What San Diego Padres lineup could look like in 2021, 2022

Even though we still have a full season of San Diego Padres baseball ahead of us in 2020, we look to what this team could look like in the coming years.

We are in a very exciting time for San Diego Padres baseball with a lot of young talent coming into the big leagues and more on the way.

While I certainly don’t want to lose sight of the 2020 season, which I think has the makings of being a very good year for San Diego, now is a great time to start looking towards the future as well and what could be.

Certainly 2020 is the year we all expected this team to start to turn the corner and become competitive.

Some may have thought that would happen in 2019, but that was thinking optimistically. This season is the one where we should see the Padres take the next big step in their development.

But 2021 and 2022 are the seasons where we really should see this team start competing for division titles and even World Series titles.

Now I know a lot can happen over the next year or so, but I think we have a pretty good idea of what the foundation of this team will look like.

We have a young superstar at shortstop in Fernando Tatis Jr. and a veteran superstar at third base in Manny Machado.

On the pitching side we have a rising top of the rotation pitcher in Chris Paddack, and a couple more on the way in MacKenzie Gore and Luis Patino.

Those five players appear to be the core group in what should be an entertaining era of baseball for the Padres over the next five seasons or so.

Assuming there are no more trades, and I’m sure there will be, let’s take a look at what the lineup and starting rotation could look like in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

The lineup

The offense should be really fun to watch for the foreseeable future, and that’s not something we’ve been able to say about a San Diego team in quite some time.

Here is what the lineup could look like in 2021:

Taylor Trammell – CF

Tommy Pham – LF

Fernando Tatis Jr. – SS

Manny Machado – 3B

Eric Hosmer – 1B

Jake Cronenworth – 2B

Trent Grisham – RF

Frarncisco Mejia – C

What we know for sure about the 2021 lineup right now is that Pham, Tatis, and Machado will be at the top of the order.

I’m thinking optimistically on Trammell here — someone who I’ve notably been down on as a prospect. But I’m hoping he has a bounce-back year in 2020 at Double-A and proves he’s ready to make the jump in 2021.

For better or worse, Hosmer is our first baseman for the foreseeable future. I think A.J. Preller will see if he can move his contract next offseason, but it’s not likely to happen until after the 2021 season when he’ll still have four years left, but his AAV goes down to $13 from 2023-20205.

I debated between Owen Miller and Cronenworth at second base, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about Cronenworth this offseason and am starting to become a big believer of his.

Here is what the 2022 lineup could look like:

CJ Abrams – CF

Gabriel Arias – 2B

Fernando Tatis Jr. – SS

Manny Machado – 3B

Eric Hosmer – 1B

Trent Grisham – RF

Luis Campusano – C

Taylor Trammell – LF

That top three in the lineup has the potential to be dynamic. I’m really banking high on Abrams and Arias remaining elite hitters as they progress.

Those top three could all be 20-20 guys one day. To me, this is the lineup I dream to see one day.

Final thoughts

Again, I think 2020 will be a very fun and exciting year, but don’t forget that the rebuild is not complete and probably won’t be until 2022 when the last wave of prospects finally assert themselves at the Major League level.

It will be interesting to see how Tatis, Abrams, and Arias are positioned in the future. I think those three are the building blocks for the rebuild in the lineup.

It’s unclear which one is the better fit at shortstop, but if they all continue to hit they’ll find a way to fit them all in the lineup.

That 2022 lineup has me really excited for the future and just how dynamic the offense could be with power and speed.

The only spot in the lineup I’m not sure of are the corner outfield spots and first base. I’m thinking optimistically about Grisham, but there is a very real possibility he doesn’t develop into an every day player.

I think there still could be some retooling of the outfield going forward, and maybe we see some prospects moved to the outfield. But overall, that lineup should be a really fun one to watch.

And I think we all know how exciting the starting rotation can be once Gore and Patino get called up, which we could see as soon as this upcoming 2020 season.

I think we see the Padres maybe bring in a veteran in those seasons on one-year deals, much like the Atlanta Braves did with Cole Hamels this offseason to stabilize their young rotation.

But all of those arms have top of the rotation potential.

It’s really fun to look at what could be for the future of the Padres. Let me know what your future lineup and rotation looks like in the comments below.