CANO ‘HAPPY’ TO GET PLAYING TIME
Robinson Cano told Bob Melvin on a Zoom call before he signed with the Padres not to worry about his role. The eight-time All-Star didn’t need to start. He was coming to San Diego to help in whatever way was needed.
“He answered my questions before I had to ask them,” Melvin said.
“I have a lot of people say, ‘Why don’t you stay home?’ ” Cano said Monday. “This is not about money. For me, it’s about I love this game.”
What Cano will make from the Padres this season is less than he would earn in a week of games if he were still playing under his Mets contract, which ran for another two years when New York released him May 8. The approximately $40 million remaining on that deal is his whether he plays or not.
And he is playing, more than was expected when the Padres signed him May 13. That was 10 games ago, and Monday against the Brewers he started for the fifth time.
“I will not say surprised,” said Cano, who is 3-for-18 with the Padres. “I am happy.”
The occasion of Cano’s start at second base Monday was Ha-seong Kim not starting
for the first time in 23 games and Jake Cronenworth moving over to shortstop.
“Kim has been out there a lot lately,” Melvin said. “He's all over the place and banged his knee up a couple times. And he’s maybe not the biggest guy on the team. He's played absolutely fantastic for us both offensively and defensively. But at some
point in time, he needed a day off.”
Kim did enter the game at shortstop in the eighth inning with Cronenworth going back to second base.
Craig of all trades Craig Stammen
has pitched 41⁄3 scoreless innings over his past four appearances. In that span, he came in early once and late once to
try to keep it close in a game the Padres trailed. He pitched in the seventh inning of a tie game. And on Sunday, he pitched two innings in a blowout win.
“He does not care where he pitches, which is great,” Melvin said. “Some guys feel like they need to settle into certain roles and have to know. He does not care. When the phone rings and his name is called he’s ready to pitch. … You could see him in different roles for sure, depending on availability and how guys are performing.”
Stammen was a starter when his career began in 2012. He transitioned to throwing two innings or so mid-game and later was a high-leverage setup man.
“I luckily have had that experience over the course of my career to be able to be the Swiss Army knife,” Stammen said. “And so it fits well on a really good team, where I can kind of fill in when needed.”
Tatis update
Fernando Tatis Jr. had a bone scan Monday that will tell the Padres whether their All-Star shortstop’s surgically repaired left wrist has healed to the point he can grip a bat.
“Hopefully soon,” said Tatis, who spent the past week at the team’s Arizona complex taking ground balls, throwing and running.
The last imaging on Tatis’ wrist showed healing was progressing, but he has yet to hold a bat. The Padres still profess a belief he will be ready to play by the latter half of June.