Luke Voit’s return after horrendous rehab stint is a desperate move by Padres

Padres look desperate bringing Luke Voit back after horrendous at-bats in rehab stint

Why is Luke Voit back with the San Diego Padres?

The slugger, acquired from the Yankees in mid-March, has been on the 10-Day Injured List since April 24. The Padres lineup was productive without him at first, though in fairness, they were playing the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates. But over their series against the Miami Marlins this weekend, they were shut out completely in the third game and only scored eight runs over the entire four-game set.

Without Voit, the Padres have gone 9-4, but with two of their losses being walk-offs, the depleted lineup is clearly a pressing matter. On Sunday evening, manager Bob Melvin said the team is looking for “power” in Fernando Tatis Jr.’s absence, and although he didn’t explicitly name the injured star or Voit, their bats, or lack thereof, speak for themselves.

However, power doesn’t exactly describe Voit at the moment. He went hitless and struck out 12 times in 18 at-bats during his Triple-A El Paso rehab stint, which he capped off with nine consecutive strikeouts.

It also wouldn’t be an apt description of his performance before going on the IL, as he was hitting a meager .143/.315/.167 with a lowly .481 OPS in his first 54 plate appearances of the season.

According to AJ Cassavell, Voit will get live at-bats and work with the Padres’ staff this week in order to try and fix his swing.

If the Padres are looking for a bat to fill Tatis’ void for the next month or so, Voit doesn’t appear to be the answer.