Padres pregame: Turning to Jose Iglesias at shortstop

Until Xander Bogaerts (foot) returns, shortstop seemingly belongs to Jose Iglesias.

The 35-year-old veteran is starting a second straight at the position and in the seven-hole in the Padres’ 4:10 p.m. game at the Minnesota Twins on Padres.TV.

Iglesias is hitting .233/.306/.279 with one homer in 291 plate appearances, a far cry from his production last year in the same amount of plate appearances for the New York Mets.

A key cog in the Mets’ postseason push last year, Iglesias hit .337/.381/.488 with four homers and 26 RBIs over 291 plate appearances. That adds up to a .830 OPS compared to a .585 OPS this year.

August has been Iglesias’ best month as he has a .669 OPS over just 45 plate appearances. He collected two hits, an RBI and a run scored in Friday’s loss and is starting a third straight game for the first time since Aug. 17-19 and just the second time since July 29-Aug. 1.

On both occasions Iglesias started at a different position each of his three consecutive starts.

Now it looks as if shortstop will be his spot and Mason McCoy will serve as the infielder who bounces around

With Iglesias at shortstop and in the seven-hole, Luis Arraez will serve as the DH and two-hole hitter, first baseman Ryan O’Hearn will hit clean-up and center fielder Ramón Laureano will bat fifth, ahead of left fielder Gavin Sheets.

Pivetta on the mound. pic.twitter.com/30DUX0Ad2Y

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 30, 2025

Friday’s loss cost the Padres a chase to cut into the Dodgers’ two-game lead in the division as LA lost to Arizona.

The Padres trail the Cubs by two games in the race for the NL’s top wild-card spot and are up two games on the Mets, the NL’s current third wild-card team.

On the outside looking in, the Reds are have lost four in a row and trail the Mets by five games, while the Giants have won six in a row to move to within six games of the Mets.

Here is how the Twins (61-73) will line up for Game 2:

Today's #Twins lineup pic.twitter.com/Px67RcGgpH

— Jeff Sanders (@sdutSanders) August 30, 2025

Saturday’s pitching matchup

Padres RHP Nick Pivetta (13-4, 2.82 ERA)

He has a 2.84 ERA in five starts this month, including allowing two runs in six innings last weekend in a no-decision against the Dodgers. Pivetta has a 6.19 ERA in four career starts against the Twins, which includes just an unearned run allowed in five innings in a win last year.

Here is how Pivetta has fared against current Twins:

• C Ryan Jeffers (0-for-4, 2 Ks, HBP)
• OF Byron Buxton (2-for-4, 2B)
• OF Trevor Larnach (0-for-3, BB, K)
• INF Royce Lewis (0-for-2, BB, K)
• OF Matt Wallner (1-for-2, BB, K)

Twins RHP Taj Bradley (6-7, 4.95 ERA)

In his last two starts, he allowed 11 earned runs in back-to-back appearances across just 6⅔ innings against the lowly Chicago White Sox. Bradley has 5.43 ERA in 11 starts at home this year. He allowed eight runs in 2⅓ innings in his lone start against the Padres in 2024.

Here is how Bradley has fared against current Padres: