Padres’ first base battle might already be decided after Craig Stammen tips his hand

For months, Padres fans have felt like the team was treating first base like one of those “we’ll sort it out later” problems. Then Craig Stammen went and made it sound… pretty sorted.

At FanFest, Stammen said Gavin Sheets is “penciled in” as the club’s regular first baseman — and that choice says a lot more about San Diego’s roster plan than it does about Sheets himself.

Padres leaning on Gavin Sheets at first base exposes a stressful lack of options

Because the real tell wasn’t just the first base comment. It was what Stammen said next about the designated hitter spot. Much like former manager Mike Shildt, he doesn’t want a set DH. He wants a rotating DH so Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Fernando Tatis Jr., Ramón Laureano, and Jackson Merrill can all cycle through and stay fresh.

That’s the part that quietly tightens the whole picture. If DH is going to be treated like a maintenance day instead of a full-time job, the Padres need someone who can simply take first base every day and let everything else breathe. 

MLB.com’s lineup projections underline it. Against right-handers, Sheets is slotted at first, with the DH spot available to be flexible — including a look where Hyeseong Kim (the KBO import) is in the lineup. Against lefties, the projection still keeps Sheets at first while Miguel Andújar slides into DH.

And that’s where the Padres logic gets interesting. If Stammen is serious about the DH rotation, then Andújar’s role is less “everyday bat” and more “weapon.” He’s the guy you deploy when the matchup fits, not the player you have to force into the lineup because you promised someone a DH lane. Meanwhile, Kim’s versatility suddenly matters more, because it gives Stammen another way to keep his stars fresh without punting defense or losing lineup balance.

Heading into spring training, you can call it a first base battle if you want. But the way Stammen framed it, it already sounds like the Padres have picked their stabilizer — and now the actual squeeze happens everywhere else. Bench spots get tighter. Playing time gets more matchup-driven. And the players who were hoping first base or DH would stay open as an escape hatch? Stammen basically just shut the door.