Padres look ahead to lineups vs. Cards

Onto the postseason.

The Padres wrapped up the most successful regular season in franchise history -- by winning percentage, at least -- with a 5-4 victory over the Giants at Oracle Park on Sunday afternoon. In the process, they eliminated their National League West rivals from postseason contention. After a 37-23 campaign, the Friars will host the Cardinals in a best-of-three Wild Card Series beginning Wednesday at Petco Park.

• NL Wild Card Series presented by Hankook Tire, Game 1: Wed., 2 PT on ESPN2

• Box score

“The one thing I’m 100 percent sure of: This has been the most challenging year I’ve personally been a part of,” said Padres manager Jayce Tingler. “And the other thing I’m sure of, too: This has been the most enjoyable, the funnest time I’ve ever had in 17, 18 years as well.”

In Sunday’s finale, Wil Myers homered and doubled as he returned to the lineup after missing a game with a tight quad. Mitch Moreland reached base three times. Jurickson Profar had two hits.

The Padres -- who spent most of the past decade with one of the sport's worst offenses -- suddenly have an overabundance of weapons at the plate as they enter their first postseason since 2006.

“No matter how you unfold it, we've got some hard calls,” Tingler said of his forthcoming lineup decisions. “But if we're going to be a deep team, and if we're going to be a team that makes a run at this, we're going to need a lot of guys. And that's been our story this year. It's been a lot of different guys.”

Tingler has plenty to sort out over the next few days as he devises the Padres’ first postseason starting nine in 14 years. San Diego will likely see some combination of righties Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright and lefty Kwang Hyun Kim.

Here’s a look at the Padres’ two potential postseason lineups, and the questions they’ll have to answer when filling out each:

Padres vs. RHP (Flaherty, Wainwright)

The Padres have two important questions to answer when they craft their starting lineup to face Flaherty and Wainwright.

First: Who’s at catcher? Austin Nola holds the edge as the starting backstop, but Jason Castro has been solid against right-handed pitching throughout his career. (Castro exited Sunday’s game after being hit in the mask by a foul ball. He was diagnosed with a sprained jaw, but Tingler said he expects Castro to be available on Wednesday.)

Game	Date	Matchup	TV
Gm 1	Sept. 30	STL 7, SD 4	Watch
Gm 2	Oct. 1	SD 11, STL 9	Watch
Gm 3	Oct. 2	SD 4, STL 0	Watch

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• Postseason schedule and bracket

Second: How do the Padres fill out their left field and DH spots? They currently have three hitters for two spots, and given Profar’s red-hot finish, it’s hard to deny him a place. After a rough first half, Profar batted .351 in September, while playing a quality left field. That likely leaves Tommy Pham and Mitch Moreland for the final spot.

“We’ll have to break a lot of things down,” Tingler said. “We’ll have to see where’s our best matchups. We’ll have to see who has history facing guys. What’s the back of the bullpen look like? Where are we at health-wise? We’re going to have some hard calls, there’s no doubt about it.”

Moreland and Pham went back to back on Saturday night, a hugely encouraging sign, considering their recent struggles. Moreland endured a month-long funk after arriving at the Trade Deadline. But he finished his season with consecutive multi-hit games, and his case for a Game 1 start rests mostly on his excellent numbers against right-handed pitching.

Pham, meanwhile, struggled early in the season, then broke his hamate bone in mid-August. He has yet to fully resemble the player he was in Tampa Bay and St. Louis. Then again, Pham has shown recent signs of breaking out. He’s the favorite for a Game 1 start.

Potential lineup:
1) Trent Grisham, CF
2) Fernando Tatis Jr., SS
3) Manny Machado, 3B
4) Eric Hosmer, 1B
5) Wil Myers, RF
6) Jake Cronenworth, 2B
7) Tommy Pham, DH
8) Austin Nola, C
9) Jurickson Profar, LF

Padres vs. LHP (Kim)

Grisham, a lefty-hitting on-base weapon, has spent nearly the entire season setting up Tatis and Machado. When the Padres are facing a right-hander, he does so in the leadoff spot. When they’re facing a lefty, he bats ninth. If the series goes long enough for the Padres to face Kim, that’s presumably where he’ll bat.

As for the other question marks regarding the catcher and the DH spot? Those are easily solvable against left-handed pitching. Castro and Moreland have posted dreadful splits throughout their careers against lefties, meaning Pham, Profar and Nola are in line to start.

That would leave the Padres without an impact righty bench bat, and they’d be starting three lefties against Kim -- Hosmer, Cronenworth and Grisham. They’re comfortable enough with those three against left-handed pitching.

Potential lineup:
1) Tatis, SS
2) Machado, 3B
3) Hosmer, 1B
4) Myers, RF
5) Nola, C
6) Pham, DH
7) Cronenworth, 2B
8) Profar, LF
9) Grisham, CF