SAN DIEGO -- Padres catcher Luis Campusano sustained a fractured left big toe on Tuesday when he fouled a ball off his foot. Two days later, he was placed on the 10-day IL ahead of the Padres’ series opener against St. Louis on Thursday night at Petco Park.
Without another catcher on their 40-man roster, the Padres selected the contract of Rodolfo Durán in a corresponding move. Durán, who had spent parts of 12 seasons in the Minor Leagues, was in the starting lineup Thursday, batting ninth and making his big league debut.
Right-hander Joe Musgrove, who is continuing his recovery from Tommy John surgery, was transferred to the 60-day IL to clear space for Durán on the 40-man roster.
Campusano’s injury is a significant blow for the Padres. His emergence has been one of the most notable storylines in the early part of the season. Playing in a timeshare with Freddy Fermin behind the plate, Campusano was batting .288 with a .958 OPS through 18 games.
He sustained the injury on Tuesday night, fouling a ball off his foot against Logan Webb. Campusano would remain in the game, however. It wasn’t until the following day when the extent of the injury became clear. Campusano was unavailable for the Padres’ series finale against the Giants with Ty France serving as the emergency backup catcher.
Nonetheless, Campusano’s absence does not seem likely to linger. Manager Craig Stammen noted that there was a possibility that Campusano could have tried to play through it. But the team quashed that notion. It’s early May and there’s more sense in letting the injury fully heal, Stammen said.
“He’s definitely feeling better today than he was yesterday,” Stammen said. “But we’re just in a little bit of a bind with the catching situation. It’s a position that you can’t really hide, and you need a couple of them.
“It’ll be good [for Campusano] to be able to get past it on the IL stint and be able to be healthy when he comes back, instead of trying to play through something.”
In the meantime, Durán is the benefactor of Campusano’s injury. The 28-year-old backstop has played professionally since 2015, when he signed with the Phillies. But he’d never before earned his big league breakthrough.
In 23 games with Triple-A El Paso, Durán has posted a .785 OPS. Earlier this season, he was called up to join the taxi squad with Fermin in concussion protocol. But when Fermin cleared, Durán was promptly sent back to El Paso.
This time his promotion to the big leagues is for real.
“This is a pretty cool callup for him,” Stammen said. “And for all of us. We really loved what we saw from him in Spring Training. … We definitely see him as a big league catcher and felt really good about him being our No. 3.”
As for the Musgrove portion of the move, that was mostly procedural. Now that he’s on the 60-day IL, he won’t be eligible to return until late May. But he wouldn’t have been ready within that timeframe anyway.
Musgrove has not progressed beyond playing light catch after a March setback in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. Lately, he hasn’t been throwing at all. There’s no timetable for his return or even for the start of a new throwing progression.