San Diego Padres: Asuaje Optioned, Lineups/Pitchers vs. Rockies

The San Diego Padres made a few moves ahead of their two-game series with the Colorado Rockies beginning tonight at Petco Park.

The San Diego Padres made the previously reported (James E. Clark, EVT) move of calling up Franmil Reyes to make his major-league debut and optioned second baseman Carlos Asuaje (Cassavell, MLB.com) to Triple-A El Paso. This decision likely signifies the permanence of Jose Pirela‘s recent run at the position.

Asuaje, 26, is currently hitting .198 for the season with a .555 OPS. After getting the bulk of the playing time at second for most of the first thirty-odd games of the season, his offensive inadequacies finally caught up to him and he was deemed expendable at this current juncture.

In the ideal-scenario for AJ Preller and manager Andy Green, the Venezuelan native will head down to El Paso with a chip on his shoulder and a head full of determination to get better.

With consistent at-bats and the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, Asuaje could get things back on track relatively quickly both through physical results and mental (read: confidence-boosting) effects.

Over the weekend, Asuaje sent out this tweet. Personally, I have faith in his work ethic and his potential for turning things around fairly quickly.

If things don’t get any better in San Diego, there’s a good chance the team will end up needing him to play second again after the trade deadline.

San Diego Padres throw Franmil right into the fire

The newest member of the Padres, Franmil Reyes, will be starting in right field tonight and hitting sixth.

Here’s the rest of tonight’s lineup, courtesy of the Padres’ social media account:

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Padres facing Anderson with Lucchesi on the bump and

The Friars face Tyler Anderson (2-1, 4.23) tonight. The 28-year-old lefty threw his first seven-inning outing on May 2 against the Cubs.

He was then touched up for four earned runs in five innings in a loss to the Angels on May 9.

Going for the Padres tonight is left-hander Joey Lucchesi.

In 42.1 innings this season he’s got an earned-run average of 2.98, 46 strikeouts, and just fourteen walks.

Manuel Margot is leading off for the first time since just after Travis Jankowski came up (May 2), Christian Villanueva is at third, hitting cleanup, hoping to work himself out of the slump he’s been in (0-for-36 since May 2).

Otherwise, it’s the usual suspects for the San Diego Padres tonight against a pitcher in Anderson, who’s shown that he can be gotten to.

Next: Who Stays, Who Goes in Padres OF?

Let’s let the good times roll and make it three in a row. That’s called a winning streak. It has happened before.