Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.
The Padres' roster could look different as soon as Wednesday. Triple-A El Paso's season ends Tuesday night with the playing of the Triple-A championship game in Memphis, Tenn. The Pacific Coast League champion Chihuahuas will play International League champion Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Yankees) in the single-game Triple-A showdown.
After that, the Padres will be recalling several players from El Paso to finish the season with the Major League team. The most probable additions are the four Padres prospects who made the postseason All-PCL team - right fielder Hunter Renfroe (the regular- season PCL Most Valuable Player), catcher Austin Hedges, center fielder Manuel Margot (the MVP of the postseason playoffs) and second baseman Carlos Asuaje (the PCL Rookie of the Year).
Hedges and Margot are already on the Padres' 40-man roster. The Padres would have to make several moves to add Renfroe and Asuaje to the 40-man roster. But that seems likely, since both need to be protected by placement on the 40-man roster this offseason.
The Padres have several other players at El Paso already on the 40-man roster -- infielders Nick Noonan and José Rondón, outfielder-first baseman Patrick Kivlehan, right-handed reliever Buddy Baumann and left-handed reliever José Torres.
One pitcher who likely will not be joining the Padres on Wednesday is right-hander Walker Lockett, who has been named to start the Triple-A championship game by Chihuahuas manager Rod Barajas. Lockett, 22, will be making his third playoff start for the Chihuahuas after a mercurial climb through the Padres' farm system this season. Lockett, the Padres' fourth-round pick in the 2012 Draft, pitched for all four Padres full-season farm teams this season.
He had a combined 10-9 record with a 2.96 ERA that was the lowest among all qualifying pitchers in the Padres' system.
"It's been pretty exciting," Padres manager Andy Green said of Lockett on Monday afternoon. "It's fair to say he wasn't on my radar when the season started and he's put himself on everybody's radar at this point. He's got a really good sinker and he gets groundball after groundball. He's had a ton of success at every level he's pitched this season."
NOTES FROM THE SCOREBOOK
• Left-handed starter Clayton Richard will be a free agent this offseason and his late-season performance with the Padres is probably raising interest with other teams looking for starting pitching. Richard is 3-2 with a 1.87 ERA over 43 1/3 innings in nine games (seven starts) since signing as a free agent with the Padres on Aug. 6. He has a 1.71 ERA as a starter and the Padres are 5-2 in his starts. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in six of his seven starts.
"We're definitely interested in Clayton moving forward," said Green. "I'm sure other teams are interested, too."
"I didn't have any expectations," Richard said of his return to the Padres after being released by the Cubs. "I just wanted an opportunity to start. This is the best I've felt in my career."
• First baseman Wil Myers Monday set his second Padres' single-season record in a span of four games. His 26th homer of the season Monday night was his 16th this season at Petco Park. That is the single-season record for homers at 13-year-old Petco Park. Will Venable hit 15 in 2013 and Justin Upton hit 15 last season.
"I didn't know about the record until they put it up on the (video) board," said Myers. "I like hitting here. There's a good background."
His 25th homer of the season in Colorado last Friday made Myers the only player in Padres history to have 25 or more doubles (27), steals (25) and homers (26) in a single season and one of two (Mike Trout) in the Major Leagues to complete the rare triple this season.
"It felt good to hit a fastball away in that direction [right field], especially after that rough stretch," said Myers of his homer Monday.
"It's been a while since we've seen Wil hit a fastball away in that direction like that," said Green.
• Infielder Adam Rosales made three excellent plays at short Monday night.
"Rosales really set the tone in the first with those plays," said Richard. "It gives me tremendous confidence when the defense makes plays like they were making tonight." Rosales was also 1-for-4 with a run scored.
• Outfielder Jabari Blash, who has been sidelined since Aug. 16 with a jammed middle finger on his left hand, is expected to rejoin the Padres later this week. He played his first rehab game Monday in the Arizona Instructional League.