Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.
William Myers' batting average dipped to a season low .234 Wednesday night.
     
The first baseman is 0-for-16 with four walks and two runs scored in his last five games. Since the All-Star break, Myers is batting .181 with five doubles, eight home runs, 17 RBIs and a .305 on-base percentage.
     
On the season, Myers has 21 doubles, two triples and 24 homers for 63 runs scored and 59 RBIs. He has struck out a team-high 146 times in 449 at-bats - or once every 3.1 at bats.
     
By comparison, Hunter Renfroe was hitting .230 with 24 doubles, 20 homers and 47 RBIs when he was demoted to Triple-A El Paso. Renfroe was striking out once every 3.23 at-bats. Of course, Renfroe had other areas that needed work. His on-base percentage was .285 and the Padres also wanted him to clean up some areas of his defense.
     
Renfroe is 25. Myers is 26.
     
And Myers contract was extended after hit set career highs in nearly every offensive category last season - hitting .259 with a .336 on-base percentage and 29 doubles, four triples, 28 homers, 94 RBIs and 99 runs scored.
     
Myers hasn't homered since hitting three in a four-game span from Aug. 9-12. He is 4-for-30 since with three RBIs.
     
Myers finished with a 3.2 WAR last year. His total thus far in 2017 is 1.0.
     
NOTE WORTHY:
     
--With seven games to go in August, INF-OF Cory Spangenberg has already set a career high with five homers this month. Spangenberg also has 13 RBIs in August while hitting .271.
     
--CF Manuel Margot is 9-for-25 (.360) in his last six road games. He is 3-for-8 in the first two games in St. Louis with a walk, his fifth triple on the season, a RBI and three runs scored.
     
--The Padres set a franchise record for hit batters in a single game Thursday night with five. Jhoulys Chacin set a single-game Padres record with four and Buddy Baumann added the fifth. The old record was four.
 
--LHP Buddy Baumann went a season-long 2 1/3 innings Thursday night. He allowed a hit and a walk with the hit-batter. But he had two strikeouts and didn't allow a run while lowering his earned run average for 11 appearances to 1.29.