San Diego Padres: Off day notes, injury updates

Some thoughts on the San Diego Padres and a look at their disabled list as the club enjoys an off day ahead of a three game series with Milwaukee.

The San Diego Padres and their fans are in fairly good spirits Thursday coming off of a three game sweep against the Cincinnati Reds. Now out of the National League West cellar, there is a hint of optimism surrounding the organization even in the midst of what has clearly become a rebuilding season.

On Friday, San Diego’s quest to continue their climb up the standings and back towards the .500 mark continues as they travel to Miller Park in Milwaukee to take on the Brewers.

But before the next series commences, Thursday’s off day presents us with a good opportunity to take a step back and recap some of the action this past week.

Off day notes

• The MLB draft concluded Wednesday, with the Padres totaling 39 selections in the 40 rounds. This year, the organization emphasized adding pitching, taking 23 pitchers as opposed to 16 position players. They also stressed youth, taking 29 high schoolers.
• Strong NL West: The Padres are 27-40, and have leapfrogged the Giants for fourth place in the division. But catching up to anybody else is going to be an uphill battle. While San Diego is 14.5 games back, the third place Diamondbacks are just a half a game out. The NL West may be baseball’s strongest division after all.
• All Star voting continues: To help send your favorite Padres to Miami for the 2017 MLB All Star game, vote here. Voting will continue for the remainder of the month and fans can vote up to five times every 24 hours.
• ESPN publishes lengthy piece on the Padres titled, Single-A to The Show? Padres turn Petco Park into a science lab. It’s worth a read.

Injury updates

Thursday also serves as a good opportunity to check in with the ailing Padres.

• Trevor Cahill: Cahill remains on the 10-day DL with shoulder strain, but a return within a week is plausible.
• Jarred Cosart: A strained right elbow is keeping Cosart on the 10-day DL, and no updates have been provided.
• Manuel Margot: Right calf soreness back in May put Margot on the 10-day DL, where he remains. Fortunately, Franchy Cordero and Jose Pirela have picked up the slack in the outfield.
• Hector Sanchez: Sanchez remains on the 10-day DL with a foot contusion.
• Jered Weaver: The veteran remains on the 10-day DL, but is throwing and optimistic of a return shortly.
• Buddy Baumann: Baumann is in the final stages of recovery and can return to San Diego’s bullpen very soon, as long as no setbacks occur.
• Alex Dickerson: Dickerson has a bulging disk, a serious enough injury to put him on the 60-day DL. At this point, estimating a return is rather impossible.
• Robbie Erlin: Erlin had Tommy John surgery in the offseason but could return by midseason.
• Christian Friedrich: Friedrich is still on the 60-day DL and is not yet participating in baseball activity.
• Travis Jankowski: With a fractured right foot earlier in the month, Jankowski remains on the 60-day DL.

Next: New guys in the outfield

The Padres have a long way to go to get healthy. The good news is, players such as Cordero are stepping in when the club most desperately needs them to and are producing efficiently. With the Brewers next, the Padres look to keep rolling this weekend.