Dusty

Coleman

The 29-year-old spent the 2016 campaign in the Royals’ organization where he slashed .244/.302/.418 with six homers and 26 RBI in 63 games primarily at Triple-A Omaha. He’ll add organizational infield depth for the Padres.

Coleman came through with a solo home run off Kendall Graveman in the third inning. That was his second dinger of the spring. The Padres inked the 29-year-old infielder to a minor league contract in early January. Working mostly at Triple-A Omaha in the Royals’ system this past season, he posted a .244/.302/.418 triple-slash while bopping six homers and driving in 26 runs over the course of 63 games played. There is no fantasy intrigue here.

Coleman was batting .227/.268/.455 with four home runs and nine RBI in 27 games with San Diego. Miguel Diaz (forearm) has been activated off the disabled list in a corresponding roster move.

Coleman started out hot after getting the callup late last month, but he entered this one 1-for-14 with nine strikeouts in the previous 10 days. He’ll be a part-time shortstop the rest of the way.

Coleman, 30, has hit .209/.280/.438 with 14 homers and 11 steals for El Paso this season. He’ll operate as a utility infielder.

The initial diagnosis was a contusion, but further testing revealed the bad news. It’s possible Aybar could make it back as soon as mid-September, but his year might be over. Allen Cordoba and Dusty Coleman will handle shortstop for the Padres moving forward.

Coleman uncoiled for a three-run home run -- the first big league home run of his career -- in the fourth inning to give the Padres a 7-1 lead. The Mets would later crawl to within 7-5, but were unable to draw closer than that. This was just Coleman’s third game with the Padres. He owned a .209/.280/.438 triple-slash with 14 homers and 11 steals at Triple-A prior to being called up at the beginning of the week.

His solo shot off of Gerrit Cole in the seventh inning prevented the Padres from getting shut out on the afternoon. Coleman finished the day 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts and is hitting .267/.313/.733 with two homers and five RBI in his first 16 plate appearances with the Padres.

His eighth-inning blast off reliever Daniel Hudson provided two important insurance runs. He has played in nine games since getting the call to the majors and is rocking a .333/.364/.857 triple slash with three homers and seven RBI. He didn’t hit much in the minors so don’t expect the fun to last.

The 30-year-old saw his first real big league action in 2017, slashing .227/.268/.455 with four homers and nine RBI in 71 plate appearances with the Padres. He’ll likely have to settle for a minor league contract this off-season.