Padres notebook: ‘Real’ lineup makes Fernando Tatis Jr. batting first make sense; Sung-Mun Song to add at least one position

PEORIA, Ariz. — It did not escape Craig Stammen’s attention that Fernando Tatis Jr. hit leadoff for the Dominican Republic in its exhibition Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers.

“Tati is a great leadoff hitter,” Stammen said Wednesday morning. “He could be our leadoff hitter at some point too. I’m sure he loves it. He’s playing for a great team, playing in a great lineup.”

And there is the thing.

Whether Tatis is the best leadoff option for the Padres arguably depends on the quality of the hitters around him.

Stammen, in his first year as Padres manager, has signaled a likelihood he will move Tatis down from the No. 1 spot, where he batted in all but five of his 155 starts in 2025 and has appeared more than any other spot in the order in his career.

Stammen said last month Tatis had indicated to him he might prefer moving down in the order and had hit first because “he knew that was the best for the team in the past.”

Tatis subsequently said it doesn’t matter to him where he hits. But that included an addendum he added shortly before he left to join Team D.R. as it prepared for the World Baseball Classic.

“If I’m hitting leadoff, just, let’s put a real lineup down there so we can create situations,” he said. “Because I feel like I create more chaos when I have situations.”

The biggest issue with Tatis batting first all of 2025 was that the bottom of the Padres’ order was a wasteland. The Nos. 7-9 spots in the order had a .296 on-base percentage, 17th in the major leagues. And that was after having a .332 OBP the final two months of the season. That was after the trade deadline brought Ramón Laureano, who primarily hit seventh, and Freddy Fermin, who hit ninth. It was also after Jake Cronenworth, who had a .360 OBP in ‘25, moved semi-permanently to the eighth spot.

Three stats demonstrate the diminished opportunity with Tatis in the No. 1 spot last season.

His 399 at-bats with the bases empty were the most on the team. His 105 at-bats with runners in scoring position were seventh on the team. And his nine home runs with runners on base led the Padres despite his having just the sixth-highest number of at-bats with men on.

He was 3-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a walk and scored once Tuesday night for a Dominican lineup that had Julio Rodriguez batting seventh, Austin Wells eighth and Geraldo Perdomo ninth. Rodriguez has two Silver Slugger awards and Perdomo one. Perdomo was on the final three times Tatis batted, and Tatis drove him in twice. (Tatis was 1-for-2 against the Tigers on Wednesday.)

Tatis said he is encouraged by the potential length of the Padres’ lineup in 2026. Laureano will be with the club for a full season, and Miguel Andujar and Nick Castellanos have arrived to try to help fix the team’s struggles against left-handed pitching.

“I feel like this year we’re gonna have a way better lineup,” Tatis said. “A way, way better lineup.”

It seems the very top of that lineup could look different from night to night at the start of the season, perhaps depending on the handedness of the opposing starting pitcher. Xander Bogaerts has hit first in all five games he has played this spring, and Stammen acknowledged this week when left-handed-hitting Cronenworth hit first that his doing so is a possibility during the season.

“Leadoff,” Stammen said that day, “is the one spot we’re just not quite sure of who’s going to be in that spot in the lineup.”

Hoeing limbo

Reliever Bryan Hoeing got a second opinion on his balky right elbow Monday, and he might seek a third opinion.

“The ball is in his court,” Stammen said. “Waiting on what he decides to do.”

Hoeing has not thrown since feeling discomfort in his throwing elbow during a live batting practice session on Feb. 24.

Hoeing worked through elbow soreness at the end of 2024 and during that offseason. He said that resting so much that offseason and then rushing back last spring led to the shoulder issues that caused him to start last season late.

Peoria, AZ – February 22: Sung-Mun Song #24 of the San Diego Padres plays third base against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game on February 22, 2026 in Peoria, AZ. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Short Song

The Padres have been as impressed as they expected to be with Sung-Mun Song’s defense at his two primary positions.

Now, after a couple days taking grounders at shortstop, he will start there Thursday.

“We’ve seen enough at second and third to warrant that he can play shortstop,” Stammen said. “The more versatile he is for our team, the better it makes our ballclub.”

That still includes Song, who won the KBO’s Golden Glove award at third base last year, potentially also giving left field a try.

“Right now, we’re trying to get him really comfortable (in a new league and new country) where he’s comfortable, in the infield,” Stammen said. “We’ll see if that progresses to the outfield by the end of spring training.”

Song said earlier this spring he has not played shortstop since grade school.

“My overall goal,” he said, “is for me to be out there every single day and play any position that they want me to be out there for.”