Dennis

Tankersley

Matt Herges will take Tankersley’s place in San Diego.

Towers says the exam is just precautionary, but Tankersley has a history of shoulder problems, so there is some concern.

We tend to agree. Fellow Beavers Dennis Tankersley (3.39 ERA), Justin Germano (3.82 ERA), Marty McLeary (3.22 ERA, 12 saves), Xavier Nady (996 OPS), and Freddy Guzman (.292 average, 48 SB) each, at one point or another, could have been upgrades over Ismael Valdez, Sterling Hitchcock, Terrence Long, and Jay Payton, not to mention good trade chips. Could be the pressures of a new ballpark and a pennant race have the Padres thinking the fans want names they can recognize.

Tankersley has finally come on of late, dropping his ERA to 4.31. If he finishes strong, the Royals will likely give him a look next month. He’ll become a free agent in the offseason if he’s not put back on the club’s 40-man roster.

Tankersley will replace the injured Sterling Hitchcock. It’s time to pick him back up in NL-only leagues.

Well, there’s a blast from the past. Tankersley, now 33 years old, hasn’t pitched professionally since 2008 and hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since 2004 as a member of the Padres. He was ranked as the No. 16 prospect in the game by Baseball America back in 2002.

Tank is still having problems throwing strikes in the majors. 51 of his 107 pitches were balls tonight. It was an area in which he seemed to show a great deal of improvement during his earlier stints with the Padres this season, so the team will just have to hope he bounces back next time out. In truth, he deserved a little better tonight. The two men he left on in the sixth came around to score after Ricky Stone couldn’t even get the pitcher out.

The Padres would have given Tankersley a couple of more starts under normal circumstances, but as is, they couldn’t wait for him to find his command again. He’s someone they could consider trading in the offseason.

Tankersley gave up just one run through four, but things went badly in the fifth. Mark Sweeney walked to start the inning and J.D. Closser followed with a homer. Then there was a single by the pitcher, a bunt single with an error that resulted in a run, a groundout, an intentional walk and, finally, a hit by pitch. That got him taken out of the game even though the alternative was Ricky Stone. Just like he did in Tankersley’s previous start, Stone allowed two inherited runners to score, only getting out of the inning when Vinny Castilla was thrown out at the plate. We still like Tankersley, but since he hasn’t pitched well in either start since being inserted into the rotation, he could be sent to the pen. Justin Germano would be the replacement.

Tankersley still just can’t get past whatever it is that prevents him from throwing strikes to major leaguers. He walked four today and gave up three hits before being removed. Tankersley is very talented, so he’s not going to run out of chances any time soon. However, the Padres probably won’t call on him again for at least a couple of months.