Padres manager Andy Green plans to give the younger players on his squad ample playing time the rest of the season.
This includes outfielders like Travis Jankowski and Poway’s Alex Dickerson, as well as shortstop Jose Rondon – who Green said he plans to start in place of veteran Alexei Ramirez for the foreseeable future.
In Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Milwaukee, it was Jabari Blash’s turn to shine.
The enigmatic outfielder recorded his first career RBI and stolen base against the Brewers.
Blash had spent the past few months in Triple-A El Paso working on his swing and was called up a couple days ago after Matt Kemp was traded to Atlanta.
He originally opened the year on the Padres Opening Day roster but struggled in limited action earlier this season as a Rule-5 pickup from Seattle.
San Diego managed only six hits and two runs against Milwaukee starter Zach Davies Tuesday.
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All three relievers from the Brewers bullpen that entered also worked quickly to retire the Padres and none of them allowed a single hit.
Padres starting pitcher Luis Perdomo pitched well into the 6th inning but that was when Milwaukee jumped in front.
Ryan Braun returned from a five-game absence to smash a solo homer and Chris Carter later knocked in another run to make it 3-1 Brew Crew.
Blash knocked in Wil Myers in the bottom half of the 6th when he smashed a line drive off the glove of Milwaukee third baseman Jonathan Villar.
Blash is still batting a paltry .176 in the bigs but Green and general manager AJ Preller hope the rightfielder will become more consistent with more at-bats.
When Blash was pinch-hitting earlier in the year it was tough for him to get comfortable against big-league pitching and now the plan is to see if he can figure it out with a larger sample size at the big league level.
The rubber match between the two teams is set for Wednesday afternoon at 12:40 p.m.
Edwin Jackson takes the mound for San Diego while Milwaukee counters with Junior Guerra.
The Friars will then enjoy an off-day Thursday before hosting Philadelphia this weekend.
