Padres News: Bob Melvin Talks Potential Lineup Construction with Soto, Machado and More

Friars will have a ton of firepower to experiment with !

As opposing teams around the league get comfortable at Spring Training and prepare for the regular season, one thing is certain: pitchers are not looking forward to facing your San Diego Padres.

Boasting a potential top-four sluggers in the league with Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Xander Bogaerts, and Fernando Tatis Jr, pitchers will be asked to find a way to stop all of those stars from getting hits. Dating back to the 2021 season when Tatis was healthy, all of these guys have been in the MVP race and are feared whenever they step up to the plate.

Team manager Bob Melvin is well-aware of the talent he has in front of him and is very excited to get started with them. He joined "97.3 The Fan" in a Spring Training media session and shared the possibilities of lineups involving all four heavy hitters.

Bob Melvin discusses the potential top of his lineup…with the various options of ordering Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto, Manny Machado, and Xander Bogaerts.

What would your top of the Padres lineup look like? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/DI2n0DzdJh

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) February 23, 2023

"We'll figure it out as we go along. Once Fernando comes back, you can pick 1,2,3,4 out of a hat," said Melvin. "A lot of it probably comes with comfortability, so we'll see where it goes. All this, you try to work it all out in your head right now but each and every day affects what it might look like later on."

Even though Melvin is expressing that him and the coaching staff still need to see how everything develops, this will be the starting four when Tatis is playing again come April. He will likely be first up so he can get accustomed again and see pitching right away.

Fangraphs currently projects this big four to post an fWAR of 21.9 altogether this season. It is clear that the team along with the city has World Series aspirations bringing together such a dynamic group and fans have already been sharing their thoughts on what the pecking order should like for these stars.

1. Bebo
2. Soto
3. Manny
4. X

— PADRES Obsessed Wes ⚾🏳️‍🌈 (@PadresWes) February 23, 2023