Gyorko sent down to El Paso; Vincent recalled
Padres second baseman had .210 average in 46 games
ATLANTA -- Padres second baseman Jedd Gyorko, the sixth-place finisher for the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 2013, whose offensive struggles from last season have continued into this one, was optioned by the Padres to Triple-A El Paso on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old Gyorko, who has appeared in 282 games for San Diego over the past three seasons, is hitting .210 this season with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 119 at-bats over 46 games. His batting average is identical to that of last season, which followed a rookie season in which he hit .249 with 23 homers and 63 RBIs in 125 games.
"I think he'll be better off for it. That's the main reason why we decided to do this. We thought it was in the best interest of Jedd and the best interest of the Padres organization to get him down to El Paso for regular at-bats and regular playing time," San Diego manager Bud Black said before Wednesday's game against the Braves. "There's a couple things mechanically that just got a little bit out of whack. And Major League pitchers made some adjustments to Jedd in some of his areas of weakness … they adjusted a little quicker than Jedd has readjusted back to them."
The righty-swinging Gyorko has had problems swinging at pitches out of the strike zone and has been relegated to platooning against left-handed pitchers. His assignment leaves the starting spot at second to Cory Spangenberg, who is hitting .292 over his last 15 games.
The Padres on Wednesday also recalled right-handed reliever Nick Vincent from Triple-A El Paso. Vincent will make his third stint with the Padres this season (first from Opening Day to April 9, then from May 1-7). He is 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA over 7 1/3 innings in seven appearances.
Vincent last pitched for El Paso on June 7.
"We felt as though we needed another arm. So he comes here with the ability to be fresh and ready to go," Black said. "I expect a good performance from Nick. We've seen it before. We've seen him pitch very well for the Padres. And a good Nick Vincent is a very solid Major League pitcher."