27-year old lefty swinging RF Will Venable is a tease. He has good power and speed but at the end of the day he just isn’t very consistent. Venable has played in 103 games for the Padres this year and he is 71 of 313 (.227 avg, .714 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 11 homers, 46 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. Venable just oozes talent and hopefully he’ll put it all together soon for the Padres as they need all hands on the deck if they are going to hold off the Giants and win the N.L. West.

The Padres need 23-year old switch hitting SS Everth Cabrera to get back to the player he was as a rookie in 2009. In 2009, Cabrera played in 103 games for the Padres and he was 96 of 377 (.255 avg, .703 OPS) with 59 runs scored, 2 homers, 31 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. This year has been a nightmare for Cabrera with a bat in his hands. Cabrera has played in 48 games for the Padres this year and he is 33 of 163 (.202 avg, .556 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 1 homer, 21 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. With David Eckstein on the D.L. the Padres need Cabrera to pick up the pace with the bat or they might be forced to trade for a 2B or SS to replace him in the starting lineup.

22-year old righty swinging 1B Kyle Blanks is the #1 prospect in the Padres’ system according to Baseball America. But, the 6′6″, 280 pounder is blocked at his natural position by Adrian Gonzalez so he will get to play the outfield. Blanks has played in 12 games for the Padres so far this season and he is 6 for 31 (.194 avg, .596 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 3 RBIs. Blanks has whiffed 11 times already but he will likely make better contact if he gets regular playing time. He played in 66 AAA games before his recall by the Padres and he was 66 for 233 (.283 avg, .878 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 12 homers and 38 RBIs. If the Padres wind up trading Adrian Gonzalez (that would be dumb) then Blanks would return to his natural position.

Veteran RF Brian Giles is currently on the D.L. and that’s a good thing for the Padres right now based on his play this season. Giles has played in 61 games for the Padres this season and he is 43 for 225 (.191 avg, .548 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 2 homers and 23 RBIs. Hindsight is always 20/20 but maybe the Padres should have bought out Giles’ option year over the winter.

Jim Edmonds started the 2008 season late due to injury and he’s looking mighty rusty for the Padres so far this year. Edmonds has played in 17 games for the Padres this season and he is 11 for 62 (.177 avg, .519 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer, 5 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Edmonds has also whiffed 20 times already this season as he is starting to look his age with a bat in his hands.