San Diego Padres: Tommy Pham news is another punch to the gut

The San Diego Padres may be without outfielder Tommy Pham for the rest of the season.

Through the first two weeks of the regular season, the San Diego Padres were one of baseball’s most exciting and intriguing teams.

Starting pitcher Dinelson Lamet showed off his ace-like stuff, Eric Hosmer started showing everyone even he can add a little launch angle to his game, Fernando Tatis Jr.was just being Fernando Tatis Jr. and pleasant surprises like Trent Grisham, Drew Pomeranz, and Jake Cronenworth were providing value and highlight-reel plays.

Unfortunately, the Padres have now lost five-straight games, including being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend, falling to under .500 with an 11-12 record, and now find themselves five games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.

It isn’t time to panic for those who believe this Padres team can make a playoff run, but the recent slide along with two recent major injuries are causes for concern.

San Diego Padres manager Jayce Tingler announced on Monday morning that outfielder Tommy Pham will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a broken hamate bone in his left hand. That timeline does put him at risk for missing the rest of the season.

The Padres also lost their All-Star closer in Kirby Yates this weekend. Yates went on the 10-day Injured List with elbow inflammation. An MRI later revealed bone chips in his elbow. He’s currently seeking a second opinion on how to proceed.

Neither player had put up noteworthy numbers thus far in 2020, but the Padres are now forced to find additional bullpen help and a new starting outfielder without much depth available.

Yates has appeared in six games this season, giving up six earned runs on seven hits across 4.1 innings. While he does have eight strikeouts, he’s already walked four batters after walking 13 across 60 innings last year.

As for Pham, the former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder was slashing .207/.316/.293 with three extra-base hits. Added for his on-base skills, Pham wasn’t having any trouble drawing walks, but finding base hits had been a struggle before going down with his injury.

Sliding Drew Pomeranz into the full-time closer’s role should be a fine fit (one hit allowed through 7.2 innings), but finding reliable bullpen help has already been a process for San Diego, one that isn’t going to get any easier now.

Replacing Pham won’t be easy, either. The Padres will now likely look to rookie Edward Olivares and second-year man Josh Naylor to fill the void.

Olivares came out of the gates hot this season, but is currently hitting .176 with a .222 on-base percentage and 14 strikeouts in 12 games. He’s making the jump from Double-A where he spent all of 2019, so growing pains are expected, but he isn’t ready for full-time duties quite yet.

Naylor just recently rejoined the active roster after being optioned to the team’s Alternate Site a few days ago. He’s shown flashes of production at the plate, hitting .249 with 23 extra-base hits in 94 games last season, but his defense leaves a lot to be desired.

As a role player, Naylor can be a good option, but isn’t someone you want making everyday starts in left field if you’re trying to make a playoff run.

The San Diego Padres are in Texas for a two-game set before playing two more against the Rangers in San Diego this week. They follow that up with three against Houston and three against Seattle, all home games against struggling AL West teams.

If the Padres can come out of this 10-game stretch with a winning record, they will be sitting in a good spot as they get back into NL West competition with four games against the Rockies. Hopefully, Tingler has his roster in shape to make a run at that point, but he’s going to have some work to do and some unsung heroes are going to have to step over the final few weeks of the regular season.

Hold on tight, San Diego Padres fans. It’s going to be a wild ride.