PEORIA, Ariz. — It was the top of the lineup that caused Juan Soto to "wish good luck" to opposing pitchers on his first day with the Padres last season.
It was supposed to happen in August. It didn't.
Until Thursday.
It was merely a spring training game. But there they were.
Fernando Tatis Jr. atop the order, Soto batting second and Manny Machado third.
"There are certain things that get you excited about during the course of spring training," Padres manager Bob Melvin said before the game. "(Spring training) feels like the same day every day. But this is one of them."
In Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Mariners, in which he also played right field for the first time in a spring game, Tatis walked to start the game before making outs in his final two plate appearances, same as he did in his Cactus League debut on Tuesday.
He also scored after the walk, same as Tuesday. This time, he moved to third on a single by Soto and ran home on Nelson Cruz's bloop single to right field.
Soto singled again in his second at-bat and is 8-for-11 on the spring. Machado's 1-for-3 day made him 6-for-14 this spring.
"It's definitely fun," Tatis said of batting at the top of an order with so many dangerous hitters. "You know when you get on base, you're for sure moving."
This is how Melvin planned to most often fill out the top three spots in his lineup at the end of last season — when the Padres thought Tatis' return from wrist surgery was imminent, before his suspension for a positive PED test was announced on Aug. 12.
Melvin might do so this year, but there is also Xander Bogaerts to fit in. Bogaerts led off in his four starts before departing for the World Baseball Classic.
"You could pick 1-2-3-4 out of a hat," Melvin said earlier this spring.
After Thursday's game, the manager said: "I like the top of my order. It has good symmetry to it."
What Melvin decides on April 20, when Tatis returns from his suspension could, depend partly on what happens in the season's first 20 games. Both Bogaerts and Trent Grisham could bat leadoff during that span.
"I feel like that's why they have Bob," Tatis said of the batting order. "But I feel like there's no wrong answers."
Tatis, the fastest player in major league history to 50 career homers and 50 career steals, has served as the Padres' leadoff batter more than any other spot in his career. His 116 starts as the No.1 batter are most on the team since 2019 despite his missing last season. Since '19, his .317/.382/.627 line when batting first is by far the best on the team.
"What impresses me right now about Fernando, to tell you the truth, is that he's being patient," Melvin said. "You think you'd want to go up there and swing, and he goes up there first at-bat leading off the game and draws a walk again. Even the at-bat when he struck out, he's drawing a lot of pitches. … I like I like what he's doing right now."
Said Tatis: "It's been coming natural. I'm never taking at the plate. I'm always swinging when it's my pitch and I feel comfortable with my swing. It's been more I've been seeing the ball good and feeling good at the plate."
What is not so instinctive just yet is playing the outfield.
Tatis, a shortstop through the minors and almost all of his first three big-league seasons, has moved to the grass for 2023. It was almost certainly going to happen anyway as a way to preserve his body after a year of not playing; the move was assured when the Padres signed Bogaerts.
Right field will be Tatis' primary spot, and he has looked far more at home there in spring drills than he did when moved there at the end of '21.
"Besides today?" Tatis said with a laugh when asked how he thought the move has gone. "It's been going good."
Then he laughed again, harder.
In Thursday's third inning, one inning after he converted his only other catch opportunity, Tatis appeared to take a smart first step back before the sinking line drive off the bat of Teoscar Hernandez caused him to freeze up and get twisted up as the ball clanked off is glove.
"It died on me a little bit," Tatis said. "It had a lot of spin and the wind getting together. I got a good read on it, but I feel like at the end, I couldn't adjust my glove last minute."
Melvin has counseled Tatis that he has time to ease into the new position.
"There's gonna be plays like that for him," Melvin said after the game. "I told him, 'There are gonna be times that you are gonna make some plays out there (and) you're gonna get frustrated. And then the next day, you're gonna probably make two plays that nobody else can make.' Those are the type of things he's gonna learn the more he's out there."
Tatis would prefer to play center field, but the Padres have a two-time Gold Glove winner in Grisham at that position. And one of the things the Padres value from Tatis in right field is his arm strength.
His throw to second base after his drop trailed Hernandez by only a split-second.
"Oh, I'm definitely looking forward to that," he said of making throws to try to get baserunners. "I have been putting the work in on it, and I definitely have the arm. It's going to be more about the accuracy."
