On Tuesday Night, the San Diego Padres will try and secure their first series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers this season.
The team is fresh off a 1-0 victory that was led by starting pitcher Michael King delivering seven shutout innings, before relievers Jason Adam and Mason Miller locked down the final two innings of the game.
Meanwhile, San Diego’s offense was mostly shut down by Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who allowed only one run across seven innings.
Now, ahead of the second matchup of the series, the Padres announced a decision regarding superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., who has struggled offensively all season.
San Diego Padres Announce Fernando Tatis Jr. Decision
For Tuesday’s game, the San Diego Padres have announced their lineup.
Underdog MLB wrote: Padres 5/19 F. Tatis Jr. 2B M. Andujar DH G. Sheets LF M. Machado 3B X. Bogaerts SS J. Merrill CF N. Castellanos RF T. France 1B F. Fermin C G. Canning SP”
Tatis Jr. is at the leadoff position for the third consecutive game. It will mark only his eighth appearance at the top of the lineup. In 2025, Tatis served as San Diego’s leadoff hitter in 150 games. However, new manager Craig Stammen opted to move Tatis down in the lineup in order for him to embrace his slugging ability.
That has not worked out for the Padres or Tatis, as he has yet to hit a home run this season, in what is the longest drought of his career.
In seven games batting leadoff, Tatis Jr. has not fared much better as he has a .167 batting average with a .194 on base percentage. In that spot, Tatis has only recorded one stolen base while also getting caught stealing once, which occurred in Monday’s game.
Overall, Tatis Jr. has struggled as a base stealer this season, as he leads Major League Baseball with six failed stolen base attempts in what continues to be a down season for the All-Star.
Social Media Reactions to Lineup
Regarding the team’s lineup decision, which continues to feature Tatis Jr. taking the most at-bats out of anyone on the team, fans appeared to focus on catcher Freddy Fermin returning to the lineup, as they had the following to say on social media:
@Gpo1722: “Cool. Are pitching challenges will be used and gone by the second inning today with fermin behind the dish.”
@Futures_Hendrix: “Catchers don’t play everyday stop complaining about Fermin”
@ump_god: “Everyone hating on our 9 hitter when our leadoff hitter isn’t much better”
@eduardobz: “Duran played well yesterday, obviously got benched today”
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