Padres pregame: Leaning on veteran platoon; Trent Grisham content with Yankees role

Between the two of them, David Peralta and Donovan Solano have amassed more than 7,063 plate appearances across a combined 20 years in the majors. The timetable for Xander Bogaerts’ return from the fracture in the left shoulder is at least two months, meaning both Peralta and Solano figure to get plenty of run in what is shaping up to be a platoon of sorts for the two veterans.

The 36-year-old Peralta is starting for the third time in four days against a right-handed starter on Saturday (6:40 p.m. first pitch). In that time, he has spelled Jurickson Profar in left field, Fernando Tatis Jr. in right and on Saturday will serve as the DH as Manny Machado mans third base.

Meantime, all seven of Solano’s starts have come against left-handers, with six of those games coming at third base to allow Machado to serve as the DH.

Solano is hitting .308/.379/.346 with one RBI in 29 plate appearances since joining the Padres earlier this month.

Peralta is 3-for-7 with an RBI so far. He will bat sixth, between Machado in the five-hole and center fielder Jackson Merrill.

“We’re going to move the pieces around a little bit and the pieces have worked really well to this point,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “You’re talking about guys with just a lot of professional at-bats and how they go about it, so their value’s been on the field. We’ve already seen that. …

“They just have a good presence about them. They help elevate the clubhouse. They are just really good pick-ups.”

Here is the Yankees’ lineup:

The other homecoming

While all eyes have been on Juan Soto as he leaves “inside joke” notes for Tatis in right field as he did late in Friday’s game and laughing and hugging the likes of Bogaerts, Jose Azocar and Robert Suarez in the home dugout on Saturday afternoon, Trent Grisham has quietly played catch-up with old friends in what is also his first trip back to San Diego since his inclusion in the Soto trade.

A two-time Gold Glover, Grisham had been the Padres starting center fielder for four years and part of two playoff runs, which included hitting three home runs in seven games to get past the Mets and Dodgers in the team’s 2022 NLCS run.

“The baseball stuff is cool but for me it’s more about coming back and seeing the people,” Grisham said Saturday afternoon in the visiting clubhouse. “There’s so many relationships. Me and my wife came here when we just got married, started our marriage living in San Diego for four years. It’s a special place to us in our hearts and the people we met along the way have been unbelievable, a big part of our lives.”

Despite back-to-back disappointing seasons, Grisham said he was not anticipating the trade out of San Diego. After starting the last four years with the Padres, his role as a fourth outfielder behind Soto (.995 OPS), Aaron Judge (1.030 OPS) and Alex Verdugo (.739 OPS) has been a difficult one to adjust to, one made all the easier with the amount of wins the Yankees are piling up.

Grisham is just 2-for-36 with seven walks this season (.056/.227/.139), but one of those hits is a home run. He has started 13 games and been a defensive replacement in seven others, as was the case on Friday night.

“It’s definitely a challenge because I’ve never done it before,” Grisham said. “But with anything, being an athlete, you just try to be the best you can at whatever role you’re given, so I’m just trying to dominate that role. There’s been challenging parts of getting used to it, but I’ve adjusted to it and trying to do my best.”

Saturday’s pitching matchup

Yankees RHP Marcus Stroman (3-2, 3.05 ERA)

The perceived consolation prize when the Yankees balked at Blake Snell’s price, Stroman has allowed one run in his last 13⅓ innings, striking out eight against four walks over that stretch (.384 OPS). The 33-year-old is 4-0 with a 1.76 ERA, 30 strikeouts and 10 walks in five career starts (30⅔ IP) against the Padres, including one last year with the Cubs (6 IP, 0 ER).

Here is how Stroman has fared against current Padres:

The Yankees’ Marcus Stroman vs. current Padres

Padres RHP Dylan Cease (5-3, 3.05 ERA)

He still leads all qualifying starters with 5.3 hits per nine innings, despite allowing a season-high nine in his last start (4 IP, 5 ER). Cease has a 7.45 ERA over his last two starts. He has a 6.75 ERA in four career starts (18⅔ IP) against the Yankees, but he beat them with 5⅓ shutout innings in a win last year.

Here is how Cease has fared against current Yankees:

(Baseball-reference.com)