The San Diego Padres rallied for an exciting 7-6 win over Seattle last night, but they also lost catcher Freddy Fermin.
The San Diego Padres pulled off a wild walk-off win against the Seattle Mariners last night, but they also lost one of their most valuable unsung players, as catcher Freddy Fermin had to leave the game last night after taking a foul ball to the mask.
Catchers take brutal shots behind the plate all the time, but it’s rare to see one leave the game. The play happened in the third inning on a hard foul ball from Seattle leadoff man Brendan Donovan, and backup catcher Luis Campusano had to replace Fermin.
The good news is that the concussion tests came up negative. The Padres don’t have a lot of catching depth, and lingering symptoms from a concussion can be hard to manage and overcome.
“Took him back, tested him, no concussion stuff going on,” Stammen said after the game in a followup piece written by AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. “But just a head contusion. It just feels like he got hit in the head. Luckily it’s not a concussion at this point. All the tests came back negative.”
Nonetheless, the Padres will monitor Fermin carefully going forward. He’s been going through one of those stretches all catchers go through where the foul balls and backswings seem to find them on one play after another, and Stammen said Fermin will be reevaluated again today.
The injury left the Padres in an interesting situation given their lack of catching depth. According to announcer Don Orsillo and analyst Mark Grant, the next man up would have been first baseman Ty France as the emergency catcher, with Jake Cronenworth also mentioned as a possibility.
It’s a tough break for Fermin, who’s been outstanding defensively. This is his first full season as a prospective starter behind the plate, and he’s currently hitting just .161 with a .496 OPS as he splits time with Campusano.
Campusano is much stronger offensively, but he’s not the defender Fermin is, and his game-calling skills aren’t as strong or refined, either. He had a crucial two-run single in last night’s five-run rally in the ninth, and he’ll probably get an extended stretch as the starter if Fermin has to be placed on the injured list for a brief period.
Cassavell added that the most likely call-up is Rodolfo Duran, who homered yesterday and has a .772 OPS in 12 games with Triple-A El Paso this season. The Padres have been waiting for top prospect Ethan Salas to emerge for quite a while now, but Salas is just 1-for-8 so far with five strikeouts at Double-A San Antonio, so his latest developmental year isn’t exactly off to a strong start.