Padres won’t fix their lineup until they bench this struggling veteran

The storybook career renaissance is over for Jose Iglesias. The veteran shortstop was one of baseball's coolest stories in 2024, and he earned his place with the Padres in the offseason. But Father Time has come again for the 35-year-old.

The San Diego Padres must bench Jose Iglesias immediately if they are going to save their struggling offense. It's time to face the music. Iglesias is slashing .224/.293/.271, good for an OPS of .564 and an OPS+ of 57. His -0.9 bWAR is the worst in his career, as is his -0.5 fWAR.

The veteran really is not doing anything right at the plate. He's running a strikeout rate of 16.8%, his worst mark since 2012. His BABIP of .270 is also his worst since 2012, when he was 22 and played in just 25 games.

Padres need to move on from Jose Iglesias, just like the Mets did

He's also graded by FanGraphs as a below-average defender for the first time since 2011, a season when Iglesias played in just 10 games as a 21-year-old prospect. The story of his season get's even worse when you take a look at his StatCast metrics.

Iglesias ranks in the one percentile in expected slugging, sweet-spot percentage, and average exit velocity. He ranks in the second percentile in barrel rate, the third percentile in hard-hit rate, and the fourth percentile in expected wOBA. His chase rate is in the 15th percentile, his walk rate in the 32nd percentile, and his batting run value in the 11th percentile.

Defensively, his range is in the 29th percentile, while his arm is graded in the 31st percentile. On the basepaths, his baserunning value is in the 43rd percentile.

The Padres acting like Iglesias is their only option as shortstop is insane. Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatís Jr. both played shortstop at the beginning of their careers, and Jake Cronenworth has experience at the position as well. Moving one of their outfielders to shortstop would theoretically mean San Diego could have both Ryan O'Hearn and Gavin Sheets in the lineup together every night. That's only happened once since Jackson Merrill's return from the IL, which shifted Ramon Laureano to left field and forced Sheets and O'Hearn to platoon at DH.

It certainly feels like the Padres should prefer to have O'Hearn (125 OPS+, 2.0 bWAR) and Sheets (111 OPS+, 0.7 bWAR) in the lineup together instead of Iglesias, who is providing negative value to the team.

Even considering platoon splits, it would make the most sense.

Sheets has a .799 OPS against right-handed pitchers and a .714 OPS against left-handed pitchers. O'Hearn has a .802 OPS against right-handed pitchers and a .839 OPS against left-handed pitchers. Iglesias has a .472 OPS against right-handed pitchers and a .706 OPS against left-handed pitchers.

If the Padres really wanted Iglesias to play shortstop for his defense, they should consider using him only against left-handed pitchers. Against lefties, O'Hearn would remain at DH and Iglesias at shortstop. But against right-handed pitchers, either Merrill or Tatís Jr would play shortstop, allowing Sheets to play the outfield and O'Hearn to stay at DH.

The Padres should consider making this move immediately if they want to save their struggling lineup. Iglesias has been fun, but he's hurting the team more than he's helping.