The Padres decided to try Ha-Seong Kim at shortstop this season with Xander Bogaerts shifting to second base:
Bogaerts told reporters he was comfortable with the plan to switch.
“I was like, ‘Listen, man, if this is the way that you guys view the team is better,’ ” Bogaerts said. “I respect Kim, especially defensively. I actually admire him a lot.”
ESPN.com
The Padres continue to be a team full of shortstops. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth, and Jurickson Profar all spent a decent amount of time at the position also. That’s the nice thing about drafting and acquiring shortstops who can hit. You can always find a place for them to play defensively.
Many years ago, when I first started coaching HS baseball, I read an article that some College coaches only recruited SS, C and CF as position players. It made sense. Later as a HS coach, I was fortunate to coach teams where the entire Infield was comprised of kids who had p!ayed SS until they got to HS. If you can play SS, you should be able to play anywhere, except maybe C.