Jose Azocar

Padres Place Fernando Tatis Jr. On Injured List

By Anthony Franco and Darragh McDonald | June 24, 2024 at 5:37pm CDT

Monday marked a busy day on the transaction front for the Padres. San Diego placed star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 22, with a right femoral stress reaction. The Friars also optioned outfielder José Azocar and right-hander Jhony Brito to Triple-A El Paso. Filling the three spots on the active roster: outfielder Bryce Johnson, infielder Eguy Rosario and right-hander Adam Mazur. Johnson was not on the 40-man roster, but the Friars have had a vacancy for weeks.

The Tatis injury is the biggest development. Manager Mike Shildt indicated that Tatis could play through the issue but that it wouldn’t fully heal without rest (X link via Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune). The team isn’t providing a specific return timetable, though they expect it to be longer than the minimal 10 days. It’s not out of the question that Tatis is sidelined through the All-Star Break.

Any absence is a major blow to the San Diego lineup. Tatis has been one of the top outfielders in the National League this year. He’s hitting .279/.354/.468 with 14 home runs across 345 plate appearances. Tatis has trimmed his strikeout rate to a career-low 20.6% clip while making hard contact on a massive 53.4% of batted balls. There’s no easy way to replace that kind of production.

It seems the Pads could roll with a David Peralta/Johnson platoon in right field for the time being. The lefty-swinging Peralta is only hitting .204/.306/.241 over 25 games since being called up last month. Johnson, a switch-hitter, has yet to play in the majors this season. San Diego signed the 28-year-old to a minor league deal in January. The former Giant has reached base at a massive .430 clip over 259 plate appearances with El Paso. Johnson is hitting .301 while drawing walks more than 15% of the time. He has also swiped 18 bases in 20 attempts. Johnson is in the lineup against Patrick Corbin this evening.

Mazur returns to the big leagues just three days after being optioned. (He didn’t need to wait the minimal 15 days because he is technically being recalled to replace the injured Tatis.) In actuality, he’s more directly a replacement for Yu Darvish. San Diego anticipated the right-hander returning from the injured list tomorrow. However, Heilbrunn tweets that Darvish is battling some inflammation in his throwing elbow. While Shildt downplayed the long-term concern, he won’t be ready for MLB action tomorrow.

Darvish has been out since May 30 with a strained left groin. The late revelation of a new elbow concern is suboptimal, though it doesn’t seem the Padres are especially alarmed at this point. The injury will force San Diego to turn back to the 23-year-old Mazur for his fifth big league start. The former second-round pick has allowed 14 runs over his first 17 1/3 innings. Mazur has walked more than 19% of batters faced, a bizarre issue for a pitcher who has shown pristine control in his minor league career.

Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune observed (on X) that Johnson was in the clubhouse prior to the team announcement.

Padres Select Alfonso Rivas, Activate Manny Machado

By Anthony Franco | June 2, 2023 at 6:31pm CDT

The Padres announced they’ve selected first baseman/corner outfielder Alfonso Rivas onto the big league roster. San Diego also activated Manny Machado from the 10-day injured list, placed designated hitter Nelson Cruz on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain, and optioned outfielder José Azocar to Triple-A El Paso. In order to open a 40-man roster spot for Rivas, catcher Luis Campusano has moved from the 10-day to the 60-day IL.

Rivas signed a minor league deal with the Padres over the winter. The Chula Vista native had previously appeared in the big leagues with the Cubs. He impressed in an 18-game rookie showing in 2021 but struggled over a longer stretch of play last year. The lefty-swinging Rivas has a .247/.331/.322 line with four home runs and a lofty 30.7% strikeout rate against MLB pitching.

Chicago released Rivas in January. He secures another MLB look with his hometown club following a huge showing in Triple-A. Rivas is hitting .319/.440/.571 over 200 trips to the dish in El Paso. He’s taken a walk in a massive 17% of his plate appearances with a lower than average 18.5% strikeout percentage. Minor league success is nothing new for the University of Arizona product. Rivas is a career .294/.398/.434 hitter below the MLB level.

With Cruz landing on the IL, the Padres had room to add another bat. Rivas joins Matt Carpenter and Brandon Dixon as bat-first options off the bench. Cruz, signed to a $1MM deal over the winter, hasn’t made the impact the team had expected. The veteran slugger owns only a .238/.270/.381 mark over 111 trips to the plate.

