Padres Purchase Zawadzki From Minors; Cabrera to DL; Antonelli to 60-Day DL

With shortstop Everth Cabrera slumping and injured, the Padres turned to Triple-A shortstop Lance Zawadzki to fill the team’s weakest position, calling him up earlier today. Zawadzki was not on the 40-man roster previously, so his contract was purchased from the minors.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Padres transferred 2B Matt Antonelli from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL.

Jerry Hairston has been anemic at short, and the Padres are still in something of a rebuild despite their surprise hot start, so I’d expect the team to give Zawadzki every chance to prove he belongs in the majors with Cabrera out.

Zawadzki turns 25 in a couple of weeks, and he has never played in the majors. He was a 4th round pick in 2007 who hit .289/.369/.476 with 15 homers across two levels last season.

Still, the switch-hitter was off to a dreadful .162/.240/.176 start in AAA, and he had never played there prior to this season, so he probably isn’t ready just yet. Then again, nobody thought Cabrera would be as good as he was last year, so who knows?

I see Zawadzki as a valuable utility player for the Padres down the line, and hopefully he’ll show some potential in the next few weeks as he begins his big league career.

No corresponding Portland roster move has been announced; minor league veteran and former Padre Sean Kazmar is expected to get the majority of the Beavers’ SS time while Zawadzki is in San Diego.