Padres reinstating Wil Myers and Luke Voit from the IL in surprise move

The San Diego Padres announced earlier this afternoon that they have reinstated designated hitter Luke Voit and outfielder Wil Myers from the Injured List. To make room for them, the club is sending C.J. Abrams down to Triple-A El Paso and designating Trayce Thompson for assignment.

This comes as a surprise move because Myers hadn’t yet begun a rehab assignment and Voit hadn’t recorded a hit yet at the Triple-A level while rehabbing. The Padres said yesterday that Voit was supposed to head back to El Paso to get some more at-bats after he worked with the coaching staff in San Diego over the weekend but that is no longer happening. The Padres must feel like what the coaches worked on with Voit can magically fix him in 24 hours.

Abrams head backs to the minors after hitting .182 and seeing his playing time diminish as the season has gone on. This is an opportunity for him to not just get every day at bats against some former major leaguers but it can also allow him to get more comfortable playing the outfield if that’s what the Padres want him to work on. Abrams played just two games in right field this season.

Without Abrams on the roster though, Ha-Seong Kim is essentially going to play shortstop or second base every single day because the Padres don’t have another middle infield option on the bench.

As for Thompson, he came up for a brief stint when Myers was put on the IL after hitting nine home runs in Triple-A but the hot start to his minor league season didn’t translate to the majors. Thompson recorded one hit in 14 at-bats, which came in his first game on April 29 in Pittsburgh. After that game, he went a combined 0-for-11.