Loretta out for two months

They decided that Loretta will require surgery on his injured hand. He'll be out for at least two months. There was the earlier report that if this was the case, the Padres would trade for a second baseman though this article says that DJ and Blum will share the spot. Silver Lining: Nady will be able to get more at bats and the Padres will be able to bring up a pitcher to provide some relief for their relief.

Padres need to start winning games for their fallen comrade. Win this next series for Low!

Update [2005-5-24 13:11:41 by Dex]: Richard at Friar Faithful has suggested Burroughs be moved to second while Loretta is out in favor of Nady playing third. Ducksnorts has seconded the idea. I'm going to cast a nay vote.

Here's the Padres depth chart for reference. Right now, with Loretta out, our depth at second base "officially" is DJ and Blum. Damian Jackson, over 280 games played at second base in his major league career has notched 2139.2 innings worth of work. Geoff Blum has 819 innings over 122 games. Sean Burroughs has 77.1 innings in 13 games.

Burroughs' most recent work at second base was in his rookie season, 2002. Blum has played second base already this season and had regular playing time at the position last season. DJ hasn't had regular time at second base since he was last with the Padres, but when he did, it was his starting position.

I'm a big Nady supporter. When Nady's up to bat, I'm the one you hear chanting MVP in the stands. I want to see him getting more at bats also, but not at the expense of hurting ourselves further at second base and potentially hurting the development of Burroughs' confidence.

Update [2005-5-24 14:43:34 by Dex]: Buster Olney on ESPN Insider says that Loretta is the most important position player that the Padres could have lost.