Padres News: Bogaerts injury update, Friars get last word vs. Nats, ASG finalists

All things considered, the San Diego Padres are trending in the right direction at the moment. The Padres are three games above .500 after winning seven of their last 10 games (we'll get to a few of those games here in a second) and they currently occupy the second NL wild card spot for the moment.

While the trades for Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez have played a big part in why the Padres have found success recently, fans need to remember that this doesn't even represent San Diego at full strength right now. Several key players are either on the Padres' injured list or, in Manny Machado's case, still working their way back into form.

With that in mind, here is a look at some of the more recent news regarding the Padres, including a very promising update on one of their roster cornerstones.

Padres News: Xander Bogaerts takes batting practice, clearing major rehab milestone

Xander Bogaerts' time with the Padres ever since he signed that nine-figure deal has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Unfortunately, a large chunk of his 2024 season has been lost after a fluke play resulted in Bogaerts fracturing his shoulder in late May. Given the weird nature of that highly uncommon baseball injury, there wasn't a great sense of how long he could be out.

However, San Diego got good news this week, as it was revealed that Bogaerts took batting practice, which is a big deal in getting a sense of where his shoulder is right now. The team has yet to reveal how aggressive they will be in ramping up his baseball activities, which is probably wise as they wait to see how his shoulder reacts to taking swings. That said, it doesn't feel like Bogaerts is that far away from a rehab stint, assuming he doesn't have any setbacks. And who saw that coming in May?

Padres News: San Diego secures sweep of Nationals after contentious series

As was alluded to before, a big part of the Padres' recent run was a fantastic series against Washington. After Kyle Higashioka went wild with a pair of homers, San Diego swept the Nats to comfortably give themselves a winning record for a nice change of pace.

It certainly didn't hurt that the Padres pulled the sweep off against a Washington team that was in their feelings all series long (and is competing with the Pads for a Wild Card berth).

After getting walked off by Jurickson Profar in the first game, the Nationals got upset at the celebration and escalated things by confronting Profar and clearing the benches. All of the Nationals' complaining did them no good, and now the Padres are off to take on the Red Sox. Washington, in a half-panic move, half-calculated gesture, will now promote ex-Pads top prospect James Wood to help stop the bleeding.

Padres News: San Diego secures for finalists in 2024 All-Star Game voting

Finally, the first phase of voting for the 2024 All-Star Game is officially over and the Padres did very well for themselves, as four Padres players made it as finalists to start the 2024 All-Star Game. Luis Arraez, Manny Machado, Jurickson Profar, and Fernando Tatis Jr. have all gotten through to the final vote.

There are a lot of really good players and big markets in the final round of voting, and Padres fans are going to have to be diligent in voting, especially with votes being limited to one per day now. If you want to go vote for your favorite Padres or just want a rundown of how All-Star voting works, our sister Astros site has you covered with all of the info you need.

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