24-year old righty swinging 1B/LF Kyle Blanks is heating up in August for the Padres. Blanks has played in 13 games so far in August for the Padres and he is 14 for 39 (.359 avg, 1.150 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 3 homers and 8 RBIs. He is starting to look like the player he was back in 2009 which has to have the Padres excited. Blanks has played in 22 games overall this year for the Padres and he is 16 for 68 (.235 avg, .766 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 homers and 9 RBIs.

24-year old righty swinging starting CF Cameron Maybin is starting to really hit well for the Padres. In July and August, Maybin is 38 for 124 (.306 avg) with 21 runs scored, 1 homer, 9 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Maybin has now played in 94 games so far this year and he is 98 for 353 (.278 avg, .737 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 6 homers, 27 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. Maybin looks like he’s ready to take off and the Padres are going to benefit from it. He looks much better this season as he doesn’t have to live up to being one of he key players the Marlins got back in the Miguel Cabrera deal with the Tigers. There was a lot of pressure on him to produce in Miami because of that trade, but in San Diego he can just relax and play.

27-year old righty swinging 1B Jesus Guzman has waited a long time for his first real shot at the majors and he’s making the most of it right now. Guzman has played in 24 games for the Padres so far this year and he is 19 for 62 (.306 avg, .860 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers, 14 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He earned his promotion by playing in 63 games in AAA-ball earlier this year and he was 81 for 244 (.332 avg, .951 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 8 homers, 57 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. It looks like Guzman has finally found a home in San Diego.

27-year old switch-hitting 3B Chase Headley is hitting for a solid average but he’s not offering much in the way of power or run production. Headley has played in 85 games for the Padres so far this year and he is 89 for 292 (.305 avg, .796 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 2 homers, 31 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Headley averaged 69.5 runs scored, 11.5 homers, 61.0 RBIs and 13.5 stolen bases with a .263 average in 2009 and 2010. It seems as if Headley has given up his power to hit for average and I don’t think that is a positive for the Padres who just can’t score runs.

32-year old righty swinging LF Ryan Ludwick started to get hot in May for the Padres and his success is spilling over into June. In his last 38 games, Ludwick is 44 for 141 (.312 avg) with 17 runs scored, 4 homers and 26 RBIs. Ludwick has now played in 63 games for the Padres this year and he is 62 for 233 (.266 avg, .749 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 8 homers, 38 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Rumors are flying about the Padres dealing Ludwick at next month’s trading deadline, but they better make darn sure they get a young hitter with potential back in any deal for him.