MEANINGFUL THUMBS-UP BY MYERS
After a weekend of hitting off a tee and soft toss in the cage, Wil Myers hit on the field before Monday’s game. He delivered an emphatic thumbs-up about the status of his right thumb — “The swelling is down; I’m feeling really good,” he said — but his next step was up in the air.
He could play a rehab assignment at low Single-A Lake Elsinore. He could talk his way into the big-league lineup today or Wednesday. He could rehab with Triple-A El Paso or high Single-A Fort Wayne and rejoin the Padres on the road trip.
There were a lot of conversations still to be had.
And not all of them about Myers.
Luke Voit, for instance, returned to San Diego on Sunday to celebrate his wife’s first Mother’s Day as a mother and to work with the big-league staff after striking out in nine straight plate appearances at Triple-A El Paso. He saw roughly 100 pitches in early live batting practice on Monday and will return to the Chihuahuas — who were off on Monday before starting a six-game homestand against Sacramento — to continue searching for his swing.
When Voit and Myers return to the fold figures to impact CJ Abrams’ place on the roster.
The 21-year-old rookie has largely given way to Haseong Kim at shortstop. With the Padres claiming infielder Sergio Alcantara off waivers on Monday and losing Matt
Beaty (shoulder) to the injured list, Abrams could bounce around even more in the short term.
“Right now we need healthy bodies and he’s a guy that can play multiple spots in the infield,” Padres President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller said of Alcantara. “I think that frees us up to play CJ in different spots also, including the outfield. This is just about getting another body, a versatile player who’s a good defender that can help us through the next few days.”
The 25-year-old Alcantara is a switch-hitter with a .197/.280/.330 batting line over parts of three years in the majors. He is 10-for-53 (.189/.200/ .321) with a homer in 57 appearances this year while seeing time at shortstop, second
and third base with Arizona.
Johnson to 60-day IL
To make room for Alcantara on the 40-man roster, right-hander Pierce Johnson was moved to the 60-day injured list. Johnson’s forearm tendinitis was originally viewed as a short-term issue, but he hasn’t responded as well as hoped to treatment and remains shut down from throwing.
“It’s still a little swollen,” Johnson said over the weekend. “So we’ll take it down a little bit and just build it back up here in a little bit.”
Johnson had struck out 11 batters against four walks over his first six innings (4.50 ERA) before landing on the 10-day injured list on April 22.
“It really sucks,” Johnson said of the continued discomfort. “We have a really good team and I felt so good in spring training. I felt like my stuff was in a pretty good spot and all of the sudden just one day it swelled up.”
Gwynn’s birthday
On what would have been Mr. Padre’s 62nd birthday, the Padres announced on Monday their Tony Gwynn Community All-Star Program. As part of the initiative, four non-profits will receive $5,000 grants in the name of four students, 18 and older, who demonstrate how their work in the community aligns with their passion. Applications are live at www.padres.com/gwynnallstars. The deadline is June 4.
Before the game, Tony Gwynn’s widow, Alicia, was scheduled to throw out the first pitch to son Tony Gwynn Jr. and daughter Anisha was scheduled to sing the national anthem.
Lineup tweaked
The Padres were almost without their manager for a second time this homestand as ongoing gastrointestinal issues bothered Bob Melvin on Monday. Although Melvin was at Petco Park, bench coach Ryan Christenson filled in for Melvin during pregame availability, just as he did Thursday.
“Bob’s feeling OK, just not feeling great,” Christenson said Monday afternoon. “So he’s going to just take it easy tonight.”
Monday’s lineup featured a few new wrinkles as the Padres look to get more than
Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer going.
Shortstop Kim was dropped into the five-hole after going 0-for-10 with two walks and three strikeouts in three games as in the twohole.
Instead, Jurickson Profar hit second as he looks to rediscover his stroke. He is 3for-37 (.081/.209/.108) since hitting his fifth home run on April 27, then a team high.
“Just switch it up a little bit,” Christenson said. “We have some flexibility there between (Jake Cronenworth) and Machado and Manny and Hos have both been great this year. So we’re trying to find a little flow, a little something just to kind of get a little spark to get the rest of the guys going and continue to pitch the ball, continue to play great defense and run the bases the way we have.
“We’re doing a lot of facets of the game very well right now. So we get the offense clicking as a unit we could be really feeling good about what we’re doing.”
Notable
The Padres signed OF Shogo Akiyama to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A El Paso. Akiyama, 34, hit .224/ .320/.274 with no home runs and nine steals in two seasons with the Cincinnati Reds (142 games, 366 plate appearances). He was released in April, two years after he was signed for $8 million.