The Padres announced to reporters prior to tonight’s game that infielder Yangervis Solarte was scratched from the lineup due to a strained left oblique muscle (Twitter links via Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune). He’ll be placed on the 10-day disabled list due to the injury, which he suffered taking a swing prior to tonight’s game, according to Lin.
There’s been no announcement of a timeline just yet, but oblique strains can often sideline a player for a month or more, which would be an obvious blow to Solarte’s trade stock. Signed through the 2018 season with a pair of club options for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Solarte stands out as an obvious trade candidate for the rebuilding Padres. After a slow start to the season, he’s been on a tear over the past month, hitting .337/.427/.589 with seven homers across his past 25 games. That incredible run has boosted Solarte’s season line to a very solid .268/.349/.425.
The versatile Solarte is capable of playing both second and third base, though he’s served as San Diego’s everyday second baseman thus far in 2017. The Padres have a number of players to whom they could turn in his absence; both Jose Pirela and Chase d’Arnaud are on the 25-man roster at the moment and have plenty of experience at second base. In Triple-A, the recently-optioned Ryan Schimpf has mashed at a .273/.314/.636 clip in eight games since being sent down. And fellow infielder Carlos Asuaje, who got off to a slow start, has raked at a .307/.430/.480 pace over his past 21 Triple-A contests.
Wouldn’t mind seeing an extended look at Asuaje. I get the Schimpf will likely get the call but we know what we can expect out of him. Let’s see what Asuaje can do.
Agreed.
I tend to think Asuaje is just going to be an bench/utility type player, but at this point its pretty apparent that Schimpf is not going to generate any trade value so they might as well give those starts at 2nd to Asuaje and hope he ends up surprising.
I think, more likely, we’re going to see Sanchez called up so that Hedges can get a few days off without going on the DL. Once Hedges is back at 100%, I think we’ll consider making a move to bring up another infielder, but it’s likely Margot will be ready to be activated by then, and he’ll take Sanchez’s roster spot..
I like this angle. Sanchez has been active in AAA for a while now.
Would like to see Asuaje for an extended period. I understand Schimpf will get the call but we already know what he can do. Let’s see what Asuaje can do.
didnt mean to post it again… silly phone
This is horrible news
So howd it happen? Hopefully it isnt too serious
Heck of a player… He will be missed…
He’s a journeyman
Really would like to see Christian Villanueva get a chance to make his MLB debut to see if he can do anything at the big league level. At this point the track records of Aybar, Spangenberg, D’arnaud and Sczur speak for themselves.. They are average players that fill the bottom of a major league 25 man roster, they each have a tool that they do exceptionally well for example Spangenberg’s speed/ D’arnaud’s defense, but a bottom feeding last place team like the Padres shouldn’t care about hoarding guys on the MLB roster that do one thing well. A guy like Villanueva should get an opportunity because for one, nobody has ever seen him play at the highest level and he has shown the ability to hit for power in the minors. For two, he was in a log-jam/ roster crunch with Cubs buried behind guys like Bryant, Candelario and company in the organizational 3rd base pipeline.
What do the Padres have to lose by giving him a couple weeks to see what he can do? No pun intended with the what do they have to lose lol, I mean they will lose regardless so why not at least do you due diligence and turn over every stone in your organization who is over 25 and hasn’t reached the show yet to see if it’s even worth keeping them around for the future or not.
Is he in the 40 man?
No? Not going to happen will dl players coming back soon and 40 man needing to be shaken up
He isn’t on the 40 man and the only guy from the looks of it who they could DFA to remove from it would either be Blash or the semi-new reliever Valdez.
Depending on how serious Cosart’s injury is or even Cahill’s, the team could decide to shift them to the 60 day DL to free up a 40 man spot for Villanueva as well.
No
They got players coming back
Agree with you in principle. Villanueva is a former top prospect, and I think he would surprise people (a la Pirela) if he gets promoted to the majors.
Hopefully he gets well soon. In the meantime, they should call up Asuaje.
I love the guys on MLB network trying to figure out what an oblique is. They didn’t have these injuries back then…
Lol . Back in the day it was just referred to as a pulled muscle
Dont try this again