The San Diego Padres possess a leadoff problem.

It’s a persistent issue since their offensive power fell after the 2024 postseason. However, the club may finally have its answer, and it’s been there the whole time.

Former Padres manager Mike Shildt drew controversy during his tenure for refusing to play around much with the starting nine. In 2024, Luis Arraez was the primary leadoff man, largely because Fernando Tatis Jr. was not available for a large portion of the season. In 2025, with Tatis Jr. healthy, the crew pivoted, and he hit leadoff for nearly all of it.

At a glance, this makes sense. Batting leadoff means that Tatis Jr. gets around 140-150 more at-bats over a full regular season compared to a number nine hitter.

Statistically, Tatis Jr. edges Arraez out as well. Batting leadoff, Fernando Tatis Jr. in 346 games slashed .294/.372/.521. In that same position, Luis Arraez slashed .313/.354/.423 in 427 games.

For all that it’s worth, Tatis Jr., as one of the Padres’ most successful and productive hitters, should have been golden at leadoff. It just so happened that 2025 was the season when the Padres’ offense trended downward, and the crew played some of their worst baseball in recent memory. This is due to a myriad of factors, some of which are controllable, some of which aren’t. What’s most glaring and regulatable is how the roster falls into place.

The Padres have never really returned to the team synergy they possessed in 2024 and have spent the next season searching for it again. With Luis Arraez lost to free agency, new Manager Craig Stammen had the task of figuring out how to put the team back together with no obvious candidates for leadoff other than Tatis Jr.

Craig Stammen played around with the lineup a lot during Spring Training. At some point, every piece of the mainstay Padres core saw hang time batting first.

This trend continued into the regular season. Jake Cronenworth, Tatis Jr., and Ramon Laureano all cycled around. However, with Croney and Laureano on the IL, Tatis Jr. has to pick up the pieces.

Fernando Tatis Jr. drew attention this year for having an elongated case of the yips. He went a career high 55 games without hitting a single home run. Then, at the end of May, in a game against the Washington Nationals, he surged and finally broke his curse.

FERNANDO TATIS JR. HAS HIT A HOME RUN IN 2026! pic.twitter.com/7mF2DoyAVw

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 30, 2026

Before hitting his homer at Nationals Park, Tatis Jr. slashed .266/.340/.318 with a .658 OPS. Right now, Tatis Jr is on a tear, slashing .338/.375/.473 with a .848 OPS. While he may not be hitting home runs, he knows how to get on base and score. In June alone, he crossed the plate 11 times. Over half of what he accomplished from March through May.

What this underscores is that Tatis Jr. is finally becoming leadoff material, and this might be exactly the change that the Padres need to get their offense going again.

The biggest change is one that everyone has already noticed: Tatis Jr. is hitting for contact and using his elite baserunning capability to his advantage.

Without home runs, Tatis Jr. had 165 total bases across the entirety of the 2025 season. In 2026, through 75 games, without home runs, he has 95. Even without the advent of homers, Tatis Jr. is still taking bases and playing his role.

This isn’t even counting his aggressiveness on the bases as well.

His peak stolen bases came last year at 32. With the season not even halfway over, he’s swiped 18 bags. That’s three more than he stole at the same time last year. Right now, he is sitting at a 69 percent on stolen bases. It’s a little bit above the break-even point, but signs indicate he’ll bring that up by the end of the season. What is truly remarkable right now is his extra bases taken percentage, which is at an elite 52 percent.

As the anchor of the Padres’ starting nine, Tatis Jr.’s position as a role player and true leadoff man could not be understated. If the Padres want to win games with a 30/30 offense, they need to get creative with how they approach the game. Fernando Tatis Jr. is doing so. Now the whole team has to adapt along with him.

Fabian Garcia