Newly-minted San Diego Padres’ general manager, A.J. Preller is wasting no time evaluating some of the upper-tier, near big league ready talent in his minor league system. According to Corey Brock of MLB.com, Preller and the Padres have made the decision to promote hot-hitting outfielder Rymer Liriano to the big leagues tomorrow.
The 23-year-old Liriano has earned his shot, especially given the lack of offensive production from the Padres’ big league outfield, consisting primarily of the now-trade Chris Denorfia, the oft-injured Carlos Quentin, the currently-suspended Cameron Maybin, the surprising Seth Smith, and the under-performing Will Venable. In 114 games in 2014 between Double-A San Antonio, and Triple-A El Paso, Liriano is hitting .366, but has gone 28-for-60 in a small sample size in El Paso. He’s normally a .270 or so hitter. He also has 14 home runs and 66 runs driven in between the two levels. Liriano also has 20 stolen bases this season.
The 6’0″, 230-lb. Liriano could be the first of several top minor leaguers who will be given an extended audition for the remainder of the summer, as Preller needs to determine what he has in major league ready talent before the start of this coming off-season.
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As of this writing, the Padres have not announced a corresponding move for the Liriano promotion. Stay with Friars On Base for all of your complete San Diego Padres’ coverage.
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