The Padres have placed Doug Brocail on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left gluteus muscle.  That injury sounds like a pain in the butt…..LOL…..I couldn’t resist.  Brocail has pitched pretty well this season for the Padres as he’s 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP in 29 games this year.  He has pitched 32.2 innings and he has allowed 25 hits, walked 11 batters and whiffed 20.  The Padres have recalled Royce Ring from the minors.  Ring pitched in 3 games earlier this season for the Padres and he threw 3 innings and allowed only 1 hit, no earned runs and whiffed 6 batters.  He will give the Padres a second lefty in the bullpen which could make it even better than it already is now…and that’s hard to believe.

The Padres have acquired Michael Barrett from the Chicago Cubs for Rob Bowen and OF Kyler Burke.  This was an outstanding move by the Padres as Michael Barrett will help the offense.  Barrett played in 57 games for the Cubs this season and he was 54 for 211 (.256 avg, .734 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 9 homers and 29 RBIs.  The Padres think that a fresh start is all that Barrett will need to even hit better.  Barrett will likely take over the starting job from Josh Bard but Bard will still get a lot of playing time for a backup as the pitchers on the Padres like throwing to him.  The Padres had to make this trade because they really didn’t give up much to get Barrett.  They got him for pennies on the dollar.

The Padres need a little more from Khalil Greene.  His production numbers aren’t too bad but they would be much better if he hit for a higher batting average.  In 61 games this season, Greene is 56 for 245 (.229 avg, .698 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 8 homers and 38 RBIs.  Greene has the potential to be a building block for the future of the Padres but that future needs to start right now.  They also need him to stay healthy and play a full season which he hasn’t done in the majors yet.

Mike Cameron started slowly this season but he’s heating up lately.  Over his last 25 games, Cameron is 27 for 95 (.284 avg, .870 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 5 homers, 17 RBIs and 3 stolen bases.  His average has risen to .237 and his OPS now stands at .689.  The Padres desperately need Cameron to keep swinging a good bat because they don’t have too much power in their lineup outside of Adrian Gonzalez.

The Padres are 7-5 the last two weeks as they’ve outscored their opponents 60-39.  It’s nice to see the Padres starting to swing the bats as their pitching will be strong all season long.  The Padres enter this week with a 36-26 record which has them tied for first place in the National League West with the Diamondbacks, 1.5 games ahead of the Dodgers.