Padres pregame: Xander Bogaerts on paternity leave; Will Wagner recalled and in lineup

The Padres will be without Xander Bogaerts for a few days.

The 33-year-old veteran has been placed on the paternity list and replaced on the active roster by Will Wagner, who will immediately serve as the DH in Tuesday's 6:40 p.m. first pitch on Padres.TV. Meantime, Sung-Mun Song will start at shortstop and likely fill in at the position until Bogaerts rejoins the team on Friday in Baltimore.

Wagner will hit fifth, between first baseman Gavin Sheets and left fielder Samad Taylor, Song will bat ninth and switch-hitter Bryce Johnson will get the start in right field over Jase Bowen and bat seventh against Reds right-hander Chase Burns.

Bogaerts is hitting .231/.303/.356 as he's seen his numbers slide to .173/.231/.224 over his last 28 games, including a two-hit effort on Monday.

Bogaerts has started 63 of the team's 65 games to date at shortstop. The injured Jake Cronenworth (concussion) started one game and Song has started two and will likely man shortstop during Bogaerts' absence as Wagner has not seen any time at shortstop in the minors since 2022.

This year, Wagner has starts at second base (7), third base (5), first base (5) and left field (4) while hitting .255/.381/.382 with three homers in 30 games so far with Triple-A El Paso. An oblique injury barred him from competing for a big-league job in spring training and delayed the start of his season until May 1.

"Yeah, it sucks, just because you know I worked so hard in the offseason just to make the team," Wagner said Tuesday afternoon. "I felt really good with my swing and everything, too, going into spring training, and then pretty much like the first week I got hurt, so it was tough, but I know it’s a long season, and I just wanted to get back healthy."

The left-handed-hitting Wagner, the son of Hall-of-Fame reliever Billy Wagner, is a .256/.329/.346 hitter with two homers in 79 games in the majors, including a .133/.235/.133 hitter in 17 plate appearances after joining the Padres last year.

Song, 29, reached based three times in his last start on Saturday. He is hitting .194/.324/.226 in 37 plate appearances since making his first start in the majors on May 5.

Here is how the Reds will line up for Game 2:

Notable

• RHP Germán Márquez (forearm nerve) is in town to throw a bullpen before rejoining Triple-A El Paso later this week in Round Rock to make a third rehab start. He has thrown 6⅓ scoreless innings across his first two appearances with El Paso.
• C Luis Campusano (toe) caught the live BP that RHP Matt Waldron (brachialis) threw Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday’s pitching matchup

Reds RHP Chase Burns (7-1, 2.05 ERA)

He tied a season high with nine strikeouts in his last start, a quality start (6 IP, 2 ER) in a loss for the Reds. Burns has allowed two runs or less in his last nine starts (1.67 ERA). This is his first career start against the Padres.

No current Padres have history with Burns.

Padres RHP Lucas Giolito (2-1, 4.86 ERA)

He's struck out 11 against 13 walks through his first four starts (16⅔ IP), although he struck out five and walked one in his last start (4 IP, 2 ER). Giolito has an 8.16 ERA in three career starts against the Reds, including two in 2023 (9⅓ IP, 6 ER).

Here is how Giolito has fared against current Reds:

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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 10:36 AM.