San Diego Padres: The dream starting lineup for the 2024 season

9) Trent Grisham - CF

Trent Grisham is what he is at this point. He won't give much offensively, but is a great defender and draws a lot of walks.

His 2023 season was not one for the record books offensively. He hit below .200 with a .666 OPS in 153 games for San Diego. The reason he played everyday was because of his defense being valuable in center field, and the fact that he still got on base at a decent clip. The strikeouts are annoying, but Grisham drew 75 walks and had a .315 OBP.

If the Padres had a top eight consisting of the eight in this dream lineup, they really don't need a great hitter to round out the order. They should be fine sacrificing offense for defense in that case and still score a bunch of runs. Plus, Grisham will still hit 10-15 home runs and steal a decent amount of bases too. The outfielder even chipped in a career-high 31 doubles this past season.

The Phillies were just one win away from winning the NL Pennant with Johan Rojas as their center fielder and number nine hitter. Rojas had four hits in 43 at-bats in the playoffs and he still wasn't the reason they lost. This team is about the stars. A player like Grisham just has to play well in center field and chip in on occasion offensively. Considering the fact that he was in the 92nd percentile in OAA according to baseball savant, I think the Padres are just fine here.