Despite liking Fernando Tatis Jr. at leadoff, ex-Padres star suggests major overhaul of team lineup

Fernando Tatis Jr. and the San Diego Padres are going through a slump after an electric start to the season. The Padres offense has been lackluster over the last few games with the offense in a slump.

The Padres were swept by the Seattle Mariners over the weekend and the trend continued as they lost three consecutive games against the Toronto Blue Jays to fall to two sweeps on the trot.

San Diego scored just three runs in the three-game series against the Mariners and was shut down in two consecutive games to start the series against the Blue Jays. The offensive decline has started talks of an overhaul in the hitting orders, and former Padres star Heath Bell suggested something on similar lines.

While Bell likes Tatis Jr. in the leadoff spot for the Padres, the former All-Star reliever believes Tatis would be more impactful down the order with players on base. He said on the "Friar Territory" podcast (9:00 onwards):

"I like him as a lead-off guy, but really, Luis Arraez should be the leadoff guy; he gets on base, and he's your RBI guy. I think Manny Machado should be hitting four, I think Arraez should be hidden first and Tatis Jr. should be hitting second, because he can do a lot of things. And then, you could use Jackson Merrill, I like him in the fifth spot, but if you can try him in the third, why not?"

The two-time Rolaids Relief Man Award winner explained why the Padres are sticking with the lineup despite the recent slump from the hitters.

"The problem is, they're so worried about lefty, righty matchup and this and that, and it's almost like you're not playing baseball. You're so worried about the numbers and this and that about, like what percentage you know will give us the best chance to win the game? How about, let's just try baseball knowledge, you know? We got a guy that's hitting some home runs, well, he needs some guys on base."

Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres hope to bounce back against Atlanta Braves

After two consecutive series defeats the Padres have dropped to 27-21 for the season in the third spot in the NL West behind the San Francisco Giants (29-21) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (31-19)

San Diego will be on the road to take on the Atlanta Braves and will hope the Padres offense, including Fernando Tatis Jr., could rediscover the electric form that had fans excited at the start of the season.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash