The Padres have optioned struggling infielder Jedd Gyorko to Triple-A, the club announced.
Gyorko, 26, has seen his playing time dwindle in San Diego. But it remains a surprise to see him headed back to Triple-A. After all, Gyorko is playing in just the second year on the six-year, $35MM extension he signed early last season. Most of that contract is due after this year, and it comes with a $13MM option for 2020 ($1MM buyout).
The Padres had hoped that Gyorko would take the reigns at second for the long run when they locked him up, but he’s struggled badly ever since. Since a strong rookie campaign in 2013, he owns just a .210/.280/.328 slash with 12 home runs in 574 plate appearances.
San Diego will hope that Gyorko can work out his issues in the upper minors and return to deliver value on his contract. In the meantime, the club will presumably rely on some combination of Cory Spangenberg and Yangervis Solarte at second.
The move serves to emphasize the Padres’ middle infield woes. Short and second have both checked in at (or just below) replacement level thus far, and the .500 club could be in need of a boost in both spots if it hopes to stay in the hunt.
Sooo… Allen Craig has company… I wonder if the Padres will try to outright him… he probably won’t get claimed.
He might not be struggling if he wasn’t on the bench. From the beginning of the year he’s been sharing time with Solarte and Spangenberg.
Also, he’s been much better as of late. So, I’m not sure the struggling narrative applies.
Huh? He got all the playing time earlier in the year and couldn’t even hit his body weight. He has been slightly better raising his average from .150 to .210 but that’s far expectable. Nth with the speed and above average play of spangeberg I’m surpirised this didn’t happen sooner.
Umm.. no. No he didn’t he actually didn’t start a game the 1st series of the year in LA. And I believe 4-5 starts in the 1st two weeks. You couldn’t be more off base.
Not arguing he shouldn’t be sent down. Only that it’s hard to know what he would have done because he’s been hardly playing from the beginning. Check out how many games he didn’t start in the 1st two weeks.
Gyorko couldn’t be more off base, either. .282 OBP. Just chiming in, ignore me.
Since May 19: 5 hits, all singles, 4 walks, 13 strikeouts. That’s a 167 average with no power, or a 33 wRC+. Not better. Definitely not “much better.”
You can blame it on playing time if you want, but it’s a chicken-egg argument. Is he sucking because he’s sitting or sitting because he sucks?
Since May? He’s had 6 at bats. Lol. Seriously??????
.279.353.443 in May with 2 HR’a 8 RBI I’m partial duty.
Since May 19. You really should have been tipped off by the 13 strikeouts, which would be impossible with 6 at bats. Read, then react.
What is “as of late” if not “the last three weeks?”
According to baseball reference he hasn’t started a game this month and has 6 Ab’s.
As of late, you know.. actually starting and getting quasi regular abs.
Funny you mentioned his wRC+. As in may it was top 10 in MLB as someone pointed out to me earlier today.
Which has nothing to do with what I wrote. Since May 19th he has sucked. You said he’d been doing much better as of late.
No. As of late, he’s sucked. “As of late” as nothing to do with regular at bats. It’s time. The recent past.
You’re totally ignoring what’s most relevant. He hasn’t started a game this month. Read them react? Redirect. Lol.
Obviously I am referencing games in which he has been a pinch hitter. Seriously? As of late, since he had any regular abs’so he’s shown vast improvement. If you’d like to cherry pick 6 at bats go ahead. That isn’t indicative as an entire month. Where again he was one of the best players in the statistic you cited. Lol.
Wow.
Are you really this obtuse? He sucked for the last 12 days of May, as well as so far in June. That’s 34 at-bats. That’s “as of late.”
I’m not the one who tried to limit anything to June. That was your poor reading skills.
You want to change your point to be “In the first 18 days of May, when Gyorko started 8 games of the 16 the Padres played, he hit really well”? At least that’s accurate, if not useful.
He sucked in 6 at bats? Cmon Shawshank.
No change in stance. Just your assumption of what I was referring to.
My point, and I am not sure why this is beyond you: he’s not getting regular at bats. When we was he was showing improvement. If you want to say he’s been struggling off the bench, okay. The reason he’s being sent down is too make room eventually for Myers and to get him abs. Something he hasn’t had since April.
You are the only person fixated on 6 at-bats in June.
He started 8 of 16 games from May 1 to May 17 and hit great.
He started 7 of 13 games from May 19 to May 31 and hit horribly. That’s actually MORE frequent starts than he had in the first part of the month.
That someone didn’t claim he had struck out 13 times this month. So…
Go back and read very very slowly. Ask a grownup to help you with any hard words.
Since May 19th, he’s struck out 13 times. It’s right there in black and white.
Since May 19th.
You know, the 19th day of the 5th month.
5/19/2015
I wasn’t talking about May. I clearly referenced june. Fail.
In your original post, you said “He’s been hitting much better of late.” You only started talking about June later, after you completely misread my listing of his performance since MAY 19. That’s when you went with “Since May?”
Here’s your original post, in case you forgot:
“He might not be struggling if he wasn’t on the bench. From the beginning of the year he’s been sharing time with Solarte and Spangenberg.
Also, he’s been much better as of late. So, I’m not sure the struggling narrative applies.”
Nothing in there about June. Only “as of late.” I gave you the last twelve days of May, PLUS thus far in June. And you were still wrong.
When you’ve dug yourself a hole this deep, the smart thing to do is STOP DIGGING.
Yes. I thought you were talking about June in regards to ks. I missed it. But the smaller sample you’ve listed even with the end of May is also factoring (again) games where he’s not getting regarding abs. Which was my main point. As of late I was referencing in may as a whole. And that’s not unfair. Considering how well improved he was. As of late when Gyorko has been starting and getting 5 abs he’s improved.
He started just as often in the last part of May as he did in the first part of that month. But he stopped hitting.
Again:
Started 8 of 16 games from May 1 to May 18th. Hit a bunch.
Started 7 of 13 games from May 19th to May 31. Didn’t hit at all.
He was vastly improved this last month (may) than april. He hasnt played much in June at all. The ups and downs with limited abs are dramatic. A few hits here it jumps quickly. A few awful 0-fors, same in the other direction.
The reason he’s being demoted is not because he’s struggling. It’s because he needs everyday abs and they like spangenberg. Nothing you’ve said has nagated from the premises. At all. I was referring to when he was playing. Which was last month. I’m it’s entirety he was vastly improved. Had he been sent down in April, or early may it would be because of struggles. This is simply getting the better player now more abs on he MLB level, while they add Myers back tomorrow. Withanks the club today. While getting Gyorkout everyday abs.
He was vastly improved the first 18 days in May, when he started only half the games. That’s not “of late.” The second part of May, which IS “of late,” and when he was still starting half the games, he was horrible.
Tied for 80th for wRC+ in May (minimum 60 plate appearances). Not top 10. Not close. The only way he’s top 10 is if you limit it to 2b, and that’s a lot less impressive.
As of late.
May (overall).
Sure. He was doing so great overall in May that Black didn’t even start him once in June. It just wouldn’t have been fair to the other team to play a guy who was hitting that well.
No. He was to face some LHP. And Spangenberg is their preference. For a myriad of reasons.
If what you claimed was remotely true, that he hit much better throughout May, then Black wouldn’t have stopped writing his name on the lineup card. We didn’t face lefties in half the May games, but Gyorko started half of them anyway. He just stopped hitting, long before the calendar turned.
The numbers are right in front of you. Hot for 14 games (7 starts, 181 wRC+). Ice cold for 11 games (6 starts, 42 wRC+). Started MORE frequently over the 11 games, so it’s not because he was on the bench.
It’s not a claim. The overall production from the entire month!!!! This was talked about by the coaching staff.
They like Spangenberg. Thiso isn’t complicated. They’ve had an issue with his mechanics as well. Black is the ultimate over manager. Match ups. Solar AND Spangenberg have played okay and both are liked internally. Another reason why Gyoto sits. Not because he was struggling on May. Which was what I was referencing. The entire month. As a whole. You can cherry pick if you want, but that month he was vastly improved. They needed to make room with Myers and Melvin Upton coming off the DL. They needed Jedd to have everyday at bats. The point is; he was never given a full shot from the beginning of this year! And as of last month (yes of late) despite his numbers going up and down, he had shown overall improvement at the plate. You also have to factor in who he was paired to face.
It’s valid to look at what he did in late may. Obviously. And that’s a good argument. But mine is also valid. He also had much better at bats. Thats not showing up I numbers but has been spoken of. And commented about. A lot of the Padres have had tough games hitting the ball right at people. Jedd has been a victim all year. Middlebrooks too.
You can evaluate what’s most recent and that’s important. But so is someone’s overall body of work from month to month.
That’s like the dude who follows every game and compares him to another said player of trade. Well, 0-8 last two days. Losing that trade. That’s obviously ridiculous.
Oh Mickey, you just can’t stop digging.
“It’s not a claim.”
Yes, it is. A claim is an assertion about something being disputed. It can be right or wrong. Yours happens to be wrong.
You claimed I was focused on June, when from the very first post it was clear I was talking about a wider range of time. Wrong.
You claimed that Gyorko had one of the ten best wRC+ performances in May. Wrong again.
You claimed that I said Gyorko struck out 13 times in June, even after I made a last desperate attempt to get you to pay attention to the time frame being discussed. But you stayed strong with the wrong.
“You can cherry pick if you want.”
The most perfect definition of cherry picking would be focusing on a good stretch in the first part of May, instead of his overall 2015, his 2015 spring training, and his entire 2014. So, wrong again. Yes, one of us is cherry-picking. Hint: It’s you.
“Jedd has been a victim all year.”
Poor widdle Jedd. You are seriously overestimating the number of hits that have been stolen from him. Not surprising, given your overall record of wrongness on this topic. He was getting lucky when he was doing well. It wasn’t bad luck when he stopped hitting, he deserved those numbers.
The Padres absolutely, without question, without even the barest shadow of a doubt, sent Gyorko down BECAUSE HE WAS STRUGGLING.
I think a little bit of both. I think he does suck but has shown some inprovement bcuz he’s batting more. You can’t get better if you don’t get some reps in… Which is why he got send down (I think), to get more at bats in. Hopefully he gets better.
He cooled off (frozen) in the second part of May even though he was batting just as often.
Agree that he needs regular work. Right now we don’t even know if he can be a platoon player.
Jerko has been a joke since the day after he signed the huge contract, even in his “GREAT” rookie season he hit below .250 so it’s not a surprise that he turned out to be just another lousy hitter…
I like the Pad’s, but these LT extensions they give out to young guys are worse than questionable and most sane teams just would never do. Maybin, Gyorko, they act like big market team throwing away money in order to save money down the road and it does just the opposite in saddling them with dead weight contracts.
The Braves are pretty happy with the Maybin extension, I’d say. Trade them Gyorko as well why not.
Fish were happy with Maybin when they 1st brought him up as well, then the shine wore off. Atlanta has only had him for a cpl of months.. Give it time and see if his free swinging gets worse and worse. Play a bit more lackadaisical. hope it doesn’t and that he’s learned his lesson after more or less been ran out of 2 cities.. Then he’s got 16m in guaranteed $$ coming.
He has def NOT been a free swinger so far in atl….he really started warm and kept climbing til he was hot
He can get away from his game easily is what am trying to say. Atlanta had another ex Marlin last year in Bonifacio. Notice some offensive similarities, as well as blazing speed? Difference of course ends there, as Maybin is a tremendously gifted defensive CF and Boni is a liability pretty much anywhere he plays, except for maybe 2b, but both can take for granted (my own opinion) that they have a MLB job and lay back some.
Maybin IS a really gifted athlete and was trying to say in original post that after 2 MLB stints (and organisations) that maybe he’s learned his lesson.
He was injured all last year. This year he’s barely played. We don’t know that yet. Maybe… maybe not.
So who’s the odd man out when Myers gets back from rehab?
I was assuming that it was going to be Jedd but he got send down for Nick.
Nick will only be up for a day or two because of the bullpen use. Myers will more than likely replace him.
Yea that’s what I was thinking too
I thought Gyorko had some Dan Uggla career path in him. I just didn’t expect him to rampage through it at Flash Gordon speed….hopefully he gets it going and puts up some middling avg numbers with some pop
The Dan Uggla path has led Uggla to the Nationals, where he’s done reasonably well. Our past trades, Rizzo, Maybin, Forsythe, and Jace Peterson have turned out well receiving team. Maybe it was our batting coach instead of the player. Ever think about that? Kotsay seems to have straighten up some of our batters but Plantier really screwed our hitters up.
Is he healthy? His stats and inability to get the ball lofted sounds like maybe a lingering wrist issue.
I don’t follow the Nationals too much but I heard at least one commenter say he was contributing to the team. That may have been only for that particular game, I don’t know, but his offensive struggles were very similar to Gyorko’s
What I meant by Uggla was the general comp. 2B with 30hr in the tank, .260 avg high end…maybe a .350 obp season in him. Valuable given that position for sure. But if anything robs him of power its trouble
At least you got Cashner back for Rizzo
Are the Padres buyers at the deadline?
I guess we’ll see in the next month or so.
Marcus giles – contract hope the guy can turn it around and make it back to the bigs
What an absolutely awful contract this has turned out to be.
I was at the Padres/Braves game last in Atlanta and noticed Myers in the dugout, has anybody heard when he is coming off the DL? This team could really use him back in the lineup. I was unable to watch BP Tuesday because of weather here in Atlanta, but yesterday Alonso exclusively took grounders at 3rd during warmup. Is this normal or are the Padres planning on having Alonso at 3rd and Myers at 1st when he returns? Getting all the bats in the lineup is great, but now the infield defence may be as bad as the outfield defence was/is supposed to be.
I’d love to see him in an Orioles uniform