SAN DIEGO — Because the San Diego Padres gear up for a possible postseason run, certainly one of their large bats has taken one other step towards returning to the lineup. Xander Bogaerts, who final noticed motion on Aug. 27 due to a fracture in his left foot, is making ready to start out some “gentle baseball exercise,” in line with Padres supervisor Mike Shildt.
San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
Denis Poroy-Imagn Pictures
“They’re doing a little testing on him, and it’s totally encouraging,” Shildt instructed reporters earlier than the Padres continued a three-game collection towards the Cincinnati Reds at Petco Park on Tuesday. “He will begin some gentle baseball exercise.”
Whereas Shildt supplied the damage replace, he additionally needed to ensure reporters understood there was nonetheless a methods to go earlier than Bogaerts may very well be again within the lineup.
“I wish to mood the expectation right here, however he is beginning to get some stationary floor balls, some dry swings, but it surely’s a begin,” Shildt stated. “The excellent news is, as he recovers, he can ramp up that exercise and hopefully we’ll see him again on the sector. However there’s nonetheless a while to happen, and a few hurdles to leap over.”
Coming off a June and July the place he hit .290 and .295, respectively, Bogaerts cooled off in August earlier than his damage, posting a .241 common with 22 strikeouts in 87 at-bats, probably the most whiffs of any month this season. Bogaerts suffered the fracture after fouling a ball off his left foot, placing a cease to the 120 video games he has began at shortstop in San Diego whereas serving because the staff’s designated hitter on one other 9 events.
Jose Iglesias was within the San Diego lineup at shortstop for Tuesday’s sport, his twenty second begin of the marketing campaign on the place. Nonetheless, Iglesias has been struggling in current video games, going simply 3-for-23 over his final seven contests.
That is the second season that the 32-year-old Bogaerts has missed time due to a fracture. Final yr, he was shelved for greater than seven weeks with a left shoulder fracture. The Padres imagine that Bogaerts will return earlier than the tip of the season, a lift to a staff that believes it may be a contender for the Nationwide League title this season.
All quotations obtained firsthand until in any other case famous.