Middling production towards the bottom of the lineup has been an issue for San Diego. The Friars rank 23rd in run scoring, leading to a 26-30 record that has them in fourth place in the National League West. Machado has an uncharacteristic .231/.282/.372 line himself, and his tough season continued when he suffered a tiny fracture in his hand on a hit by pitch a couple weeks ago. That cost him around two weeks of action.

Campusano has been out since mid-April with a left thumb injury. He underwent surgery last month and isn’t expected back until the All-Star Break. His IL transfer backdates to the April placement and there was no way he’d return in the next couple weeks. That makes this no more than a procedural transaction.

Padres Designate Adam Engel For Assignment

By Mark Polishuk | May 20, 2023 at 5:27pm CDT

The Padres announced that outfielder Adam Engel has been designated for assignment. The move opens up a roster spot for Jose Azocar, who has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list.

Left elbow inflammation sent Azocar to the IL (retroactively) on May 3, and he received a cortisone shot to help heal up. Azocar collected two hits for Triple-A El Paso yesterday, and that will end up being the only game of Azocar’s minor league rehab assignment before his return to the Show. Azocar has hit only .244/.262/.293 over 45 plate appearances for San Diego this season, but he’ll step back into his customary backup outfield role, displacing Engel in the process.

Engel began the season on the IL with a hamstring injury, and didn’t make his season debut until May 7. He has appeared in only five games and gone 0-for-6 over six plate appearances, and two of his appearances came as a pinch-runner. While not exactly a lengthy audition for Engel, the Padres appear more comfortable with Azcoar as their fourth outfielder, though San Diego’s roster is a little crowded by a DH-only player in Nelson Cruz, and a mostly-DH in Matt Carpenter.

The Padres signed Engel to a one-year, $1MM deal this past winter, so they are still responsible for the roughly $700K owed to the outfielder in remaining salary unless another team claims Engel off waivers or a trade is worked out. In all likelihood, Engel will clear waivers, so a new club could pick him up at only the cost of the prorated MLB minimum salary, leaving the Padres covering the rest of that $700K. Engel has enough MLB service time that he can refuse an outright assignment from the Padres in order to return to free agency.

Engel has a respectable track record as a defensive player and baserunner, even if his career .224/.279/.349 slash line over 1546 PA (all with the White Sox before 2023) is subpar. Outfield-needy teams seem likely to check in on Engel for a no-risk minor league deal, since the Padres are footing the bill for the remainder of his 2023 contract.

NL Notes: Mays, Harris, Azocar, Carrasco, Syndergaard

By Mark Polishuk | May 6, 2023 at 7:19pm CDT

Happy birthday to the legendary Willie Mays, who turns 92 years old today. All 22 seasons and 2992 games of Mays’ MLB career was spent in the National League, mostly with the New York/San Francisco Giants and then parts of his two last seasons back in the Big Apple with the Mets. Among players who played exclusively in the NL during their career, only Pete Rose and Stan Musial had more games in the Senior Circuit than Mays.

Let’s say hey to these items from around the NL….

Michael Harris II made his return to the Braves’ lineup tonight, back in his customary spot in center field after missing Atlanta’s previous two games. There was some concern after Harris left Wednesday’s game with a jammed right knee, but he was able to avoid both the injured list and a significant layoff, even though he’ll at least temporarily be placing with a knee brace. Harris told The Athletic’s David O’Brien and other reporters that running with the brace won’t slow him down, though he is a little uncertain about how his sliding might be impacted. A lower back strain already sent Harris to the IL earlier this season, and today marks only the 13th game of 2023 for the reigning NL Rookie Of The Year.
Padres outfielder Jose Azocar told reporters (including Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune) that he received a cortisone shot in his bothersome left elbow, but an MRI revealed only inflammation. Azocar was retroactively placed on the 10-day IL on May 3, and manager Bob Melvin thinks the outfielder might be able to resume baseball activities within a few days’ time. Azocar has a modest .244/.262/.293 slash line over 45 plate appearances, as the backup has made a few extra starts due to other injuries in the Padres’ outfield and the remaining games on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s suspension.
Carlos Carrasco has hit another health setback, as Mets GM Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter told reporters (including Abbey Mastracco of the New York Daily News) that the right-hander is battling an illness. This has pushed back plans to start a rehab assignment for Carrasco this weekend, as the veteran continues to work his way back from a bone spur in his throwing elbow. Carrasco struggled to an 8.56 ERA over his first three starts and 13 2/3 innings before going on the IL.
It has also been a tough road for Noah Syndergaard in 2023, as his Dodgers tenure has begun with a 6.32 ERA over his first six starts and 31 1/3 innings since signing a one-year, $13MM free agent deal. However, manager Dave Roberts told the Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett and other reporters that even as L.A. continues to juggle its rotation, the club isn’t considering removing Syndergaard from the starting five. The righty will get some extra time between starts, with Syndergaard projected for an eight-day break before his next scheduled outing on Tuesday. Both Michael Grove and Gavin Stone made some starts while Tony Gonsolin was on the injured list, but with Gonsolin now back and Grove now on the IL with a groin injury, the Dodgers will now stick with a normal five-man rotation. Roberts said that rather than keep Stone in the majors for another start and a brief shift to a six-man rotation, “there’s maybe a potential cost of getting guys out of their rhythm” given that Los Angeles also has an off-day on Thursday.

