DENVER — As excited as he is to swing a bat design inspired by the Venezuelan flag, David Peralta is treading carefully into Players Weekend.
A hitter’s bat is rather important, even if you’re only a little superstitious.
“We’re going to give it one at-bat and see how it goes,” Peralta said with a smile.
Indeed, players spent Friday afternoon unwrapping dozens of new at-bats and testing them out in the cage — and later in on-field batting practice — prior to the start of the three-game series at Coors Field. Many Padres have bats geared toward all three days of a celebration that’s been reimagined after a four-year hiatus.
No more silly uniform variations or nicknames.
But there will be a lot of customized bats and equipment aimed at three different arenas: Players are showing off their personality and interests on Friday, they will focus on charity and community efforts on Saturday and on Sunday they’ll celebrate people who helped them in their journey to the majors.
For instance, on Saturday, Manny Machado will wear blue San Diego Rescue Mission cleats. He wasn’t sure which of Overfly bats he’d use on Friday — “Whichever one has more pop,” he said — but his newest off-field interest is in the mix: A San Diego Football Club-inspired bat was a must as a founding partner of the MLS team beginning play next season.
Like Peralta, Jurickson Profar and Ha-Seong Kim were paying tribute to their homeland with Curacao and South Korea bats, respectively.
Among the sticks that Jake Croneworth was trying out on Friday were bats that gave nods to The C4 Foundation, the Navy Seal Foundation, another designed by Coronado-based retailer URT and the No. 19 Tony Gwynn bat that was presented to all of the Padres who wield Victus bats.
Jackson Merrill was among the Padres planning to use the Gwynn bat in batting practice, but set aside a Maryland-inspired bat for use in Friday’s game.
Merrill also has a third bat that he’s not quite sure what to do with: A blue lightsaber that glows in the dark, although none of the Padres could find a room dark enough at Coors Field to truly show it off.
The 21-year-old Merrill grew up on the prequel era Star Wars movies. Victus made a red lightsaber bat as well, but he’s been more of a hero of late so …
“The blue one probably has a nicer vibe,” Merrill said. “I don’t know if I ever want to use it.”
Jackson Merrill has a glow-in-dark Star Wars lightsaber bat for #PlayersWeekend 🤯 pic.twitter.com/WgQIDwa4ne
— MLB (@MLB) August 16, 2024
Tracking Tatis
The last time the Padres went on the road, Fernando Tatis Jr. moved his measured rehab work to the Peoria Sports Complex. This time, he remained in San Diego to continue a purposeful slow progression.
He has not had an MRI since the one he had during the All-Star break. While the Padres continue to expect him back this season, Tatis remains without a specific timetable as he awaits a full ramp-up in his recovery from a right femoral stress reaction.
“He’s improving,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “I mean, we don’t have any clear timetable, but he definitely is taking those next steps, just in general about how he feels. He’s … not feeling it, feels like more of himself, which is clearly good. Had conversations with all the medical people, including him, and you know he’s definitely getting there. Just still want some healing to take place before we ramp up. Once he ramps up, he’ll be getting ready pretty quickly, I would imagine, but we’re still determining when that is.”
Notable
- LHP Wandy Peralta (groin) is also rehabbing with Tatis this weekend in San Diego. “He’s doing well,” Shildt said. “He’s been able to throw off the mound, velocity looks good. He’s been able to increase his aerobic movements. But he’s in a good place, Wandy, and we want to obviously be careful, but he’s starting to ramp up.”
- RHP Stephen Kolek (forearm) is rehabbing in Peoria and still looking to reduce the inflammation before returning to catch play.
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