The Padres announced that they’ve placed Jackson Merrill on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 7, due to a right hamstring strain. Fellow outfielder Oscar González was recalled from Triple-A El Paso to take the active roster spot.
There’s no indication it’ll be an extended absence, but this will pause a fantastic start to Merrill’s sophomore season. He’s hitting .378 with a trio of home runs across 41 trips to the plate. Merrill signed a $135MM extension last week. That followed an excellent rookie year in which he hit .292/.326/.500 with 24 homers while playing strong defense in his first season as a center fielder.
Brandon Lockridge has drawn into the lineup for the past two days. That’s likely to continue, as he’s the only real center fielder on the active roster. The Padres have kept Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field. Jason Heyward could theoretically slide over from left on occasion but won’t play center regularly. González, who is in line for his team debut after signing an offseason minor league deal, is a corner outfielder. San Diego added him to the 40-man roster last week, presumably to keep him from opting out of that contract.
Jose Iglesias is alongside Lockridge and Tatis in the outfield tonight. He’ll start in left field against A’s southpaw Jeffrey Springs. It’ll be the first outfield work of Iglesias’ 13-year major league career. He has more than 8000 innings at shortstop and a decent amount of work at both second and third base.
Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the moves before the team announced them.
A bummer for Merril. Hopefully, Gonzalez on the 26-man is one step closer to Gurriel DFA.
straight – About another week for Yuli to either turn it around and justify the faith of Preller or you will likely get your wish. Maybe González hits enough to take the spot.
J Hey probably gets a longer leash because of his ability to play good D still in LF and spot CF.
I keep calling him Mayward because he will be gone by May. The Mendoza line is a height he can’t reach.
That’s what I’m thinking. If Gonzalez hits the ground running, I really can’t see any reason to keep the Gurriel retirement tour going. I’m still okay with Heyward for a bit longer. He’s certainly not making it difficult for the Padres to move on.
Let’s all keep on bashing Yuli!
Now is the time to offload the stiffs. Gurriel and Heyward. Bring up Ornelas and Joe. With best player out, can’t carry ADA players.
I get the observations about the old guys on the bench. Why not let the younger guys play everyday in AAA and wait til you have to make a decision with one of them. You’re not losing games because of the olders yet and you retain a lot more roster flexibility by waiting- someone else you don’t expect might get hurt.
Guy – been making that point for past 2 weeks. The old vet is a better sitting on the bench guy than a 23 year old that needs to play everyday. Now, at some point when older vet isnt performing, cut bait and try the next guy. Come June, after the young guy has had a few weeks of seasoning, maybe he get ready for mlb. 25 and 26 on the roster should not determine a playoff team. They just can’t suck and if they suck for 2-3 weeks, try a different option instead of sticking with them.
But they aren’t just sitting on the bench. One is regular DH against LHP and the other is regular OF against RHP. And both stink even in platoon roles.
Well, Yuli has a GW hit and he just hit a gapper for an RBI double.
Yes, he is DH against LH but check out how many games / week that translates to and tell me he is a full time player. No, J Hey has not been started in every game in OF against RH (most) and both are 25 / 26 on roster whether you call them bench players or platoon or whatever makes you fell good.
LT. Who is 23? Joe is 32. Sheets is 28. González is 26. They’re vets, just not quite AARP.
I was referring back to the younger players, ie eguy and I was generalizing as to the prospects need to play.
Gavin made the club and is not blocked by Yuli or J Hey. González – I think made a case in ST but management was pretty well committed to guys with star type resume which neither Oscar nor Joe come close. Also, ability to send them to AAA a factor.
It’s the whole ball of wax and not just one piece as to why Yuli and J H got the first shots at roster spots.
I agree you have to take the long view at this point the season
LT. ah my misunderstanding.
So far this season ( I know it’s early but): Gurriel .111 Heyward .130 Iglesias .182.
On the flip side Maldonado .353
All of the Padres bench options are 25 or older.. these aren’t guys who need more seasoning, they’re either org depth at AAA or need to be given a chance to play in the majors to show what they can do.
All good. As SD fans we all know the lightening in a bottle approach has resulted in Odor, Carp etc while also resulting in Peralta and Solano – to some degree Profar last year qualifies.
You have to have multiple bottles to increase the odds.
I just don’t want them to wait too long to switch.
Now, if Merrill and now Tatis are hurt, J Hey can play corners well so, may be glad.
Yuli – has 2 hits with 1 a GW and the other an RBI double last night.
Can he stay with those results- no. Has been a total head scratcher, I’d say – no. A little questionable and needs short leash – yes.
But they don’t have a spot tk llau every day in MLb os the problem.
They will at some point. Easy now…
Poor jackson. I feel like everyone who just signed an extension has got hurt. Ketel marte, Kristian campbell(but he stayed in the game) and tanner bibee.
Did I miss what he injured?
Hamstring
Pulled up lame running to deposit bags of moolah through the night deposit box while dressed as the hamurglar
Dang
He was off to an mvp start
He’ll be back soon
This is why guys sign big deals early.
Hopefully this is a mere bump in the road, but you never know what injury future a young man has.
Iglesias in LF tonight, he’s never played in the OF so could be interesting! Gonzbob SquarePants was the right call up, he’s a CF first and foremost
I dunno about AAA, but Gonzalez has never played CF at MLB. He’s poor defensively in RF, possibly below-average in LF..
@straight you’re right
Even I didn’t expect it to be that bad.
What about Perlaza (sp?). He is an Ofer and seemed to hit ok with some potential.
“Haha, suckers!” Sincerely, J. Merrill
The curse of the contract extension strikes again.
This is crazy! Do we have anyone from the big league club down throught rookie ball that can play “VENTER”?! Maybe coax Johnny Venters out of retirement? Good job, AF…good job! Hahahahaha
Cease shelled for 9 runs still trying to finish 3 innings. Uh oh
Cease got nailed tonight, 9ER, Padres are in bad shape, the OF situation is the least of their worries.
Is Vásquez their best SP now? Stay tuned.
Well, I am not worried about Cease unless he’s hurt
Other way around.
What a nightmare game. Sheets-Lockridge-Heyward OF doesn’t inspire confidence. Iglesias gonna be an everyday guy at 2B even against righties. Thinking Joe and Ornelas are the next two up.
Or Eguy/Wade, assuming Crone goes IL
Tatis wincing in pain with his left shoulder, the same shoulder he had surgery on, does not inspire confidence. Can’t keep him on the field.
Padres fans don’t even require fans from other teams pointing out shortcomings. It’s a total D.I.Y. effort. So much hand wringing and self-loathing. Y’all gonna be okay.
Hand wringing for sure. All I can say is, it makes sense if you’ve ever been a fan of SD sports.
With the Dodgers in free fall, will they sell?
They should probably play González in LF, given that Iglesias has a -1 DRS in 2025 and 0 in 2024, never having played the OF over a long-period of time.