So, What Are the Padres Going To Do in Center Field?

[Randy Holt]

No Jackson Merrill. Not even a Brandon Lockridge. Where do the San Diego Padres go from here? 

You wouldn't know it by their historic start, but the Padres are kind of going through it on the health side these last couple of weeks. 

It started when they lost Jackson Merrill to a hamstring injury. Jake Cronenworth followed with what turned out to be a rib fracture. They avoided further woes when Fernando Tatis Jr. bounced back quickly to only miss one game after tweaking his surgically-repaired shoulder. Now, though, the team is set to be without Brandon Lockridge for an indeterminate amount of time. Lockridge sustained a hamstring injury of his own on Sunday and was placed on the injured list on Monday.

At first blush, it's understandable to wonder why losing a guy with limited name recognition and a wRC+ of 58 would spell concern for the Friars. Given Merrill's absence, however, Lockridge represented the team's last bit of depth on the outfield grass as far as the current roster is concerned. 

The team recalled utilityman Connor Joe to replace Lockridge on the active roster. The move is more about having a body on the roster than anything. Joe has flashed some upside with the bat in the past, but hasn't appeared in center for even a third of an inning in his big league career. Which leaves the Padres with very few options. 

Jason Heyward seems most likely to handle duties until Merrill (or Lockridge) returns. He's handled over 1,500 innings there in his career, topping out with a shade over 600 of them back in 2019 with the Chicago Cubs. He's 35 and has seen his defensive quality slip a bit as far as the metrics go, but there's something to be said about instincts carrying him in the short-term, given that he's one of the better defensive players of his generation.

From there, it gets into the likes of Tyler Wade. Selected back to the active roster following Cronenworth's injury, Wade has exactly 52.2 innings of service out in center. Eleven of those came with the Padres last year and 11 more in the year prior with the Los Angeles Angels. It's a big step down from Heyward in terms of experience, but versatility is embedded enough in Wade's skill set that he could make it work for a spell. 

The possibility exists that Tatis gets a few extra reps in center. He logged over 50 innings there in 2021 and another 30 in 2023. He's expressed interest in sliding to his right with more frequency, but whether or not the Padres are willing to put him in a less health-assured situation remains to be seen. There isn't any doubt that he has the defensive chops, given his excellence in right. It seems like an organizational call; it'd be hard to see them being too aggressive, though, if Merrill projects to be back in short order. 

Ultimately, though, this represents a problematic situation for San Diego. An infield injury to someone like Cronenworth, while not ideal, is something they can handle given the presence of Jose Iglesias and Wade on the roster (to say nothing of Luis Arráez, who is technically still listed as a second baseman). Their bench consists of two extra first basemen, after all. But in centerfield, there really isn't any puzzle to be solved. The depth is gone. It's an abstract concept. 

One hopes the rest of the roster continues holding it together.

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