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San Diego Padres Activate Alexi Amarista from DL

By Keenan Mrozek

Apr 13, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; San Diego Padres shortstop Alexi Amarista (5) gets force out on Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez (16) as he throws to first base to complete double play during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 13, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; San Diego Padres shortstop Alexi Amarista (5) gets force out on Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez (16) as he throws to first base to complete double play during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
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The San Diego Padres regained a veteran infielder with the activation of Alexi Amarista, but can he keep up his early season offensive exploits for an offense starved Padres team?

Alexi Amarista was activated off the DL yesterday with his right hamstring having healed enough to warrant a rehab start with San Antonio, in which he went 2-5. Amarista had started 2016 going 7 for 21 when he pulled his hamstring April 19th. His return to the lineup signaled the end of Tayron (pronounced Tie-ron) Guerrero’s brief major league stint. It also adds a second utility infielder to the mix for Andy Green.

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This season, in 9 games prior to the injury, which is a decidedly small sample size, Alexi had nearly evenly split his time between second, third and shortstop, with most metrics saying he was a little worse in the defensive range and fielding. He had a fielding error at SS in one of the games and was clean in the other two positions. What he does bring this season though is, so far, a vastly improved bat and eye.

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Statistics show that over the course of his career Amarista swings at pitches out of the zone at about a 35% clip. This year that number is 21.6%, albeit, over a limited sample. If he can stop swinging at junk the pitcher wants him to swing at, then he can be a better offensive player.

Andy Green referenced this last night in his postgame presser when he talked about Cueto making pitches look like they were in the strike zone when they were not.

The result? Swinging at pitches out of the zone, and Green tackled that, admitting that the Padres need to do more to work the count and swing at the pitches they want to swing at, not the ones the pitcher presents them. If the Padres were shopping for a used car like they swing at pitches, they would be driving the lemons of the lot.

Amarista brings an assortment of tools to the big league club, including a veteran presence that I cannot measure with any sort of metric.

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However, if he doesn’t continue his early season offensive approach, Carlos Asuaje is hitting .317 with a .511 SLG percentage at AAA. Auaje plays second base and can move around the infield as well as Amarista. His offensive production may eventually prove to be the end of the “little ninja” in San Diego unless Amarista maintains his production from the early part of April.

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