but they provide regular suggestions, along with feedback from the analytics department.
The tension between baseball ops and Bob Melvin and Shildt’s disdain for input and feedback hindered this communication process the past four seasons.
Stammen and Preller see many things similarly, including the belief that some parts can be interchangeable and that early in the season is a time to find out what players can handle.
“This is the Padres” lineup,” Stammen said. “It’s not (just) my lineup. We’re working on this together as a team, within the coaching staff, within the front office and within the players. We’re all talking and having conversations and deciding what might be best or what should we try and see what it looks like. So this is a conversation, Fernando playing second base is a conversation that goes back quite a long time with a lot of different people.”
My game story (here) from the Padres’ 9-5 victory focused on the Padres finding their slug.
Now, let’s talk about Tatis some more.
How it went
Tatis put down a quick tag that almost completed a caught stealing in the first inning, caught a pop-up in the fifth, had an assist in the sixth inning, made the relay on a double play in the seventh and caught the game’s final out on a high fly to shallow center field.
“It was fun there, he said. “We executed and we got a ‘W’ — the most important thing.”
Fernando Tatis Jr. is back turning double plays pic.twitter.com/ukJ57xL8yI
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 12, 2026
The double play went just as you would imagine it would go. It wasn’t textbook, because Tatis had played one inning at second base in the big leagues (in 2023). But it was easy because he is Tatis.
He took the throw from Jake Cronenworth, stepped methodically off the bag and fired a flat-footed an 85 mph strike to first baseman Gavin Sheets.
“Since the game started I was looking forward to it, Tatis said with a laugh. “Came out good … and pretty smooth.”
Depending on when Cronenworth gets a day off and/or when Bogaerts’ next day off is, it appears we could see Tatis back at second.
“I think it’s an option for us,” Stammen said after the game. “I think he’s going to play right field most days, but … he’s probably our best option to (fill in at) second base at the moment.”
How it went II
Tatis has been noticeably frustrated by his lack of production at the plate but has also clearly made an effort to not lose his focus.
That was evident in his reactions after a few vexing hard-hit outs recently and also in the fact he just keeps hitting the ball hard.
Last night, he was rewarded.
After making outs on four balls hit 95 mph or harder on Friday, including three at 101 mph or harder, Tatis was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk last night. The exit velocity on his hits: 109 mph, 107 mph and 102 mph.
“About time,” said Tatis, who raised his batting average 39 points to .228 with the big night. “It’s a definite breather and a reward for a lot of hard work.”
Tatis ranks second in the major leagues with a 72.1% hard-hit rate. He is batting .321 on those balls (95 mph or harder), which is 144 points lower than the MLB average.
Tidbits
Machado’s home run extended his on-base streak to 10 games. His .206 (7-for-34) batting average during the streak is the lowest by far of any of the 42 on-base streaks he has had that have last at least 10 games in his career. He has a .385 OBP during the streak.
Castellanos has started at first base, right field and left field. That is the most different positions at which any Padres player has started this season.
Merrill drew an eight-pitch walk in the first inning, his first plate appearance this season lasting more than seven pitches. In the sixth inning, he doubled on the ninth pitch of his at-bat. Not to say Merrill has been aggressive this season, but his 42.3% chase rate is 10th highest in the major leagues. He has swung at half of the 0-0 pitches he has seen and has been ahead 2-0 just three times in 63 plate appearances.
The Padres have scored at least five runs in six of their past seven games after scoring more than three runs once in their first eight games.
All right, that’s it for me.
I told you yesterday I was not going to do a newsletter today because I was leaving town for a family obligation. But I had been meaning to address the lineup construction for a few days, and this provided me an opportunity I didn’t want to let pass.
So now I’m done.
Please check out our coverage on our Padres page until then.
The next Padres Daily will be in your inbox Friday.