Bogaerts' approach to batting eighth in Padres' lineup? 'Play better'

ATLANTA -- Xander Bogaerts doesn’t want to be hitting eighth. The Padres don’t want it either. In an ideal world, Bogaerts would be somewhere in the heart of their lineup, swinging like the five-time Silver Slugger Award winner that he is.

But Bogaerts also can’t possibly argue with it. For nearly three months, he’s been one of the team’s worst hitters, posting a .193 batting average with a .567 OPS since the start of May.

So on Tuesday, amid a crucial road trip that could color the Padres’ direction at the Trade Deadline, Bogaerts was dropped to the No. 8 spot -- the first time he’s batted that low since May 20, 2015.

“What can I say?” Bogaerts said prior to going 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored in an 8-3 win over the Braves at Truist Park. “Play better.”

Earlier this month, manager Craig Stammen took the opposite tack with Bogaerts, moving him up to the No. 3 spot in the lineup in an effort to spark his bat to life. Tuesday’s move brought a tacit acknowledgement that the decision hadn’t worked.

Bogaerts’ struggles have persisted, no matter where he’s hitting. He’s a perfectly viable shortstop whose defense has not faded with age. But at the plate, Bogaerts is hitting like, well, a No. 8 or 9 hitter.

“We’re taking a little bit of the pressure off Bogey,” Stammen said when asked for the reasoning behind his lineup change. “That’s probably the biggest thing. We’ve got to get him going somehow. Thought moving him up in the lineup might get him going. He’s still taking good at-bats.”

Bogaerts’ issues are emblematic of the Padres’ offense as a whole. Entering play Tuesday, the Padres ranked 28th in runs, 30th in OPS and 25th in wRC+. (And that’s an improvement over where they were at this time a month ago.)

For all the question marks about the rotation -- and those question marks are glaring -- the Padres could solve so many of their own issues if they hit like even an MLB-average offense. They aren’t.

That’s especially concerning considering the aging core of this roster. The 33-year-old Bogaerts is under contract for seven more seasons after this one. So is Manny Machado (34), who has begun to heat up lately, but he still hasn’t done nearly enough this season.

The Padres always knew there would be a decline in performance as their stars aged. They desperately hoped it wouldn’t happen so quickly. And maybe it hasn’t. They still have more than two months to salvage their respective seasons, and Bogaerts insists he’s not too far off.

“Keep working,” he said. “That’s all I’ve got to say: Keep trusting and keep working.”

Bogaerts’ struggles -- and his trajectory -- would seem to make his long-term contract practically unmovable, with the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline approaching. Of course, if the Padres were to make superstar closer Mason Miller available, it’s possible they could ask a trade partner to take on a burdensome contract.

Right now, however, the Padres are hoping they’ll be buyers at the Deadline, rather than sellers. They entered Tuesday 2 1/2 games back in the Wild Card race. Their best path to buying at the Deadline? They need to start hitting.

Bogaerts included -- whether he’s batting third or eighth. For now, it’ll be the latter, with the goal that it might take the pressure off offensively. (Specifically, Stammen noted that Bogaerts has struggled to use the opposite field the way he does when he’s hitting well.)

“I think he’s pressing a little bit, worrying about how it’s not going,” Stammen said. “... I think him being down a little bit lower, it takes a little bit of pressure off. He can work on his swing, get him back to who he is, and eventually we’ll have the Xander Bogaerts that we all knew we were going to get when we signed him.”