UPDATE: Change of plans. Yonder Alonso’s hand injury hasn’t gotten any better, so the Padres announced that they’re placing him on the DL to make room for Maybin and Blanks will stick around.
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San Diego center fielder Cameron Maybin is off the disabled list after missing nearly two months with a wrist injury and to make room on the roster the Padres demoted Kyle Blanks to Triple-A.
Based strictly on performance it’s tough to argue that Blanks deserves the trip back to the minors, as his .796 OPS in 36 games ranks second on the entire Padres team behind only Carlos Quentin at .816. However, with Quentin and Maybin starting every day in the outfield the Padres would apparently rather use Chris Denorfia as the right-handed-hitting platoon partner for Will Venable.
Blanks is hurt by having a minor-league option remaining, but it’s hard to imagine the Padres not calling him back up relatively soon. As for Maybin, he was very productive on a nine-game rehab assignment, but was struggling before being placed on the DL and has hit just .233 with a .633 OPS in 157 games since the beginning of last season.
