SAN DIEGO -- The Padres have spent so much of the first month of their season placing players on the injured list that Tuesday brought a welcome sight: For the first time all year, they brought a player back from that injured list. Two, in fact.
Luis Arraez and Jason Heyward were both activated ahead of the team’s series opener against the Giants on Tuesday at Petco Park. Arraez was in the lineup batting second, Heyward eighth. In a pair of corresponding moves, the Padres designated Yuli Gurriel for assignment and placed Mason McCoy on the 10-day IL with a dislocated finger in his left hand.
Arraez had missed a week while on the 7-day concussion IL, stemming from a violent collision in Houston. He experienced some concussion symptoms early last week. But by Friday, Arraez was no longer experiencing symptoms and had been cleared for full workouts.
On Tuesday, a swarm of media greeted Arraez as he arrived at his locker in the home clubhouse.
"Hello everybody,” he said with an ear-to-ear smile. “I am back.”
So, too, is Heyward, who had been out since April 18 because of inflammation in his left knee.
"Good to be back,” Heyward said. “Hate to miss time, but it’s good to have the chance to get right.”
The return of the two left-handed hitters brings some much needed balance to the San Diego lineup. The Padres are also missing fellow lefties Jackson Merrill (right hamstring strain) and Jake Cronenworth (right rib fracture), along with righty-hitting outfielder Brandon Lockridge (left hamstring strain).
Merrill and Lockridge are currently at the team’s spring complex in Arizona, receiving live at-bats. Cronenworth is expected to join them in the very near future.
Their returns likely aren't too far off. In the meantime, Arraez and Heyward at least help balance a Padres lineup that had skewed far too righty-heavy and struggled over the past week, scoring just five runs over the past five games.
"[I] just get to play baseball, man,” Arraez said. “That’s what I love.”
Arraez gives the club a lefty bat toward the top of the lineup, breaking up the righty-hitting trio of Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts. The Padres had used Gavin Sheets as their No. 2 hitter recently, but that was obviously never the role they envisioned for Sheets.
As for Heyward, his return could turn left field into a platoon between Heyward and Oscar Gonzalez. Meanwhile, the DH spot could morph into a platoon between Sheets and Connor Joe. From there, the Padres made the decision to keep Tirso Ornelas on their bench as a lefty bat, cutting ties with Gurriel.
"We’ve moved on from Yuli, which hurts,” Shildt said. “Guri was quite a pro. We enjoyed every moment he was here. It’s just a decision we made with guys coming off [the IL].”
Across 16 games, the 40-year-old Gurriel batted just .111 with the Padres. It’s worth wondering whether he’s played his final game, after 10 big league seasons.
The Padres could be faced with more tricky roster decisions in the near future, as they welcome other players back from the injured list. But, again, these are the problems they’ve long been waiting to have.