Padres pregame: Trying Xander Bogaerts atop order, Jackson Merrill sits

Facing their first left-handed starting pitcher in a week, the Padres are sitting Jackson Merrill and giving Xander Bogaerts his first start of the season in the leadoff spot.

Thursday's first pitch is at 10:40 a.m. on Padres.TV.

Merrill is out of the lineup entirely for the first time since May 1. He is hitting .215/.287/.342 with four homers in a disappointing start to the season and is hitting .242/.306/.333 in 36 plate appearances against lefties (his .639 OPS is actually better than his .627 OPS against righties).

The move to the leadoff spot hasn't really worked to jumpstart Merrill's season either, as he's hitting .176/.300/.235 in that spot.

Not that he's alone in struggles atop the order. With Ramón Laureano settling inti a deep sleep to force the switch, the Padres' .577 OPS out of the top of the order ranks 29th, ahead of only the Reds (.556).

Laureano's short-term success in that spot is relative as he's still got a .686 OPS as a leadoff hitter to pace Merrill (.535), Fernando Tatis Jr. (.372) and the injured Jake Cronenworth (.333).

Which brings us to Bogaerts atop the order.

The 33-year-old veteran is hitting .262/.337/.423 with a team-high seven homers, although he's hitting .158/.200/.211 over his last five games.

Bogaerts is a .283/.351/.397 hitter across 365 plate appearances atop the order. He made one start there last year (.650 OPS), 29 starts there in 2024 (.567 OPS) and 23 starts there in 2023 (.885 OPS) in his first year with the Padres.

Before that, Bogaerts hadn't hit leadoff since 2017 (.824).

Tatis (.626 OPS) will get a third straight start at second base and as the two-hole hitter as Nick Castellanos (.530 OPS) is in right field for the third straight game.

Miguel Andujar (.798 OPS) is serving as the DH. A day after his heroics, Gavin Sheets (.743 OPS) is in the lineup at first base as the only left-handed hitter in the lineup over Ty France, who is hitting .172/.172/.345 over his last nine games.

Freddy Fermin (.497 OPS) is back in the lineup behind the plate and Bryce Johnson (.561 OPS) will start in center field and bat ninth. Johnson has just one plate appearance since his last start on May 1.

The Padres (25-17) are a half-game ahead of the Dodgers (25-18) in the NL West and have the fifth-best record in baseball despite a plus-3 run differential (10th).

Here is how the Brewers (23-17, 2nd in NL Central) will line up a day after their five-game winning streak was snapped:

Thursday’s pitching matchup

Padres RHP Griffin Canning (0-1, 6.75 ERA)

He's struck out 12 batters through his first two starts (9 ⅓ IP). Four of the seven earned runs that he's allowed scored on the "Little League" home run that skipped under Tatis’ glove in his last start. Canning lost his only start against the Brewers back in 2024 (5 IP, 6 R, 4 ER).

Here is how Canning has fared against current Brewers:

Brewers LHP Kyle Harrison (3-1, 2.41 ERA)

The former Giants prospect is on his third team in the last two years after he was included in the Rafael Devers trade from Boston last year and the Caleb Durbin trade in February. Harrison has allowed two runs or less in all seven starts this year. Harrison has a 7.31 ERA in three career starts against the Padres.

Here is how Harrison has fared against current Padres:

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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 9:14 AM.