The Padres completed their first half with a 6-3 loss to the Braves, and San Diego enters the All-Star break with a 50-49 record and a +12 run differential. While the National League wild card race is still very crowded, the Padres are a game out of a playoff spot and still in good position to make a run in the second half, though they’ll need good health and continued production from their star players to make it happen.
With this in mind, Luis Arraez told reporters (including Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune) today that he won’t be playing in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Arraez was named to the NL’s bench squad and will still attend the festivities in Arlington since his parents and sister will be in attendance at the Midsummer Classic for the first time, but the infielder won’t be taking the field because “I need the rest” for his injured left thumb.
Arraez jammed his thumb while sliding into third base during the Padres’ 9-7 win over the Nationals on June 25, and has since been trying to play through some serious discomfort whenever he fields the ball or takes a swing. Scans haven’t revealed any structural damage to the thumb, but Arraez recently told Acee and company that he has been wrapping the base of his thumb for every game.
“I don’t feel 100 percent. But every time I touch the line, I want to give 100 percent to the manager and to my teammates,” Arraez said.
It is a testament to Arraez’s toughness and ability that he has still continued to hit even while playing through this pain, even if his power has been even more limited by his thumb injury. Arraez is batting .309/.321/.346 over 56 plate appearances in the 13 games he has played since hurting his thumb, yet only two of his 17 hits have been for extra bases (both doubles). Though Arraez is known for his contact hitting moreso than his power, that .346 slugging percentage is well below the .427 career mark he posted in his first five MLB seasons with the Twins and Marlins.
Fernando Tatis Jr. is also hoping to take a step towards getting back onto the field when he undergoes an MRI during the All-Star break. Tatis was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 22 due to a right femoral stress reaction, and told The Athletic’s Dennis Lin and other reporters on Friday that he was no longer feeling any pain in his right leg. This is good news considering the uncertain nature of the injury, though while Tatis said he will “definitely” play again in 2024, he didn’t have any other updates on when exactly he might be able to return.
The fact that the injury was potentially seen as season-ending is certainly a concern, and itself perhaps a sign that Tatis isn’t out of the woods of being on a path to full fitness. The upcoming MRI will potentially shed some light on a recovery timetable, and for now, Tatis’ baseball-related activity has been limited to only dry swings.
Moving from lineup injuries to rotation injuries, Joe Musgrove is slated for a full bullpen session on Wednesday. Musgrove is eligible to return from the 60-day IL when his minimum absence time is up in late July, but his return from bone spurs in his right elbow will surely be delayed into August since the righty is only just in the early stages of his throwing progression. As per Acee, Musgrove will limit himself to throwing only fastballs in his first couple of bullpen sessions.
Between this IL stint and another visit to the 10-day IL due to triceps tendinitis at the beginning of the season, Musgrove has thrown only 49 1/3 innings in 2024, and struggled to a 5.66 ERA. This marks the second straight injury-marred year for Musgrove, as a broken toe and shoulder inflammation limited him to 97 1/3 innings in 2023, though he was more effective when he did pitch, delivering a 3.05 ERA.
James Midway
Being a Padres fan is never easy.
beersy
I hear ya’ James!! But being a Padre fan since Preller has taken over has never dull either though. Of course the kids they drafted tonight are years away, but it seems again like Preller & Co. grabbed a couple of high upside guys with high ceilings. With a bunch of picks in the next few rounds, it will be interesting to see who else they draft and hopefully bring into the fold.
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
I think I’ve said this before but I feel like this site has mostly padres fans
Do a ton of people support the padres outside of San Diego?
Where are the brewers or the rays or the diamondback fans on this site?
straightuphonestguy
I think it has more to do with how active the team has been in FA and trades (offseason/deadline) over the past 5 years.
kripes-brewers
Plenty of Brewers fans, we just don’t have much to say – just keeping our mouths shut and fingers crossed while gnawing our nails off.
Degaz
Arraez is so overrated. Hs no power and is a bad defender.
padrepapi
12 xbh to 13 k’s with 81 hits as a Padre. No complaints here.
User 355748524
Kind of weird to be comparing XBH to strikeouts…
And those 12xbh play into a below league average .381 SLG. (.396 is the LG AVG)
All that said, I think he is a fine player for what he is. Puts the ball in play and has enough power and bat-to-ball skills (plus high ceiling) to avoid ending up like Hanser Alberto.
So long as he keeps that BA above .300 and that SLG above .350ish, he’ll continue to have value in a lineup.
CBeisbol
Degaz
“Hs no power and is a bad defender.”
Pretty much everyone knows that. Thus, they properly rate him.
He’s going to be a good, not great, hitter – around 20% above average.
