Will Venable Hits the DL, Aaron Cunningham Back Up From Portland

Well, that didn’t last long.

A day after Matt Stairs’ activation sent Aaron Cunningham from the Padres to Triple-A Portland, the young outfielder was recalled in place of right fielder Will Venable, who was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained lower back.

Cunningham was 2-for-2 with a double in his lone Triple-A game, raising his batting line at that level to .247/.313/.396. It would look much better if his May (.171/.250/.280) were excluded. He had a key pinch-hit double for the Padres in his first game back tonight.

Venable was hitting .238/.314/.416 with eight homers and 14 steals in 69 games.

Cunningham should get a good portion of the playing time in right field with Venable out, and should be in against all left-handed starters.