SAN DIEGO -- The injury bug has bit the Padres once more this season, as outfielder Franchy Cordero will be out for an indefinite time period after an MRI revealed a bone spur in his right elbow.
Cordero was in the midst of his rehab assignment at Triple-A El Paso, but he was shut down after feeling pain in his forearm during a swing on Sunday.
Cordero, who was batting .237/.307/.439 before landing on the disabled list on May 28, has two options. He could undergo surgery to remove the bone spur, although the expected recovery time is estimated at 12 weeks -- which would mean missing nearly the rest of the season. Cordero is also weighing the decision of resting a month and reevaluating the situation a few weeks later.
"He's kind of caught between a rock and a hard place right now," manager Andy Green said. "What's the best decision? 'Do I wait a month and see if I can play with this, even though it's still bothering me after I waited? Or do I go have surgery right now, and I maybe only get back for the last few weeks of the season?'"
Ultimately, it appears necessary that Cordero will need to have the bone spur removed. Right now, it's a matter of when. It's unclear what route Cordero will take, and Green added that Cordero would likely take some time to decide.
"Those kinds of decisions, you offer advice," he said. "But they're players' choices. And it's not an easy decision to make. … There's no clear, easy answer on this one, and it's going to take a few days to work through that and get advice from the doctors he's seen."
Lucchesi activated, Mitchell to DL
The Padres activated Joey Lucchesi on Wednesday morning and placed right-hander Bryan Mitchell on the 10-day disabled list with right elbow impingement, retroactive to Sunday.
The reliever hasn't made an appearance since June 5, where he was rocked for five hits and five earned runs on 60 pitches through just 2 2/3 innings.
"We don't feel it's too serious, but he's had intermittent soreness over the last two weeks," Green said. "Whenever he gets out to full extension in his long-toss program, he's felt some things. It became apparent to us that it was best for him to take a little break right now and rest his elbow and hopefully we find nothing structural there."
Mitchell will rest for a few days before heading to the team's Spring Training complex in Arizona to resume his throwing program. In his 12 appearances (seven starts) for San Diego this season, he holds a 7.08 ERA over 48 1/3 innings pitched and has allowed 39 runs (38 earned) on 63 hits.
More roster moves ahead
San Diego will have a couple more roster moves to make in the near future, with both William Myers and Austin Hedges coming close to finishing their rehab assignments. Raffy Lopez and A.J. Ellis have split duties behind the plate in Hedges' absence, and Green wouldn't say whether the team would take three catchers once Hedges returns.
"We've talked through the possibility of carrying three catchers and what that would do for us," Green said. "We're not committed to that, but we're not going to rule that out at this point."
The Padres will also have to decide how many outfielders they will carry once Myers returns, with Hunter Renfroe, Travis Jankowski, Manuel Margot and Franmil Reyes all splitting equal time amongst the three positions. While Myers will obviously be back in the mix, Green hinted that Myers will not start every game and instead mix into the outfield rotation, as well.
"Wil, when he comes back, he might play two days, then have a day off," Green said. "He might play three days, then have a day off. We might carry that on for some considerable period of time to just ensure that he's in a good physical spot and ready to go before we unleash him to go on a very consistent basis.
"He would fit into a very similar rotation. You've got four guys out there that are all playing very consistently and getting a lot of at-bats, but not the everyday guy."