Padres Notes: Bench, Musgrove, Payroll, Machado

By Nick Deeds | March 2, 2023 at 11:31am CDT

Following San Diego’s addition of second baseman Rougned Odor on a minor league deal yesterday, the competition to be part of the Padres Opening Day bench gained a new entrant. As MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell notes, the absence of Fernando Tatis Jr. while he completes his PED suspension and the possibility that outfielder Adam Engel isn’t ready for Opening Day as he works his way back from a calf strain open up new possibilities for players hoping to break camp as a member of the bench in San Diego.

One of the four spots on the Padres Opening Day bench is certain to be reserved for backup catcher Luis Campusano. As for the last three spots, Odor seems likely to compete with outfielders David Dahl and Jose Azocar, and utility player Brandon Dixon. Odor provides the least versatility of those options, as all but 259 of his career innings in the field have come at second base. By contrast, Dahl and Azocar both have experience at all three outfield spots, while Dixon has played all four corners and second base during his career. Still, Cassavell notes that Odor’s status as a lefty bat could give him, (and, presumably, Dahl) a leg up on earning a spot on the bench entering the season.

Assuming no additional injuries complicate matters, Matt Carpenter will shift to the bench once Tatis is eligible to return after the first 20 games of the season, while Engel will join the bench as soon as he is healthy. At that point, there will only be one spot still available on the bench in San Diego for the aforementioned quartet. Azocar, Dahl, and Dixon all have options remaining, though Odor does not.

Padres Designate Nomar Mazara For Assignment

By Mark Polishuk | August 20, 2022 at 3:39pm CDT

The Padres announced that outfielder Nomar Mazara has been designated for assignment. In the corresponding move, outfielder Jose Azocar was called up from Triple-A.

Mazara signed a minor league deal with San Diego during the offseason, reuniting the former top Rangers prospect with Padres president of baseball operations (and former Rangers front office member) A.J. Preller. The Padres selected Mazara’s contract in early June, and he has hit .264/.316/.352 with two home runs over 171 plate appearances.

Brought up to add some left-handed depth to San Diego’s bench, Mazara has actually performed better (.777 OPS) in 25 PA against left-handed pitching than over 146 PA against right-handed pitching (.649 OPS). The additions of Juan Soto and Josh Bell added a lot of extra balance to the Padres lineup and made Mazara a little redundant, especially considering that the Padres also have the left-handed hitting Trent Grisham and the switch-hitting Jurickson Profar in their first-choice outfield.

While Mazara’s numbers aren’t anything spectacular, they still represent an improvement over his last two seasons, when he hit .219/.285/.309 over 330 combined PA with the White Sox and Tigers in 2020-21. This could be enough for Mazara to perhaps get a look on the DFA wire from a team in need of outfield depth, or another executive (like Preller) could have memories of Mazara’s potential as a highly-touted minor leaguer.

Padres Select C.J. Abrams, Jose Azocar; Kyle Tyler Designated For Assignment

By Steve Adams and Anthony Franco | April 7, 2022 at 11:17am CDT

The Padres set their Opening Day roster Thursday, announcing that top prospect C.J. Abrams and outfielder Jose Azocar have been selected to the Major League roster. The Padres placed Fernando Tatis Jr. on the 60-day injured list and designated right-hander Kyle Tyler for assignment in a pair of corresponding 40-man moves.

