The Padres have spent all season auditioning bodies for the No. 2 spot, and the results have been ugly. Twelve different hitters have already taken a turn there, and by September 16 the group had managed an MLB-worst .652 OPS.
That kind of production leaves San Diego with a simple reality: the answer probably isn’t one perfect hitter. It might be two.
Austin Hays and Dustin Harris look like the cleanest way to patch the problem. The idea is straightforward enough.
Keep Fernando Tatis Jr. in the leadoff spot, keep Manny Machado where he can drive him in, and use the opposing pitcher’s handedness to decide who fills the gap in between. Harris can handle the at-bats against right-handed starters.
Hays can step in when a lefty is on the mound.
It’s a platoon, sure. But it’s a platoon built around the Padres’ actual need, and that matters more than chasing some idealized No. 2 hitter who has not shown up.
Harris has already gotten three straight starts batting second against right-handers. In those games, he went 3-for-12 with a walk and a sacrifice fly.
That line is not going to wow anybody, but for this lineup spot it counts as competence. The position has chewed up almost everyone the Padres have tried there.
Then came Tuesday against Colorado, when the Rockies activated lefty Kyle Freeland and Craig Stammen dropped Hays into the No. 2 hole. Hays responded with two hits and a go-ahead homer in the fifth inning. San Diego’s pitching later lost the night and the Padres fell 9-3, but Hays still handled his part.
The numbers back up the fit. Hays has posted an .816 OPS against left-handed pitching in his career.
Harris, the left-handed bat in this setup, has hit .274 with a .333 OBP against righties this season. Neither profile screams everyday middle-of-the-order solution, but together they give the Padres something far more usable than what they’ve had.
That’s been the bigger issue all along. San Diego has kept moving the same hole from one hitter to the next, hoping the next name would stick. Jake Cronenworth got 18 straight starts in the two-hole against right-handers and went 19-for-91 before his bat perked up after he was moved lower in the order.
At this point, the Padres do not need a miracle at No. 2.
They need someone who can reach base, keep the inning alive and give Machado a chance to hit with traffic. If that’s all the spot provides, so be it.
The appeal of the Hays-Harris split is that it stops pretending the perfect answer is waiting somewhere in the clubhouse. Hays has spent years punishing lefties.
Harris has earned a longer look with the spark he’s brought down the stretch. Let the matchup decide, and let each player do what he does best.
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