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Padres manager Craig Stammen makes 2 injury announcements before Dodgers game
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- Padres manager Craig Stammen makes 2 injury announcements before Dodgers game
Padres manager Craig Stammen makes 2 injury announcements before Dodgers game appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The San Diego Padres received more bad news on the injury front Friday, as manager Craig Stammen confirmed before the team's matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers that two additional players were headed to the injured list .
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San Diego placed right-hander Randy Vasquez on the 15-day injured list with a bruised right ankle and catcher Freddy Fermin on the 10-day IL because of a head contusion. To fill the vacancies, the Padres reinstated catcher Luis Campusano from the injured list and recalled right-handed reliever Alek Jacob from Triple-A El Paso.
Vasquez's injury came after a frightening incident Thursday night when he fainted while heading for an X-ray and was taken to the emergency room. Testing revealed no fracture in his ankle, and additional medical evaluations cleared him following the fainting episode. The team remains optimistic that his absence will not be lengthy.
The loss of Vasquez weakens a rotation already hit hard by injuries. Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove continue rehabbing major elbow injuries and are not expected back before August. Lucas Giolito is dealing with right elbow inflammation, while Matt Waldron is recovering from a right brachialis strain. German Marquez , who recently returned from a two-month IL stint and threw three effective relief innings Thursday, is expected to replace Vasquez in the rotation.
Vasquez opened the season as one of San Diego's most reliable starters, but he's cooled off considerably in recent weeks. He owns a 4.71 ERA across 84 innings this season after compiling a 7.75 ERA over his last eight starts. The 27-year-old has failed to complete four innings in each of his previous three outings, has not recorded a quality start in nearly two months, and carries a 16.3% strikeout rate, ranking among the 10 lowest for pitchers with at least 80 innings pitched.
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The Padres' pitching staff has also been rocked, allowing the sixth-most runs in Major League Baseball over the past month. During that stretch, the rotation has produced the third-fewest innings while posting a 5.27 ERA. San Diego entered on a six-game losing streak, having fallen back to .500 for the first time since April 8 and slipping 3.5 games behind in the National League Wild Card race.
Meanwhile, Fermin returns to the injured list shortly after previously missing time with a concussion. Although he absorbed a foul ball off his mask Thursday and exited the game, Stammen said he successfully cleared concussion protocol. The Padres instead diagnosed him with a head contusion.
Campusano's return offers a boost behind the plate. Before suffering a toe fracture that kept him out for around two months, he was batting .288 with a .958 OPS through 18 games. He appeared in only two rehabilitation games before being activated, while Rodolfo Duran remains on the major league roster as the backup catcher.
San Diego also received encouraging news regarding reliever Jason Adam . An MRI showed no significant structural damage to his right shoulder, revealing only what Adam described as a minor muscular strain. The All-Star reliever, who has accumulated a 2.51 ERA in 36 appearances this season, said he hopes to return in early to mid-August after experiencing shoulder soreness following a multi-inning outing earlier this week.
Related: Padres makes German Marquez announcement before Dodgers series
