The days of Rickey Henderson, Vince Coleman, and Kenny Lofton are over when it comes to what many grew up with as prototypical leadoff hitters.

All you have to do is look at Kyle Schwarber and Shohei Ohtani now taking over what had been a table-setter role. Now, it is more of a tone-setting spot in the lineup, able to open the game with a home run as much as a double off the wall. That is a long way from a single (perhaps via bunt), a stolen base, and scoring on an ensuing hit.

So the San Diego Padres, using Fernando Tatis Jr. in the leadoff spot in 2025, while perhaps out of necessity instead of convenience, made a lot of sense. He has the speed-power combo that feels ideal for that role.

This spring, however, new Friars manager Craig Stammen unveiled a new top of the lineup, with Tatis moving down to cleanup. The rest of the top four have been Xander Bogaerts, Jackson Merrill, and Manny Machado. This is still a work in progress and could be different before Opening Day. Tatis said the leadoff role wasn’t necessarily something he wanted.

Could it unlock more from the Padres’ offense? Particularly from a power perspective, it could. The Friars famously finished 28th of 30 MLB teams with 152 home runs. Yes, even less than the Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins.

From 2023-25, after missing all of 2022 due to injury and a performance-enhancing drug suspension, Tatis has hit 25, 21, and 25 home runs, scored 91, 64, and 111 runs, driven in 78, 49, and 71 runs, and stolen 29, 11, and 32 bases. Injuries limited him to 104 games in 2024.

While Tatis would have about 20 fewer plate appearances by hitting cleanup as opposed to leadoff, he would have more opportunities to drive in runs and, perhaps, free himself up to be more of a power hitter. After all, he would go from hitting behind the Friars’ 7-8-9 hitters to hitting after the top three in the lineup, including immediately after Machado. That would also benefit Machado, given the threat of Tatis following him. Cleanup was a rotation of hitters in 2025.

Some of this adjustment to the lineup has to do with the departure of Luis Arraez, whose ability to make contact was ideal at or near the top of the order. Tatis made great strides in 2025 with his walk and strikeout rates. His walk rate jumped up from 8.3% in 2023 and 7.3% in 2024 to a career-best 12.9%, while his strikeout rate went down from 22.2% to 21.9% to 18.7% in 2025. His 18.7% was well below the MLB average of 22.5%. That is the type of discipline improvement you want to see from a player entering his prime years. Tatis is, after all, just turned 27 years old to begin 2026.

And let’s face it. Tatis at cleanup is a much bigger threat than Merrill, who had a subpar 2025 and batted there occasionally throughout 2025 and all three postseason games. Tatis at the cleanup spot could produce a 30-homer season and improve the Friars’ 4.33 runs per game in 2025, which ranked 18th in MLB. Even another 65 runs total, less than one run every two games, would put the Friars in the top 10.

This is also dependent on the top two spots in the lineup being productive.

Bogaerts will have to make the biggest transition. Even back to his Boston Red Sox days, Bogaerts has been a middle-of-the-order bat. In his three years with the Padres, Bogaerts has had on-base percentages of .350, .307, and .328. His career walk rate is 8.4%, right on the MLB average of 8.3%. His strikeout rate with the Friars is 16.8%, nearly 6 points better than the league average. Both are good traits for a leadoff hitter. While not currently the power threat that Tatis is, hitting 19, 11, and 11 homers with the Padres, Bogaerts did steal a career-best 20 bases in 2025.

Merrill’s bounce back is perhaps the most important part of this top four working. Entering his third season, Merrill was plagued by injuries in 2025 (strained hamstring, concussion, sprained ankle), which led to his slash line dropping from .292/.326/.500 to .264/.317/.457. While his strikeout rate of 19.4% is a few points better than the MLB average, his walk rate of 5.8% needs improvement. That might make him a really good candidate to hit second, ahead of Machado, as he will see better pitches.

Protection for Tatis as the cleanup hitter will also be important, which is why the Padres need the acquisitions of Nick Castellanos and Miguel Andujar, in particular, to pay off, as well as left fielder Ramon Laureano to be somewhat close to his 2025 production. Castellanos being able to handle first base, with early reviews promising, would allow a platoon at designated hitter with Andujar, Gavin Sheets, and perhaps Sung Mun Song. That combo hitting fifth and sixth would definitely ramp up the production, particularly from a power perspective, to this lineup.

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