The moment the Padres signed Manny Machado the Friar Faithful have been dreaming of an infield that looks like this:
1B - Eric Hosmer
2B - Luis Urias
SS - Fernando Tatis Jr.
3B - Manny Machado
On Monday in San Francisco they're finally getting just that.
San Diego recalled Luis Urias, one of the top infield prospects in baseball, and stuck him at the top of the batting order to start a 3-game series against the Giants. Relief pitcher Brad Wieck was also brought back, and that might be an even better story than Urias (more on that in the minute).
The moves were made for a few reasons.
One is Urias is off to a hot start with Triple-A El Paso, hitting .333 with a home run in four games. Another is veteran Ian Kinsler, who had a blistering Cactus League season, is struggling with a .557 OPS through 10 games. Yet another is outfielder Franchy Cordero was placed on the Injured List with an elbow sprain, opening up a spot for a position player.
Left-handed reliever Aaron Loup also landed on the Injured List with an elbow strain, opening up the spot for Wieck and it's amazing he's going to be back on a Major League mound this week. In January, Wieck underwent surgery for testicular cancer. Doctors removed a tumor and he was on the shelf indefinitely.
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"Indefinitely" did not last very long. Wieck came back to throw in a Cactus League game in March and after feeling good in a couple of appearances in El Paso the big (he's 6-foot-9) lefty has returned to the big leagues.
