Padres' Craig Stammen Calls Himself 'Dumb' for One Move This Year

The Padres skipper was honest with himself.

Apr 11, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen (14) walks off the field after making a pitching change during the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | David Frerker-Imagn Images

San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen spent the spring trying to figure out who his leadoff hitter would be for the 2026 season.

Xander Bogaerts was the first player Stammen experimented with in the leadoff spot at the start of the Cactus League. The Padres shortstop went 2-for-12 (.167) with an OPS of .481 across those five games before leaving to join Team Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic.

It was evidently clear Bogaerts was better suited as hitter in the middle of the order.

Jake Cronenworth was the next man up and he found some success against right-handed pitchers, but the infielder has struggled to start the season as he's hitting just .148 with an OPS of .459.

Most lineup projections entering the season had Fernando Tatis Jr leading off for the Friars in 2026, just as he did for the team in 2025. Tatis was open to once again hitting atop the order, but he can find success anywhere in the lineup. The Padres prefer for Tatis to have runners on when he comes up to the plate.

Padres Have Finally Decided on Leadoff Hitter

A few weeks into the season, Stammen has finally decided on the team's permanent leadoff hitter: outfielder Ramón Laureano.

Laureano has been atop the lineup in his last six games (he got the day off on Friday), and he's gone 9-for-23 with two doubles, a triple and a home run.

The Padres skipper admitted he was "dumb" for putting Laureano in the bottom of the lineup to start the season.

“Every time we put somebody in the leadoff, they kind of [went] in a slump, and he just didn’t go in a slump,” Stammen said of Laureano. “I think that maybe the first home run that he hit from the leadoff spot, within the course of the game, we just felt we saw a lot of good at-bats from him, and him being in that spot didn’t affect his at-bats. He was taking them the same whether he was batting first, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, whatever, you know, when I was dumb putting him lower in the lineup.

“We felt really good with his attitude leading us off and setting the tone for our team. He does a great job of that, and the guys feed off of him too. He’s got that personality.”

On the season, Laureano is hitting .290 with four home runs, 13 RBIs and an OPS of .906 amid his first full campaign with the Padres. While president of baseball operations A.J. Preller orchestrated the deal of the deadline when he acquired Mason Miller from the Athletics, he also snagged Laureano and Ryan O'Hearn from the Baltimore Orioles in an underrated move.

Since he arrived to San Diego, the outfielder has made an immediate impact. In 2025, Laureano .269 with an .812 OPS across 50 games with the Padres.

This year, he's settled into an ever-important role leading off the team's games.

The Padres have repeated lineups just once this season as Stammen has shuffled things around seemingly every night. That appears set to change now that Laureano is locked into the top spot.

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