The San Diego Padres are battling the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West title, and with the competition being so close this late in the year, every decision and piece of leverage counts.
While the offense in San Diego has improved since the trade deadline, the Padres still need to determine the best way to maximize their talent. One of the players that manager Mike Shildt will have to decide on is Luis Arraez.
In a piece from Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune, Shildt answered a question about Arraez's role in the lineup going forward. Despite speculation over Arraez's spot in the lineup changing, Shildt's answer revealed that, for now, no change is coming.
Luis Arraez is Going Nowhere in the Lineup
Arraez has spent the 2025 season batting second, and while there's been some frustrating at-bats lately, he's still held onto that spot in the lineup. But Shildt, who could change the lineup, isn't planning to do so just yet.
"The lineups are always fluid," Shildt said. "I know people like to think about them. Rightfully so. Louie got a day today. Came off the bench, good teammate. But, you know, Luis Arraez still (has) the fifth-most hits in the National League, second-most multiple-hit games, and is a big part of our club."
While the Padres could make a change to the lineup, moving a red-hot slugger like Ramon Laureano to second in the lineup, Shildt isn't planning to make such a change.
But that doesn't mean such a change couldn't happen in the future. Even though he emphasized that Arraez is sticking in the number-two spot, he did leave open the door to something changing later this season.
"We'll continue to look at it," Shildt said. "But, I mean, it was a good chance for Laureano to get back a little bit higher. And we also talked about balancing our lineup out as well."
Even though Shildt isn't going to make a change soon, the door is open for the Padres lineup to look a little different later this year. If Arraez was hitting at his best, there would be no qualms over him staying second in the lineup. But he's struggled a bit this year.
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In 128 games for the Padres in 2025, Arraez is hitting .283, the worst mark of his career. He also has a .705 OPS, also the worst mark of his career.
But, even though he isn't hitting for average like he did when he won three straight batting titles from 2022 to 2024, he's still one of the league's best hitters when it comes to limiting strikeouts.
Arraez has just 15 strikeouts this season in 520 at-bats. His 2.7 strikeout percentage is the lowest it's been in his career. Even though he hasn't been an incredible hitter like he was in years past, he's still a valuable bat in the lineup.
But with more runners on, he could be even more valuable. His contact-first approach could be a huge boost to the team with baserunners on. Since he rarely strikes out, having a player who can put the ball in play most of the time would be great with runners on.
Hitting second makes it a little more challenging. If Shildt were to move Arraez down in the lineup, he could have more runners on base when he's up, which could lead to a more potent offense for the Padres.
But, based on the comments from Shildt, he has no plans to move Arraez down in the lineup. He'll stay batting second until further notice, as the Padres look to catch the Dodgers and win the NL West for the first time since 2006.
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