Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.
In a roundabout way, Andy Green was asked just before the first game of the Yankees series last week why he was still playing second baseman Ryan Schimpf.
After all, a string of 11 straight hitless at-bats had dropped Schimpf's batting average to .103 since he was promoted from Triple-A El Paso on June 14.
Although he was hitting .355 with 15 homers and 48 RBIs in 51 games with the Chihuahuas, the 28-year-old Schimpf had never been to the Major Leagues before. And he wasn't exactly tearing it up with a 3-for-29 start, although he had two doubles and six walks.
But Green had a perfect response.
"We're not going to judge anyone on their first 30 at-bats in the Major Leagues," said Green. "We want to take a long look at Schimpf and Alex Dickerson. They are going to be getting playing time."
Schimpf has certainly rewarded his manager's confidence.
Wednesday night he had the first two-homer game of his career in Arizona. He has three homers in his last two games and four in the six games he's played since Green's comments.
Over those last six games, Schimpf is 8-for-22 with three doubles, three homers, six RBIs and five runs scored. He has raised his batting average 113 points to .216.
While he hasn't totally proven himself yet, Schimpf has certainly proved he demands a longer look.
NOTES FROM THE SCOREBOOK:
-- Third baseman Yangervis Solarte, meanwhile, continues his assault. He was 3-for-5 Wednesday with a double, a homer and a career-high five RBIs against the Diamondbacks. Solarte has three homers in his last four games -- going 9-for-17 over with two doubles (in addition to the three homers) for nine RBIs and five runs scored. He is hitting .414 (24-for-58) over his last 16 games since June 18 with five doubles, three homers, 14 RBIs and 12 runs scored to raise his batting average from .245 to .308. Solarte has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, going 20-for-46.
-- Wil Myers is 7-for-10 with a double, a triple, two RBIs and five runs scored since being named to the National League All-Star team. The National League's Player of the Month for June is 10-for-23 through the first six games of July with a double, a triple, a homer, three steals, four RBIs and nine runs scored.
-- Right fielder Matt Kemp was 6-for-13 during the three-game series in Arizona with two doubles, four RBIs and five runs scored. Kemp is 8-for-21 in a five-game hitting streak with three doubles, five RBIs and five runs scored. Kemp is 10-for-26 (.385) at Chase Field this season with two homers and six RBIs and is a career .281 hitter in Arizona with 14 homers and 48 RBIs in 74 games.
-- Since his walk-off homer in the second game of the Yankees series, outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. is 2-for-14 with eight strikeouts.
-- Left-handed reliever Brad Hand has allowed one run on four hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts in 10 innings over his last nine appearances to lower his ERA from 3.89 to 3.26.