Andujar (right wrist fracture) lands on IL, should return this season

ATLANTA -- The Padres placed infielder Miguel Andujar on the 10-day injured list with a fractured right wrist ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Braves.

It’s another injury blow for a roster that has been hit hard this season. Andujar had mostly served in a part-time/DH role. But he had established himself as a crucial right-handed bat, whether starting or coming off the bench.

The Padres recalled catcher Rodolfo Durán to replace Andujar on the roster. (Durán was already on hand via the taxi squad, with the Padres monitoring Luis Campusano’s abdominal injury.)

Here’s what it all means:

Andujar’s timeline

The bad news is the fractured wrist. The good news? As wrist fractures go, this one doesn’t seem as serious as it could have been.

“It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be too long,” said Padres manager Craig Stammen. “It sounds like something that could possibly heal pretty fast and he could be back out there, but time will only tell.”

Stammen noted that the Padres don’t expect the injury to be season-ending. They’re eyeing sometime in August for Andujar’s potential return -- though he’ll be re-evaluated in a couple weeks. The team is especially encouraged by the fact that Andujar won’t need a cast on the wrist, only a splint.

He sustained the injury when he was hit by a curveball in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game against the Royals in Kansas City. Andujar remained in the game, but was taken for X-rays afterward, which revealed the fracture.

Replacing Andujar

It’s a tricky proposition against left-handed pitching. Andujar’s specialty is hitting left-handers (even though his splits this season are relatively even). Stammen had fallen into a rhythm of starting Andujar against lefties and using him mostly off the bench against righties.

As such, the lefty-hitting Gavin Sheets is almost certainly going to see an uptick in starts against left-handed pitching. Meantime, the Padres won’t have quite so many pinch-hitting options, now that their bench is limited. (Although, with a third catcher now on board, that might free up Campusano to pinch-hit.)

The Padres have the option of using their regular infielders at DH more frequently, with Andujar on the IL. That’s what they did on Monday night, with Xander Bogaerts sliding to DH while Sung-Mun Song played short.

Essentially, when Sheets starts at DH, that could set up Jase Bowen and Luis Rengifo for starts in left. When Sheets starts in left, that sets up Song to start anywhere in the infield, giving one of those regulars a DH day.

“Just trying to mix and match, get our best lineup out there,” Stammen said. “Right now, the way Song has been playing, he deserves some playing time, definitely. Rengifo, the way he played yesterday, gotta get him in there a little bit more. Jase Bowen, the way he played yesterday, too. Those guys are all garnering more playing time.”

Big picture

The Padres had largely made up for the absence of Ramón Laureano (right hip surgery, likely season-ending) by mixing and matching with Sheets, France and Andujar, while giving occasional starts to their bench pieces. This news throws another wrench into their plans offensively.

That offense has been better lately. But without Andujar, it’s no longer as deep or as flexible. The Padres could certainly use another bat at the Trade Deadline -- that much was true with or without Andujar. But that’s only if they can win enough over the next two weeks to assert themselves as buyers in the first place.

In the meantime, the Padres’ injury news is more positive on the pitching front. At some point this week, Nick Pivetta is expected to face hitters in a live BP session at the team’s complex in Peoria, Ariz. Joe Musgrove probably isn’t far behind him. Jeremiah Estrada is expected to begin a rehab stint with Triple-A El Paso in the coming days, as well.

There’s a sense that if the Padres can stay afloat for the next few weeks, they could make a late-season push with a couple Deadline tweaks and a few key players getting healthy.

But that only gets more difficult with each additional injury. Which is why Andujar’s absence hurts.