Padres DFA Adam Engel

Well that was a short stay for Adam Engel. He has been designated for assignment by the San Diego Padres this afternoon after just six at-bats in the regular season. Jose Azocar has been activated and is in the starting lineup tonight against the Boston Red Sox.

Engel was signed as a free agent in the offseason and was expected to be on the major league roster for much longer than he ended up being on it. Unfortunately there was a left hamstring injury that got in the way of him getting more playing time to start the season and then when he got the playing time he didn’t do anything with it.

The 31-year-old didn’t record a single hit. Last night he had an opportunity to come through with the bases loaded in the fourth inning but popped out to first base in what ended up being San Diego’s best chance to mount a comeback.

Azocar played just one rehab game with the El Paso Chihuahuas (going 2-for-4 with 2 RBI) so this shows how desperate the Padres are about finding a solution in center field. They knew Engel wasn’t going to be it and Trent Grisham has continued to struggle at the plate after a bad regular season last year.

Grisham enters tonight hitting .190 with a 86 OPS+.