SAN DIEGO — Nelson Cruz’s term as Padres came to an abrupt end Tuesday morning. It’s unclear whether his remarkable 19-year big-league career could yield the same result.
That remains to be seen after Cruz was picked for action by the Padres on Tuesday amid a spate of roster changes. The Padres also placed right-hander Michael Wacha in the 15-day IL with a shoulder infection and promoted utility man Matthew Batten to take Cruz’s place on the bench.
Cruz had a .245/.283/.399 slash line in 49 games this season and acted as a DH and pinch hitter almost exclusively against left-handed pitchers. Manager Bob Melvin cited the team’s need for more versatility as the reason for the move.
“Obviously a difficult question,” Melvin said. “He’s a big influence in the clubhouse. Across the board, across the league, the respect he shows playing him from afar is fantastic. He’s coming as promised – guidance, all of the above.
“I think it’s more about versatility here now. We have a couple of guys in it and [Matt Carpenter] that’s basically just DH. We needed to be able to give some guys a little more time off, we needed a backup runner and we needed a little more versatility. So unfortunately we had to take this step today.”
In his 19 seasons in the big league, Cruz has hit 464 home runs, an OPS of .856 and a bWAR of 42.3. He is a seven-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, and 2011 ALCS MVP with Texas.
Melvin expressed his belief that Cruz would “catch up somewhere else.” Cruz was absent from the stadium on Tuesday and it wasn’t immediately clear if he would take such an opportunity. His skills remain at least somewhat useful – a right-handed bench hitter with a penchant for hitting left-handers and occasionally leaving the ballpark. (He had gone deep five times in 143 at-bats that season.)
San Diego signed Cruz to a one-year deal during the offseason and planned to pair him with Carpenter at DH. But the Padres just didn’t get enough performance out of this duo to justify two unplaced squad spots, leading to Tuesday’s move.
As for Wacha, the Padres are hoping to use the All-Star break to give his shoulder more time to heal. Last month he missed a start with the same problem. It’s possible he’ll get back into the rotation in the first lap after the break, Melvin said.
The Padres also opted for right winger Domingo Tapia and recalled left winger José Castillo and right winger Matt Waldron.