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Padres Shuffle Roster As Taylor Goes Down With An Injury
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- Padres Shuffle Roster As Taylor Goes Down With An Injury
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
The San Diego Padres lost sparkplug outfielder Samad Taylor to an oblique injury, according to a report from AJ Cassavell from MLB.com , so they'll plug in a new outfielder as they also made a roster move to compensate for Taylor's absence.
The injury hurts. Taylor has stepped in as the Padres' starting left field since the team released Nick Castellanos back in April, and Taylor has played well. He gives the team speed on defense and on the base paths, and he's been punching above his weight as a hitter.
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Taylor sustained the injury while taking a swing against Zac Gallen on Tuesday night, and while he says the injury is minor, he's torn his oblique before. It's a tough injury when it comes to recovery time, so he could easily be out a month.
The obvious solution, according to Cassavell, is for Gavin Sheets to slide out to left field and make more starts theree, but that also limits the Padres' bench options. The Padres plugged in Jase Bowen earlier this week, but Bowen hasn't given the Padres much offensively since he's been called up, and he's often looked overwhelmed at the plate.
"Good opportunity for him," said manager Craig Stammen. "Now, he hasn't had the consistent at-bats that he probably wants to be super locked in at the plate. But he's going to get his opportunity tonight. We'll see what he's got."
The Padres also called up utility player Luis Rengifo from Triple-A El Paso. They signed Renfigo to a minor league deal after he was released by the Milwaukee Brewers in mid-June, according to Cassavell, and the writer described Renfigo as a switch hitter who can play just about anywhere.
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The wild card with Rengifo is his offense. He struggled with the Brewers offensively with an OPS of just .537 in 57 games, but Renfigo has been on a tear offensively has he was hitting .320 with two homers in six games, according to Cassavell.
"I just feel my timing [is better]," Rengifo said. "They helped me with some mechanical stuff, and I feel really, really good. Just continue to do that."
Rengifo's career numbers don't provide much cause for optimism, as his slash line is .246/.305/.372 with 62 home runs, including a high of 17 in 2022. He definitely could provide more pop than Taylor, but the Padres are basically trying to catch lightning in a bottle with this level of signing as they struggle to stay in the playoff picture.
