Padres pregame: Profar in left field, Nola ... leading off?

The Padres shed a bit more payroll while bolstering their bullpen Thursday morning.

So what’s left?

Um … maybe left field.

For all their efforts to bolster the position this spring, the Padres are left to start the status quo in left field as switch-hitter Jurickson Profar draws the start there for the opening day matchup with the Diamondbacks at Chase Field (6:40 p.m.; read about the season-opening series here).

That’s not all that’s noteworthy about Bob Melvin’s first lineup as the Padres manager as catcher Austin Nola draws his first career start in the leadoff spot.

The last Padres backstop to lead off a game?

Francisco Mejia on Sept. 16, 2018 against the Rangers (he hit a walk-off grand slam that day).

Nola is a career .271/.345/.435 hitter in the majors, numbers that are almost identical against left-handers (.271/.345/.447) as he’ll face Thursday evening in Madison Bumgarner.

The Padres’ 32-year-old catcher is 3-for-6 with a double and one strikeout in his career against Arizona’s ace.

With Nola in the leadoff spot, the left-handed-hitting Trent Grisham will bat ninth. Manny Machado will bat second, followed by second baseman Jake Cronenworth, new DH Luke Voit, right fielder Wil Myers, first baseman Eric Hosmer, Profar and shortstop Ha-seong Kim.

As for Profar, he is the first player to start in left field on opening day in back-to-back seasons since Ryan Klesko from 2004 to 2005. The cast of characters to run out to that spot since then include two Upton brothers in back-to-back years, Jose Pirela, Tommy Medica, Paul McAnulty and yes even Chase Headley.

A look at the Padres’ opening day left fielders in the Preller Era:

• · 2015: Justin Upton
• · 2016: Melvin Upton
• · 2017: Travis Jankowski
• · 2018: Jose Pirela
• · 2019: Wil Myers
• · 2020: Tommy Pham
• · 2021: Jurickson Profar

The switch-hitting Profar hit .226/.333/.323 over 36 plate appearances this spring after hitting .227/.329/.320 over 412 plate appearances last year. Profar signed a three-year, $21 million deal after hitting .278/.343/.428 in 2020, when he made 32 starts in left field after taking over for the injured Tommy Pham, now with the Reds.

Profar made 28 starts in left field in 2021, 24 in right, 19 in center, 12 at first base and six at second base.

Here is the Diamondbacks’ lineup:

Thursday’s pitching matchup

Padres RHP Yu Darvish (8-11, 4.22 ERA in 2021)

He allowed 17 earned runs in 23 innings (6.65 ERA) last year against the Diamondbacks, including 10 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings at Chase Field. Darvish has a 6.38 ERA in five career starts at Arizona.

Here’s how current Diamondbacks have fared in their careers against Darvish:

(Sanders, Jeffrey)

Diamondbacks LHP Madison Bumgarner (7-10, 4.67 ERA in 2021)

The former Giants ace has a 5.07 ERA in 188 innings since signing with Arizona in 2020 and has a 6.75 ERA in his last five starts against the Padres (0-3). Bumgarner lowered his ERA from 5.73 in the second half in 2021 to 3.95 after the All-Star break.

Here’s how current Padres (sans Victor Caratini) have fared in their careers against Bumgarner:

(Baseball-reference)