San Diego Padres: Wil Myers Hoping To Return Against San Francisco

Barring any setbacks, the San Diego Padres should have the services of Wil Myers in the next day or two.

While the San Diego Padres have been playing some quality baseball over the last month, Wil Myers has been cooling his heels, recuperating from injuries. The Padres have scored just three runs over their last three games and are in desperate need of an offensive boost or spark.

Myers has played in just 10 games this season. Over his 40 at-bats, he slashed .300/.300/.450 with a .750 OPS. Of his 12 hits, three were doubles and one was a home run.

After injuries limited his first few seasons in the bigs, the last two seasons have been healthy and extremely productive for the young hitter. Myers had 30 home runs, 74 RBIs, and played in 155 games last year. In 2016, he played 157 games with 28 home runs and drove in 94 runs. The addition of Eric Hosmer was supposed to have helped take the pressure off Myers in the lineup (and in the clubhouse), unfortunately, Myers hasn’t seen much of either.

The nerve irritation, back issues, and oblique strain seem to behind now, however, with the oblique muscle being such a critical part of a swing, effects may linger for a while.

Wil Myers is having a solid rehab session in Triple-A El Paso. 

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Since his return to competitive baseball, Myers has started five games for El Paso, going 6-for-20 at the plate with three doubles and a home run. More importantly, there have been no reports of any discomfort.

Manager Andy Green noted that Myers will more than likely rejoin the team during their trip to San Francisco, which begins Thursday night.

The big question is who gets DFA’d to make room for Myers when he’s activated. The two obvious names are Matt Szczur and Franmil Reyes. Szczur has been heralded for his ability to play all three outfield positions and play as a late-game defensive substitute/pinch-runner. While Reyes can’t do either, he does provide a big, powerful bat which he has shown is capable of hitting monster home runs or gap-finding singles.

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The Padres will battle Madison Bumgarner and the Giants on Thursday night in game one of a four-game set. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 pm.