The San Diego Padres need reinforcements in the bullpen and on the field, and Jason Adam and Sung Mun Song are coming.
The San Diego Padres are off to a slow start, but they do have reinforcements coming. According to Nick Deeds of MLBTradeRumors.com, both reliever Jason Adam and infielder Sung Mun Song are both making progress in their respective rehab assignments, and their return could be on the horizon.
Adam is the more significant of the two, and the Padres expected him to be out for Opening Day given that he’s coming off surgery for a torn quad. He threw 1-1/3 innings of a rehab assignment over the weekend, and he’ll throw in a simulated game today before he makes back-to-back rehab appearances on Friday and Saturday.
This could set up a return for not long after the date when his minimum IL stint ends, which is April 8. He’ll be a huge boon to the Padres bullpen, Deeds noted, which is important because the ‘pen is already being stretched thin due to the sparse rotation. Adam has a 2.07 ERA since the start of the 2022 campaign, and he’ll join a crowded mix that includes closer Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Jeremiah Estrada.
Given the sheer number of relievers the Padres have, it’s fair to wonder if they might not try a few experiments with openers to get some wins in an unconventional way. Several of their starters are already functioning in that role, more or less, so this would make some sense, although it would be a tough ask for a rookie manager like Craig Stammen.
As for Song, he’s not far from returning as well. He started a rehab assignment last week after straining his oblique muscle, and he’s appeared in three games so far. Those appearances have been at second and short, so it looks like the plan to have Song expand his versatility and learn more positions will be temporarily scrapped.
The 29-year old infielder was signed in the offseason based on his performance in Korean baseball in the KBO league, with the Padres giving him a four-year deal for $15 million. He’ll be a part of the bench mix, according to Deeds, and the Padres need anyone who can hit right now after scoring just nine runs in their first four games.
Deeds also added an update on the return of infielder to Luis Arraez to San Diego as the San Francisco Giants won the first game of their three-game set with Arraez playing first base last night. Evidently Arraez expressed a strong desire to play second base, which wasn’t going to be possible with Jake Cronenworth entrenched there for the Padres, so that issue played a big part in the parting of the ways between Arraez and the Pads.