ABRAMS RETURNS IN GOOD RHYTHM
CJ Abrams’ playing time was scarce when the Padres optioned him to Triple-A El Paso last month. That’s likely not the case so long as Manny Machado is out with a left ankle sprain. The Padres third baseman was not put on the injured list Monday, but Abrams arrived at Petco Park with the expectation that he would continue to get the kind of reps he’d been receiving in the Pacific Coast League.
He’d done quite well with that everyday action, too, hitting .398/.442/.591 during a 19-game on-base streak and pairing seven homers and 10 steals with a .314/.364/.507 batting line during 30 games with the Chihuahuas.
“I mean playing every day, to kind of get into a rhythm, you’re able to kind of see what’s working, what’s not working, putting things into practice and then practice every day,” Abrams said before starting at shortstop Monday night at Petco Park and going 0 for 3. “You learn a lot by playing every day for sure.”
In El Paso, Abrams was specifically focused on swinging at the right pitches, as in pitches up in the strike zone. It didn’t hurt having his father and lifetime hitting coach Chris Abrams in El Paso last week to not only talk hitting, but also work with his son in the cage at Powerbull Bat Co., a 4-yearold company located about a five-minute walk from Southwest University Stadium.
Co-owner Kurt Gross introduced himself to CJ Abrams in the El Paso clubhouse, later got to talking bats with Chris Abrams and wound up collaborating with the father and son on a hockey-puck-style knob.
Abrams collected five hits the first game he used the Powerbull-designed lumber, a 35-inch, 33.5ounce, un-cupped bat in which the weight is distributed a bit more evenly because of the thicker knob. He also banged out three hits in three of four games after
that, brought a half-dozen of them with him to San Diego and is expected to order more after a bit more tweaking by Powerbull.
While the bat is new, the work with dad — when things are going good or bad — has been the same as always.
“He just keeps everything positive,” CJ Abrams said. “He stays positive and keep rolling.”
The Padres, too, were positive that bigger things were in store for Abrams, ranked No. 6 in MLB.com’s top-100 prospects, despite the 21-year-old shortstop hitting .182/.270/.273 with one homer and 14 strikeouts while rotating in and out of the lineup over his first 20 games in the majors.
After all, Abrams had never been to Triple-A El Paso when Fernando Tatis Jr.’s fractured wrist, as well as a strong spring, led to the Padres adding their top positional
prospect to the opening-day roster.
“People forget that he’s hardly played in professional baseball,” Padres acting manager Ryan Flaherty said. “So when he first came up here, he had skipped (Triple-A) and you really get to see a lot of things at that level that you aren’t exposed to in Double-A and levels lower than that. That may be breaking balls in counts you usually don’t see breaking balls and the advancement of pitchers.
“I think it was good for him to go down there and get at-bats regularly and see that phase of the game that he probably hadn’t seen before.”
Said Abrams: “I’m just excited to get going again. I got some at-bats in El Paso, got into a rhythm. I’m ready to go.”
Rotation contingency
Joe Musgrove
is throwing,
remaining built up so he can start when cleared. But Mike Clevinger threw a bullpen session Monday and expects to start Wednesday.
That would be when Musgrove’s turn comes up in the rotation. Musgrove went on the COVID IL on Friday and must test negative twice before being cleared to return.
Clevinger, who was on the IL for a week with the flu, threw 39 pitches in a two-inning relief appearance Friday in Colorado. The expectation is he will have a ceiling of around 75 pitches in his next start.
Notable
Bench coach Ryan Christenson was cleared of COVID protocols just before first pitch on Monday, but Flaherty remained the acting manager. Padres manager Bob Melvin, however, remained in COVID protocols despite being asymptomatic. Based on MLB’s
COVID protocols, Wednesday is the latest date in which Melvin would return to the team.
LHP Drew Pomeranz is throwing 30-pitch-or-so bullpens at roughly 95 percent intensity, although he’s not quite at the point of outlining a return from last year’s surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon. “I’ve thrown a couple normal-ish bullpens,” Pomeranz said. “I’ll try to stack some of those together before I figure out any sort of timeline. … We’re getting closer, that’s for sure. I’m feeling good.”
RHP Pierce Johnson (elbow tendinitis) is playing catch at 90 feet. He’ll progress to 120 feet before throwing multiple bullpens and a rehab assignment in which he’ll likely need to pitch in back-to-back games.