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Padres News: Jedd Gyorko Getting Better, Or Losing His Job?

By Daryll Dorman

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Jedd Gyorko was on top of the San Diego Padres baseball world in 2013. Amid another losing season the rookie set Padres home run records and in fact led all rookies in home runs and finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting, behind Yasiel Puig and winner Jose Fernandez.

Then 2014 came along…

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Gyorko signed a nice extension early into the season amid the fact that he was hitting around .160, going 14-104 in March and April.

Now he is off to another slow start in 2015, but as Corey Brock of MLB.com points out in his recent article, he isn’t panicking yet; and the fact that he was recently benched for several games doesn’t mean he, or the Padres brass, have given up on him:

"“Just a little bit of swing mechanics, nothing major. It’s not like I’m going to go out there and you’re not going to recognize my stance or my swing. Just some small things to clean up. Twenty at-bats is nothing to go crazy about.”"

While I agree that it is still early, the question will be how much longer will the Padres not be worried? General Manager A.J. Preller certainly has shown no hesitation to hang onto players with contracts for the fun of it. Yangervis Solarte has played well, despite several early defensive miscues (did you see that dropped fly ball against the Giants while at first base?), and filled in over the last couple days; even getting hits to back up that choice too.

Bud Black’s job is to put the best team on the field. Some here at FriarsOnBase are already clamoring for his head at second base. My only problem with this, is that the utility player is a very important position on this team. Gyorko doesn’t offer nearly the same versatility as Solarte. He did play third base in the minors but hasn’t in the majors, and Solarte is yet to prove how long he can prolong his hitting streak. I think he deserves to be put out there everyday to work things out through the end of May before a drastic decision needs to be made. His power is certainly there and certainly a threat. In this year’s lineup, he doesn’t have to be “The Rock” he was supposed to be last year. Now he has Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Wil Myers, and more around him.

Last year after coming back from plantar fasciitis he did hit .260, so we do know he can hit for a passable average as well. Last night in his return he went 0-3, but certainly he will continue to press until he starts finding some success. This is an important year for him. He no longer can hide under the sophomore-slump jinx or that major league pitchers have simply figured him out.

Professional major league players adjust. Gyorko is confident he can do the same, stating:

"“A couple of good games and people won’t even notice the slow start.”"

The Padres and Gyorko resume play Friday in Chicago.

What do you guys think? Can Gyorko rebound?

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