Wil Myers set to start rehab assignment this week

It's been another season hampered by injury for Padres' outfielder / first baseman, Wil Myers. But he's reportedly (crossing fingers) close to a return to Major League action.

MLB.com's Michael Radano wrote yesterday that Myers participated in early batting practice with the Padres in Philadelphia this weekend, and he would begin a rehab assignment sometime this week. Radano postured a guess that Myers' likely landing spot to begin his rehab would be in Lake Elsinore with the Padres' Single-A affiliate, Storm, although Pat Murphy told media they hadn't yet locked down the specifics of his assignment.

"We haven't totally solidified what affiliate he's going to go to," Padres manager Pat Murphy said. "We have the schedule and analyzed it but we haven't locked it in. How many games does he need after not playing for 100 games, we'll see.

But it looks like the Padres have now determined exactly where Myers will be going this week. Dennis Lin of The San Diego Union-Tribune writes that Myers will report to Lake Elsinore on Tuesday for the first of two games there. With the Padres returning home tomorrow following their East Coast road trip, Myers will be start out with the affiliate closest in proximity to San Diego.

After those two games, he'll join the Padres Double-A team in San Antonio, and then possibly end up with Triple-A El Paso at some point. The Minor League regular season comes to a close on September 7th, but the El Paso Chihuahuas could make the Pacific Coast League playoffs. Other than that, there is no set timetable for Myers' return to the bigs.

Myers excited to begin rehab assignment | Dennis Lin, San Diego Union-Tribune

"It’s still day-to-day," Myers said. "I wish I could say I need 12 games, I need eight games, whatever it is, but it’s still day-to-day. Once I feel like my timing’s back, I’ll let them know and we can make a decision."

The last thing he, or the Padres, want to do is rush him back before he's ready. They already did that once this season, after Myers' initial wrist injury in May. He hit the 15-day DL, rehabbed, then made three starts for the Padres before returning to the DL and eventually having to undergo surgery to get bone spurs removed from his wrist. And while he was working his way back to baseball activities, he hit another road bump when he felt some discomfort in his wrist. All of these setbacks, in addition to Myers' past injury history before coming to the Padres, it goes without saying that the team will be taking every little precaution and as much time as they need this time around to get him back into shape.