Padres' Bogaerts will shift to 2B, Kim to play SS

San Diego Padres infielder Xander Bogaerts will shift over to second base this season, while Ha-Seong Kim will play shortstop, Padres manager Mike Shildt said Friday, according to The Athletic's Dennis Lin.

"My admiration for Xander went through the roof," Shildt said, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post.

Bogaerts has never made an appearance at second base during his 11-year MLB career.

The 31-year-old is entering the second season of an 11-year, $280-million contract signed in December 2022. Bogaerts graded out reasonably well at shortstop last season, ranking in the 81st percentile in Statcast's outs above average but was worth -4 defensive runs saved.

"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, according to MLB.com's AJ Cassavell. "But now you look at it, and you do have a guy in Kimmy that also won a Gold Glove as a utility infielder."

Kim made 106 appearances at second base, 32 at third base, and 20 at shortstop last season for the Padres en route to the first Gold Glove of his career. The 28-year-old served as San Diego's primary shortstop in 2022, playing 131 games at the position. Kim was excellent defensively in 2023, finishing in the 96th percentile in outs above average. He also graded out well in 2022, finishing in the 94th percentile in the Statcast metric.