Padres' lineup mystery ends where it began: Tatis leading off on Opening Day

SAN DIEGO -- We spent all spring wondering where Fernando Tatis Jr. would hit. Turns out, he’s right back where he spent nearly all of last season (and all of the World Baseball Classic):

In the leadoff spot.

New Padres manager Craig Stammen rolled out his first lineup of the season on Thursday before the season opener against the Tigers at Petco Park.

Tatis was in the top spot. Which, on the surface, wouldn’t exactly be news. Except Stammen spent the past month tinkering with lineups and openly musing about the possibility of dropping Tatis in the order.

That may still come to fruition. But -- on Opening Day at least -- Tatis was at the top (with Jake Cronenworth, notably, in the No. 9 spot as a proverbial “second leadoff hitter”).

“He’s a dynamic player,” Stammen said of Tatis. “We want him to be in situations where he can impact the game. I think with the lineup the way it is, hopefully that’s the way it happens.”

Here was Stammen’s first lineup in full:

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
2. Xander Bogaerts, SS
3. Manny Machado, 3B
4. Jackson Merrill, CF
5. Miguel Andujar, DH
6. Gavin Sheets, 1B
7. Ramón Laureano, LF
8. Freddy Fermin, C
9. Cronenworth, 2B

Some notable takeaways:

Protection for Tatis
Clearly, Tatis has the skill set to thrive in the top spot. He’s the Padres’ all-time leader with 17 leadoff home runs. But, if you pitch around him, he’ll take his walks, too. He led the team with a .368 on-base percentage last season and is a constant threat on the bases.

Any talk of a move for Tatis centered around a desire for him to tap into more power in an RBI spot. Tatis’ .446 slugging percentage last season was a career low. Tatis, of course, has reiterated that he doesn’t care where he hits.

“I can still get on base, I can still hit it over the fence,” he said earlier this spring.

Then again, Tatis has also expressed a preference to have some protection around him in the lineup -- a threat before him and a threat after him. This could be part of the reason behind Stammen putting Cronenworth in the No. 9 spot.

Makes sense, too, considering Cronenworth has struggled against lefties in the past. He’s one of the team’s peskiest hitters -- and a candidate to hit leadoff against righties. By batting him ninth, the Padres might get themselves a favorable matchup late. And they get Cronenworth, one of their peskiest hitters, as a table-setter for Tatis.

Daily flexibility
Last season, then-Padres manager Mike Shildt rarely altered the top spots in his lineup. Sure, he’d tinker a bit at the bottom, but the top spots were largely set in stone. That’s not how it will be under Stammen.

“I think it's smart to change your lineup every day to try to put your best players out there in the best situation to succeed,” Stammen said. “So yeah, I won't have a set lineup. Maybe we get going into the season, it's like, 'This is how we score runs the best.' That may be what it's like.

“But at least at the beginning, we're going to try new things and try different things, and we'll see what shakes out the best.”

That almost certainly means the Padres lineup will look a lot different on Saturday, when they face a right-handed starter for the first time in Jack Flaherty. It might even mean Cronenworth in the top spot, which is where he batted for a chunk of Spring Training against righties. Stay tuned.

Sheets starts
The Padres acquired Andujar and Nick Castellanos with an eye on turning around their fortunes against left-handed pitching. But on Opening Day, it was the lefty-hitting Sheets who got the nod, even against Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.

Two reasons behind that. First, Sheets is the best defensive first baseman among this trio of 1B/DH types. Second, well, he earned the start.

“He’s a leader, a connector on our team,” Stammen said. “Someone we trust heavily. And he had a great Spring Training. He was one of our hottest hitters at the end. So I felt like he deserved the start at first base, no matter who was on the mound for the opposing team.”

On a daily basis, Stammen will likely have to choose to sit at least one of that trio. Sheets figures to start against all right-handed pitching. But his start Thursday against an elite lefty was still notable, as it might hint at Stammen’s decision-making process.

Then again, San Diego faces Framber Valdez, another lefty, in Game 2 on Friday, and it’s entirely possible Castellanos will get his first Padres start then.