Ha-Seong Kim injury update forces stubborn Mike Shildt to reshuffle Padres lineup

The San Diego Padres put another one in the win column on Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners. Manny Machado broke the Padres' all-time home run record and Luis Arráez kept his strikeout-less streak alive.

But while both those feats were impressive, the biggest takeaway from Tuesday's game at T-Mobile Park was Mike Shildt's lineup. At long last, the Padres skipper decided to reshuffle things. More specifically, Xander Bogaerts was starting at shortstop for the first time this season.

Bogaerts, who was moved to second base during spring training came up as a shortstop with the Red Sox organization and went to four All-Star Games during his tenure in Boston. In short, Bogaerts has plenty of experience there.

Ha-Seong Kim injury update finally forces stubborn Padres manager to reshuffle lineup

And while Bogaerts will be handling shortstop duties for the foreseeable future, it's obviously less than ideal. Why? Because Ha-Seong Kim is still on the IL with a shoulder injury. Kim has been out of action since mid-August, and Shildt recently said that the infielder's recovery has been slower than they'd hoped. More recently, Shildt claimed that Kim was in holding pattern.

Shifting Bogaerts to shortstop is long overdue, but it also may indicate that Kim's shoulder injury is even more worrisome than the Friars are letting on. It's doubtful that the Padres' skipper makes this kind of move if Kim was making steady progress.

Bogaerts to shortstop obviously means that other moves needed to be made as well. On Tuesday, Jake Cronenworth moved from first to second, and Donovan Solano took over at first base. The Padres can always insert Arráez — who was the DH on Tuesday — at first or second base as well. It was the same deal on Wednesday in San Diego's 5-2 loss.

Moving Boagerts back to shortstop gets Mason McCoy and Tyler Wade out of the everyday lineup; something that Shildt should have done weeks ago. The NL Wild Card chase is getting tighter. While the Padres still maintain the top Wild Card spot, the Arizona Diamondbacks are hot on their tail, and the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets aren't ready to fold just yet.

Shildt needs to keep Bogaerts at shortstop until Kim finally returns from the IL. Though Bogaerts has struggled of late, both McCoy and Wade have an OPS+ below 60. That's not going to cut it.

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