36-year old righty swining SS/3B Miguel Tejada and 31-year old righty swinging outfielder Ryan Ludwick are both swinging the bats well for the Padres. Tejada has played in 18 games for the Padres so far and he is 22 of 74 (.297 avg, .763 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 1 homer and 8 RBIs. He might not have the power he once had but he can still hit for average. Ludwick has also played in 18 games for the Padres and he is 16 of 63 (.254 avg, .782 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs. Ludwick is giving the Padres the power bat they have needed for a long time behind Adrian Gonzalez.

29-year old righty swinging outfielder Chris Denorfia never had more than 106 at bats in a major league season until 2010. He has played in 66 games for the Padres this year and he is 57 of 197 (.289 avg, .830 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 8 homers, 31 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. It’s a real darn shame that no one gave Denorfia a legit shot until the Padres did this year. He’s trying to make up for lost time and the Padres are benefitting from it.

31-year old righty swinging catcher Yorvit Torrealba has been swinging a hot bat this year. He has played in 56 games for the Padres this year and he is 65 of 197 (.330 avg, .808 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 2 homers, 27 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Torrealba is hitting so well that he’s taking P.T. away from Nick Hundley. Hundley has played in 62 games for the Padres this year and he is 50 of 204 (.245 avg, .714 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 5 homers and 31 RBIs. Torrealba has a lot of playoff experience so if he continues to hit he will likely get more P.T. than Hundley the rest of the way.

Despite being 49-33 and leading the N.L. West, the Padres only will have one All-Star. 1B Adrian Gonzalez has played in 80 games for the Padres this season and he is 86 of 296 (.291 avg, .902 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 16 homers and 51 RBIs. It continues to amaze me that teams keep pitching to Gonzalez who is the only legit threat in the Padres’ lineup. Gonzalez will be making his third All-Star Game of his career. It is stunning that the team with the best pitching staff in all of baseball won’t have a representative in the All-Star Game.

UPDATE: (7/7/2010) - Padres’ closer Heath Bell has been named to his second All-Star Game to replace the injured Yovani Gallardo. Bell has pitched in 37 games (0 starts) for the Padres this year and he is 4-0 with 23 saves, a 1.72 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He has whiffed 49 batters in only 36 2/3 innings this season showing how nasty he has been. Bell deserved this honor so he’s not really a “replacement”.

28-year old lefty swinging 1B Adrian Gonzalez is swinging a hot stick despite not having much help in the lineup. Gonzalez has played in 69 games for the Padres this year and he is 78 of 252 (.310 avg, .961 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 15 homers and 47 RBIs. Gonzalez leads the Padres in runs scored, homers and RBIs showing just how dominating he has been this year. No other player on the Padres has more than 7 homers or 25 RBIs. So if the Padres are going to continue to contend this season they are going to need to find at least one more bat to help support Gonzalez in the starting lineup.