Abrams is a consensus top prospect, ranked among the sport’s 15 most talented minor leaguers by each of Baseball America, The Athletic, FanGraphs, ESPN and MLB Pipeline. Kiley McDaniel at ESPN is the most bullish of the group, slotting Abrams fourth among the sport’s prospects. Reports praise his top-of-the-scale speed and athleticism and excellent hit tool, although evaluators also suggest Abrams has a chance to hit for average or better power at peak.

San Diego originally selected Abrams with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft out of a Georgia high school. He hasn’t had much professional game experience. Abrams spent the second half of his first pro season in rookie ball, with a late cameo at Low-A. The pandemic wiped out the 2020 minor league season, and the Friars pushed him to Double-A Amarillo to start the 2021 season.

Abrams handled the aggressive assignment well, hitting .296/.363/.420 with a pair of home runs and 13 stolen bases over 183 plate appearances. He showcased his advanced bat-to-ball skills with a 19.7% strikeout rate that was a few points below the league average, in spite of the fact that he was younger than virtually every arm he faced. Unfortunately, Abrams was deprived of a second half of reps after he fractured his left tibia and sprained his MCL in an on-field collision in early July.

There’s no doubt some risk for the Pads in pushing Abrams straight to the big leagues. He’s played all of 44 games above Rookie ball because of the pandemic and last season’s injury, none of that time at Triple-A. Yet there’s little question he has electric physical abilities, and the San Diego front office evidently feels he’s at least capable of keeping his head above water in the early going while continuing to develop into a core long-term piece.

Abrams has played the middle infield exclusively during his minor league tenure. Evaluators have been divided on his ability to stick at shortstop long-term, but the general consensus is that he’d be a solid defender at second base. Given his elite speed, Abrams could probably be a plus defender in the outfield as well, and he’s gotten some work on the grass this spring. He’ll presumably need more than a few weeks to become completely comfortable reading fly balls off the bat, but there’s little doubt he’s athletic enough to develop into a long-term outfield option.

It remains to be seen how first-year skipper Bob Melvin will deploy the 21-year-old in the early going. He figures to see some action at each of shortstop, second base and in the outfield. Jake Cronenworth has second base accounted for, but Tatis’ injury had thrust Ha-Seong Kim into the primary shortstop job. A well-regarded signee out of South Korea, Kim struggled during his rookie season in MLB. Melvin can give regular shortstop run to either of Abrams or Kim, and the Pads are set to rely on some combination of Jurickson Profar, Brent Rooker and Matt Beaty in left field.

The Padres aren’t wedded to keeping Abrams on the big league roster from here on out, as he’ll have all three minor league option years remaining. Yet San Diego wouldn’t have carried him out of camp if they didn’t feel he was ready for the challenge, and they’d certainly love if Abrams is in the big leagues to stay. If that’s the case, he’d be controllable through 2027 and wouldn’t reach arbitration eligibility until after the 2024 campaign. Future optional assignments, if needed, might push those trajectories back.

As a consensus top prospect, Abrams qualifies for the so-called Prospect Promotion Incentive in the new collective bargaining agreement. Based on his finishes in Rookie of the Year and MVP voting over his first three MLB seasons, the Padres could stand to collect some extra draft choices if he excels.

Azocar isn’t anywhere near the caliber of prospect Abrams is, but he’ll likewise be making his big league debut whenever he gets into a game. Signed by the Tigers as an amateur free agent from Venezuela in 2012, he spent eight seasons in the Detroit farm system and played his way to Double-A. After reaching minor league free agency, he landed with the Padres on a minors deal last winter.

The 25-year-old split last season between Amarillo and Triple-A El Paso. Over 544 plate appearances, he hit .281/.341/.438 with nine homers and 32 steals. Azocar has never hit more than 10 homers in a minor league season and has well below-average power, but evaluators have long credited him as a plus runner and solid defensive outfielder. He can play all three outfield spots and gives the team a true fourth outfield type behind Trent Grisham in center field.

Tyler just landed with San Diego on waivers a couple weeks ago. The righty has bounced from the Angels to the Red Sox to the Padres on the wire over the past month, and he figures to land back on waivers in the next few days. He made his big league debut last season, tossing 12 1/3 relief innings over five appearances with six strikeouts and walks apiece. Tyler still has all three options remaining.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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