Though most of the group remains the same, the San Diego Padres have two changes to highlight among their crop of infielders.

With the departures of Luis Arraez and Ryan O’Hearn in free agency, the Friars enter 2026 having to replace them at first base and designated hitter, respectively. Those are the positions they were at for all three games of the NL Wild Card Series loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Both were basically first basemen with the Padres, Arraez getting 117 starts at the position in 2025 and O’Hearn 25 at first and 16 at DH after coming over from the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline.

But that void is easily filled, at least positionally, from within and with a late add to camp.

Who Was Scheduled to Come Back?

Third baseman Manny Machado, shortstop Xander Bogaerts and second baseman Jake Cronenworth return in their primary spots from 2025, with Gavin Sheets also back after making 11 starts at first, 60 in left and 59 at DH. Sheets enters spring training as the presumed starting first baseman, although that could shift depending on other performances. Mason McCoy is the only backup from the postseason roster back for 2026.

Freddy Fermin, acquired at the trade deadline from the Kansas City Royals, returns as the Opening Day catcher, with Luis Campusano as his backup.

Machado’s status is unquestioned as the team’s leader and the player with the biggest contract ($350 million over 11 years). His .275/.335/.460 slash line with 27 homers and 95 RBIs in 2025 was on par with his career numbers. He also plays solid defense, although that’s been in decline over the last two seasons.

Bogaerts hasn’t been as good offensively in his three seasons with the Friars after 10 years with the Boston Red Sox. In 2025, Bogaerts put together a .263/.328/.391 slash line, matching his 2024 with 11 homers to go along with 53 RBIs. He did steal a career-high 20 bases in 22 attempts. Bogaerts had a career slash line of .292/.356/.458 with the Red Sox, including four seasons of more than 20 homers and a high of 33 in 2019. After splitting time between second and short in 2024, Bogaerts was back to a full-time shortstop in 2025 and had his best defensive season.

Cronenworth had his best production in 2025 since his breakthrough 2021-22 seasons, but it was below what has come to be expected. He posted a slash line of .246/.367/.377 after subpar outputs in 2023-24. His 11 homers and 59 RBIs were the second-lowest of a full 162-game season in his six MLB seasons. His defense at second base is a little below average, although it was surprisingly good during a brief tenure at short when Bogaerts was hurt.

Fermin wasn’t as good as expected offensively after he came over from the Royals, putting up a .244/.278/.339 slash line with two homers and 14 RBIs in 42 games. Campusano, who spent most of 2025 at Triple-A, could help with the offense at catcher, while potentially seeing spot starts at DH.

Sheets, a non-roster invitee a year ago who made the Opening Day roster, bounced between first, DH and left while accumulating a .252/.317/.429 slash line with 19 homers and 71 RBIs. Never known for defense, he might be best-suited as a DH, but he’ll get the first crack at first base.

McCoy has limited MLB experience, but does provide coverage at shortstop.

Who Was Added?

The Friars made a big move Saturday, agreeing to bring in Nick Castellanos for the MLB minimum following his well-publicized split with the Philadelphia Phillies. Castellanos is suddenly in the mix at first base, a position he has never played but has apparently been working at this offseason.

Putting the clubhouse issues aside, Castellanos is a low-risk acquisition who could bring pretty good production as a right-handed bat. His path to playing time is first base and designated hitter due to his poor defense in right field. In his four years with the Phillies, Castellanos slashed .260/.306/.426, averaging 21 homers and 82 RBIs.

Prior to Castellanos, the biggest offseason addition was Sung Mun Song, a free agent from the Korea Baseball Organization. Song was mostly a third baseman in the KBO, although he had time at second base and a little at first. Song, a left-handed hitter, had really good 2024 and 2025 seasons, with respective slash lines of .340/.409/.518 with 19 homers and 104 RBIs and then .315/.387/.530 with 26 homers and 90 RBIs. He also had 21 and 25 steals in those two campaigns.

The huge question is how quickly Song will adjust to MLB pitching. He sustained an oblique injury that was reported about a month ago, with a timeline to return around the first few official games of spring training. How much that impacts his performance during the exhibition slate will be key to that process. If he is able to hit the ground running in his first few weeks, he should be fine. The next question is whether he hits well enough to force his way into the starting lineup.

Song said he was going to bounce around the infield, except for shortstop, and the outfield, which lines up with what the Friars have previously said about where he could find playing time.

One recent addition, expected to fill a bench role, is corner infielder-outfielder Miguel Andujar. He brings a right-handed bat that produced 17 homers last year between the A’s and Cincinnati Reds. He has battled injuries since crushing 27 homers with the New York Yankees in 2018, when he finished second to Shohei Ohtani in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. He provides coverage at third and first base as well as left field, though his defense is suspect at each spot.

Candidates to Join the Infield or Catcher Group?

Will Wagner, the son of Hall of Fame closer Billy Wagner, will be in the mix for a backup role after coming over at the trade deadline from the Toronto Blue Jays. He can play anywhere on the infield except for shortstop. Two players with non-roster invites that have a chance to win a spot are corner infielder Jose Miranda and Samad Taylor, who can play anywhere on the infield (no experience at first) as well as the outfield. Another out-of-the-box possibility is the Friars going with a third catcher, allowing Campusano more hitting opportunities, his strength. Blake Hunt is the top non-roster invitee on the catching side, but he is also an offense-first player. The Padres could be in search of a defensive catcher to help out Fermin.

The Bottom Line

At worst, Castellanos is a DH. If he can be a good defensive first baseman — he did begin his career as a third baseman — that would push Sheets to DH.

But Song holds the real key to how the Friars’ infield alignment shakes out. He could surprise and take the starting second base job or simply settle into a utility role. If he does grab second base, that would move Cronenworth to platoon at first base with Castellanos and Sheets, with one being the DH. There would be some obvious shuffling when Machado either needs a day off or serves as the DH, with Song moving over to third, Cronenworth to second, and Sheets to first.

Regardless, there should be more versatility among the infield group with Song and Andujar in tow. The battle for the last bench spot between McCoy, Wagner, Miranda and Taylor will be decided by spring performance and whether to go with three catchers. The offense will suffer a bit without Arraez’s contact ability, but the additions should help boost the power capability of the lineup this season.

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