Factor in his defense and you can expect around 2.5 WAR per 600 PA
Degaz
Sure…I agree. Which makes him about an average MLB starter.
kripes-brewers
I’ll put him on my team! Dude gets on base – kinda the whole idea…
woodhead1986
Slow too
oldguyG
No no joe pitching with a bone spur don’t sound promising. Hasn’t really pitched much since last year
Simm
He will likely need surgery either this year or in the offseason. That surgery at least won’t cost him next year as the timeframe is usually around 4 months recovery wise.
Padres are just trying to get him to be able to pitch the last month or so this year. Still isn’t a sure thing he will. They have given him shots to help with the pain the bone spurs cause.
Ignorant Son-of-a-b
What about Yu Darvish? What’s with all the secrecy and lack of transparency? At least he could say something to his fans.
MLB Top 100 Commenter
It has been reported that Yu Darvish’s brother has cancer. One poster here speculated that this was the reason that Yu took a leave of absence, but no one knows for sure.
Simm
It’s a family situation and he doesn’t need to tell us what’s happening. He wants to keep it private, darvish isn’t the type of guy you need to question if it’s serious.
FanDan
Arraez was undeserving anyway. Many more players far more deserving than him.
longdistancebrewer
Yep…so is Brice Turang getting a phone call?
LFGSD619
Put him on the IL. Now.
Brew88
I assume you mean Arraez? If so yeah that would seem like a good idea, especially with Bogaerts back and Solano so hot
PadresWSChamps2025
A question why do people on this site and others always try to trade Ha-Seong Kim, a two month rental, to rebuilding teams? Like do they just not know that Kim is a rental? Do they not realize that rebuilding teams don’t trade for rentals unless it’s a “take this dude off our hands and we’ll throw in a prospect or two” arrangement which the Padres obviously aren’t doing with Kim?
oldguyG
It don’t make no sense to trade Kim . If they are close at deadline try to improve the pitching and play it out .
PadresWSChamps2025
Oh it makes plenty of sense to trade Kim. But it makes zero sense to trade *for* Kim if you aren’t certifiably playoff bound. But that hasn’t stopped people from floating the idea of us trading him to teams like the White Sox or Marlins or Athletics.
Brassroo
The Tigers have plenty of pitching help, bit the Padres don’t have much in the way of prospects, with the exception of Salas
PadresWSChamps2025
The Padres have a ton of prospects but the system is admittedly pitcher heavy except for Salas and de Vries.
Simm
Padres have really solid position players especially when Tatis is healthy.
Their biggest issue is pitching. Their pitching is pretty inconsistent. They have 3 pen arms they can normally count on and the rest are dog water more times than not.
Not sure how many teams have had 4 losing streaks of 5 games before the allstar break and are still above .500. This team is up and down, up and down and it’s not like they only beat bad teams.
straightuphonestguy
Curious how restricted list placement affects CBT calculations. I know CBT is calculated at the end of each year using contract AAVs, but does that just mean any salary forfeited by RL placement gets deducted from the total contract terms and averaged over the length of the deal?
Brew88
I’ve had the same question
Longtimecoming
I can’t say that I know the answer but it would seem to be that if a player isn’t getting paid – per reports, he isn’t – then it reduces payroll and thus, CBT?
I know I’ve read that this is saving SD money and that they might have more money for a trade as a result so, unless the people writing those posts and articles are wrong, I’d say no pay = team benefits from lower payroll / CBT numbers.
I don’t think they recalculated for Tatis’ suspension did they?
Brew’88
Isn’t the CBT set at end of season though? I don’t expect Yu to return this season, but if he does, I’m wondering how it will affect the CBT. Will there be a CBT deducted amount (the deduction being his restricted leave period)?
Longtimecoming
I think it has to be for 2024. At end of season if they paid him 2 mil less than his contract provided then SD should have 2 mil to spend elsewhere and not move the needle toward penalty.
If it doesn’t work that way I don’t know why.
I’m guessing SD has a good idea of his status or at least some framework / timetable via discussions.
Yu isn’t the kind of guy that would just hang them out to dry wondering – or make a trade and blow up the CBT because he came back the next day, etc.
I hope he comes back soon and is healthy physically and mentally.
Brew88
Yu is the best, and all for the team so I know this leave is important to him and his family. My 12 year old boy is a pitcher and has adopted his Yu’s unique wind up. I’ve heard that by trade deadline they will know if he returns this season, and if not they will get $7 M payroll freed up
straightuphonestguy
Payroll will be a pro-rated deduction (whatever Yu forgoes), but I don’t understand if that deduction only applies to this year or spread over the life of the remaining contract. Not sure how it works for suspensions either, but I imagine it’s the same.
Bozzmania
Yes so it frees up no more than around 1.1 mill of CBT space. Owed around 7 mill but 6 year contract
padreforlife
Sliding headfirst is mind boggling dumb a post season game ok otherwise just brain dead