Padres’ surprise Miguel Andújar return targets offensive redemption in Cubs Wild Card rematch

The Padres’ Wild Card roster included a couple of surprises. First, there was Joe Musgrove. Then Miguel Andújar’s name made us look twice. His last major-league game came July 19. A curveball fractured his right wrist, his recovery took the rest of the regular season, and San Diego never activated him. Then the Wild Card roster arrived. There he was, two months of silence followed by a direct landing into the postseason. 

San Diego signed Andújar in February with last October still stuck in its mind. The Cubs held the Padres to five runs over three games, then sent them home with a 3-1 loss in Game 3. The pitching staff kept offering lifelines, while the offense continued to pretend like they didn’t exist.

Padres’ forgotten offseason fix resurfaces for the Cubs rematch

Andújar represented a practical offseason response: a right-handed hitter capable of handling DH duties, punishing mistakes and keeping a strong bat on the bench. He slashed .259/.303/.423 slash line across 74 games, with 20 doubles, five home runs and only 38 strikeouts in 254 plate appearances. Andújar’s bread and butter is to put the ball in play.

Then the wrist fracture erased him from the picture. He began a Triple-A rehab assignment in September and continued getting at-bats at the Padres’ Arizona complex, but a final regular-season appearance never came. Most roster projections, including ours, moved along without him. Clearly, the Padres did not. 

They have chosen to carry only 11 pitchers and built a 15-man position-player group, including Andújar while leaving Sung-Mun Song off. That decision tells us exactly how Stammen wants to manage this series. This bench was built to move.

Austin Hays and Andújar give Stammen right-handed options. Gavin Sheets supplies the left-handed counter. Three catchers create freedom to pinch-hit without leaving the position exposed. Jase Bowen and Samad Taylor bring speed and defense after the lineup has been emptied.

Stammen can attack a matchup in the fourth or fifth inning and sort out the defensive alignment afterward. Andújar remains a gamble. Wrist injuries carry obvious concerns for hitters, and two months away from major-league pitching cannot be waved aside. He could receive one plate appearance during the entire series. And that may be all the Padres want from him.

The Padres have watched two consecutive playoff appearances fall apart when their lineup went quiet in a deciding game. This time they’re bringing a roster that has power, contact, speed, defensive replacements and enough bench pieces to force the action.

We already know how the old ending reads. Andújar’s surprise return gives the Padres one more chance to write something better.

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