Xander Bogaerts has been thinking.
He might not know the exact numbers. But he knows what the Padres are missing.
Donovan Solano has started just seven of the past 30 games and been to the plate just 47 times in the past month.
He was batting .314 with a .789 OPS before this stretch of inactivity.
“It sucks pretty much that Solano is out of the lineup,” Bogaerts said late Sunday afternoon. “That really sucks. He is still having an awesome year, but he was having an even better one until he stopped playing every day. So, I don’t know, man. I did have some thoughts, though. So, I mean, I don’t know, but I think it really sucks for Solano not being able to play every day and also knowing what a quality at-bat he gives you every at-bat pretty much. So if we can get him in there, you know, (it) would be nice.”
The Padres might feel compelled to make a move at shortstop soon, because Ha-Seong Kim’s injured throwing shoulder does not appear close to strong enough for an imminent return.
Kim has been throwing across the diamond but not anywhere near full strength. That included his appearing to struggle getting any zip on his throws in a workout Saturday.
“Yesterday was not necessarily a setback,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said Sunday. “Just wasn’t a move forward, so we’re still in the evaluation process. But yesterday was kind of a hit-the-wall a little bit and a little bit of a reset.”
Sunday provided an opportunity to take a step toward a possible longer-term solution at the position.
Mason McCoy has been starting at shortstop in place of Kim, but the Padres have a better offensive option and the defensive flexibility to go to it.
That is what they did in the fifth inning of Sunday’s 7-6 loss to the Giants, having Solano pinch-hit for McCoy and then play first base while Jake Cronenworth moved to second and Bogaerts shifted across the bag to shortstop
“Kind of easing Bogey back into the possibility of that — and not saying it’s a possibility; I don’t want to get it out there too much in the universe,” Shildt said. “But he was comfortable in a down game going over and getting his feet under him a little bit and seeing what it looked like. He was willing to do it today. Like I said, we’ll take our temperature as we move forward. But it was the opportunity in that down game to get Solano guaranteed at-bats and get Bogey over there to see how he felt.”
Asked if he could see himself playing at shortstop going forward, Bogaerts smiled and let out something between a sigh and a groan punctuated by a chuckle.
“Nice off day tomorrow,” he said. “So see how that goes. I don’t know. I don’t. Happy I got a ball. I got a ground ball. So that was good.”
Bogaerts primarily played shortstop his first 11 seasons in the major leagues before making the move to second base in spring training, as the Padres felt Kim at shortstop was their best defensive option.
The team did not ask Bogaerts to play shortstop when Kim injured his shoulder diving back into first base on June 18. But he made clear that after doing the work to get proficient at second, he was not interested in a full-time move.
Rotation equation
The Padres will start Yu Darvish on Tuesday and Michael King on Wednesday against the Mariners in Seattle.
Darvish is going on turn, but King is moving up to pitch on the regular four days’ rest.
With off days Monday, the next two Thursdays and then the Monday after that (Sept. 23), the Padres can manipulate their rotation multiple ways over the course of the regular season’s final three weeks. That could involve giving someone extra rest between starts and/or setting up a certain pitcher to pitch both Sept. 24 (Dodgers) and Sept. 29 (Diamondbacks) during the final week of the season.