Padres' Xander Bogaerts to Play 2nd Base; Ha-Seong Kim Named Starting Shortstop

The San Diego Padres are making a change at shortstop in 2024.

Xander Bogaerts, who has played almost exclusively at shortstop throughout his career, is shifting to second base this season while Ha-Seong Kim will take over at short, manager Mike Shildt told reporters Friday.

"I don't want to misrepresent: Xander Bogaerts played a really good shortstop for the San Diego Padres last year and was a positive part of us," Shildt said. "But now you look at it, and you do have a guy in Kimmy that also won a Gold Glove as a utility infielder. I will never speak for Bogey. … But he recognizes Kimmy's value at shortstop and is a good teammate for that."

Shildt added that he discussed moving Bogaerts to second base when he visited the veteran in his native Aruba this winter.

"His immediate default was: 'OK, what does this look like for our team?'" Shildt said. "Clearly, rightfully, he's going to want to know what's best for him and feel comfortable about the situation. But he was very open-minded. … I've just got a lot of respect for him."

Bogaerts signed an 11-year, $280 million deal with the Padres in December 2022 following a 10-year career with the Boston Red Sox that saw him win two World Series titles and earn five Silver Slugger awards and four All-Star selections.

The 31-year-old has never played a major league game at second base. He has spent the majority of his time at shortstop and has also seen time at third base and designated hitter during his career.

Bogaerts spent the 2023 campaign as San Diego's everyday shortstop while Kim played second base. Prior to Bogaerts' arrival, Kim spent the 2022 campaign as the team's primary shortstop worth eight outs above average.

While Kim was a Gold Glove finalist at short in 2022, he won the first Gold Glove of his career as a utility man last season.

Considering Bogaerts has never spent time at second base in the big leagues, Shildt acknowledged that he expects there to be some hiccups for the 31-year-old along the way.

"Understanding how to play the middle [infield] to move to second base is really important," Shildt said. "I expect there to be some transition, some learning curve clearly. I think we'd all be naïve to think that won't be the case. … But that's a guy that we wanted to have in the middle for his baseball IQ and his leadership."

Beyond Bogaerts and Kim, the Padres boast a roster full of former shortstops in Jake Cronenworth (first base), Manny Machado (third base) and Fernando Tatis Jr. (right field). If any injuries arise, they should have plenty of flexibility in the field.