Where does Myers play when he returns?
Both Venable, Alonso among Padres' offensive leaders
Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.
Center fielder-first baseman Wil Myers is ready to come off the disabled list and rejoin the Padres.
But where will Myers play and who will he replace in the lineup? Myers, who has been out since May 11 with left wrist tendinitis, was hitting .291 with 10 doubles, a triple and five homers. He had a .340 on-base percentage and a .493 slugging percentage with 19 RBIs and a National League-leading 28 runs scored.
Myers should be in the lineup somewhere. But who does he replace -- Will Venable in center or Yonder Alonso at first?
Venable is 11-for-33 in his past seven starts, with a double, a triple, two home runs, seven RBIs and 11 runs scored.
Since the start of May, Venable has raised his average from .160 to .273 while going 32-for-108 (.296) with four doubles, two triples, three home runs, four steals, 12 walks, 13 RBIs and 16 runs scored in 32 games. Since May, Venable has a .358 on-base percentage and a .454 slugging percentage for a .812 OPS.
As a leadoff hitter, Venable is hitting .279 (12-for-43) in 10 games, with a .311 on-base percentage and a .581 slugging percentage. He has two doubles, a triple and three homers from the top spot in the order, with eight RBIs and seven runs scored.
Alonso, meanwhile, is hitting .444 (12-for-27) in seven games since he returned from the disabled list, with two doubles, a homer, seven RBIs and five runs scored, with a .483 on-base percentage and a .630 slugging percentage.
On the season, Alonso is hitting .360 with a .444 on-base percentage (15 walks in 133 plate appearances against only 15 strikeouts) and a .482 slugging percentage.
So where does Myers play? Because he is going to play somewhere.
From the scorecard
• Acey Kohrogi has been named the Padres' Advisor of Pacific Rim Operations. Prior to 2014, Kohrogi spent parts of the previous seasons with the Dodgers and helped the Dodgers bring such players as Hideo Nomo, Chan Ho Park, Hiroki Kuroda, Takashi Saito and Hong-Chih Kuo to the United States.
• Tuesday night marked only the fourth time this season that the Padres lost a game started by right-hander James Shields, who is 7-0 with a 3.79 ERA. Tuesday marked the third time this season that Shields gave up five runs in less than six innings (although only four of the runs were earned Tuesday in Atlanta). The biggest thing going for Shields this season has been the Padres. Shields has the best run support average in the NL. San Diego is averaging eight runs a game when Shields is pitching.
• Shortstop Clint Barmes is riding a five-game hitting streak. He is 8-for-19 during the streak, with a double and a triple with two RBIs and a run scored. Barmes has started three straight games at short and five of the last nine.
• Infielder Yangervis Solarte's batting average has fallen to .246. He is 0-for-15 in his past five games, 2-for-28 in his past eight and 4-for-41 with one RBI in his past 11 games. Solarte was hitting .282 on May 25.