Craig Stammen isn’t going to paint himself into a corner. He’s also clearly moving away from forcing someone up the order the moment they get hot.

Jackson Merrill is thriving in the five-hole right now.

So he will serve as the five-hole hitter for a 17th straight game on Monday (6:40 p.m. on Padres.TV).

Fine by him.

“The five-hole is a really good spot for me,” Merrill said. “I can clean it up. I can lead off an inning. I love our lineup right now. We’re getting used to it. It’s consistent, so I like that.”

Monday night against Milwaukee.

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— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 10, 2026

Most of Merrill’s 23 starts in the two-hole — second to Fernando Tatis Jr. — occurred early in the season as Stammen tinkered with his order. Injuries to Jake Cronenworth, Ramón Laureano and Samad Taylor, to name a handful, did not help the rookie manager settle on an order, nor did the tendency for hot hitters to run cold not long after they were moved up.

The Padres’ No. 2 hitters still rank last with a .653 OPS, but Cronenworth hitting .272/.336/.352 since coming off the injured list and the switch-hitting Luis Rengifo’s productive start in San Diego (.851 OPS) has largely stabilized that spot in the order against righties and lefties.

Around that previous sink-hole in the lineup, Tatis has settled in as the Padres’ leadoff hitter, Ty France has laid claim to the cleanup spot and Merrill’s 1.017 OPS in 23 games since the All-Star break ranks fourth in the majors.

It’s all made it easier for Stammen to settle on a general lineup.

“I think we didn’t really know what our optimal lineup was at that time, and it was a lot of experimentation on my end and their end also,” Stammen said. “I think once we kind of got the pieces in place a little bit, started seeing where they hit the best, it’s a little easier to leave them where they’re at, and … that was the design from the beginning — to find a consistent lineup.

“And now I think we’ve pretty much found one.”

It’s certainly working.

The Padres’ .799 OPS since the break is the fourth-best in the game. They also rank in the top-five in runs (125, 5th), batting average (.280, 1st), on-base percentage (.354, 1st) and slugging (.445, 5th), with Merrill’s eight home runs — tied for the second most in the majors since the break — doing a lot of heavy lifting for a team that begins the week 14-9 since the All-Star break.

“Hitting in general … is contagious around a clubhouse — that’s the best part to me,” Merrill said. “I don’t want to say this selfishly. I just feel like when I’m hitting, the boys find a way. We rally together. I think it’s a contagious hitting. It’s like when Tatis is hitting, when (Manny Machado’s) hitting, the boys are hitting.”

Here is how the Brewers will line up to start the three-game series:

West Coast week

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— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 10, 2026

 

Joe Musgrove assesses

A day after allowing a solo homer and throwing 42 of his 53 pitches for strikes over 3⅓ innings (6 H, 0 BBs, 2 Ks), Joe Musgrove was back in the Padres’ clubhouse, feeling good and looking to map out his next step.

It had not yet been determined if he was going to get four or five days of rest before his next minor league start, so his next bullpen had not yet been determined. But Musgrove was thinking a little further down the line and how might fold into a staff that recently added right-hander Casey Mize and left-hander Robbie Ray.

“I mean, I’ve talked to A.J. (Preller),” Musgrove said. “Nothing’s really set in stone, but I don’t think he’s looking for another three- to four-inning starter. I think he wants a starter that can pitch postseason games and somebody that can give us some length the last month or two months or so of the season. So that’s ultimately what I want. … So if it was getting back sooner at three innings, I would take that. But I think having the assistance of Robbie and Casey showing up at the deadline gives us a little bit more leeway to stretch those guys out a little bit more and give myself and Nick (Pivetta) and give us the time that we need to get built up to a normal starting depth.

“So I’m hoping one more start, maybe back here at 75, 80 pitches. I think I threw around 55 (on Sunday), so a significant jump. It’s usually a 10- to 15-pitch jump every outing. So, doing the math, it sounds like two more, but maybe one more if I’m super sharp.”

 

Notable

Pivetta threw off the mound, but it was not the full-blown bullpen that he threw ahead of last Tuesday’s minor league rehab start at low Single-A Lake Elsinore. “We’ll find out how he feels afterwards and then decide what to do after that,” Stammen said.

 

Monday’s pitching matchup

Brewers RHP Logan Henderson (6-1, 2.70 ERA)

The second-year starter has a 2.39 ERA in 75⅓ innings since making his debut last year. He has a 95-to-18 strikeout-to-walk ratio to start his career and has allowed less than three earned runs in nine of his 10 starts so far this year. He’s completed six innings twice this year. This is Henderson’s first appearance against the Padres.

No current Padres have history with Henderson.

Padres RHP Casey Mize (4-7, 3.40 ERA)

He’s coming off the worst start of his career (3 ⅓ IP, 8 ER) in his Padres debut in Arizona on Aug. 5. Before that, Mize hadn’t pitched since July 25 as the Tigers anticipated trading their former No. 1 overall pick. Mize has a 3.18 ERA in two career starts against the Brewers, including a win earlier this year (6 IP, 1 ER, 3 BBs, 7 Ks).

Here is how Mize has fared against current Brewers: