Yasmani Grandal was placed on the 15-day DL following today's loss to Washington. He left the game in the third inning after a gruesome scene at the plate; the word all over Twitter from folks in the know is that he effed up both his ACL and PCL. Speaking of PCL, the Padres called up Rene Rivera from the Pacific Coast League Tucson Padres to take Grandal's place on the roster. Rivera isn't yet on the 40-man roster, so somebody will have to get bumped before all of this becomes official. Like, official official. There still remains the possibility that a spot on the 40-man could be opened up by placing Grandal on the 60-day DL if the worst case scenario plays out.
Rivera has played in parts of four major league seasons, and that's including a two-game cup of coffee in 2004 with the Mariners, the team who drafted him in 2001. He was back in Seattle in 2005 and '06, getting into 16 and 35 games, respectively. After spending the next four years stuck in AA and AAA for the Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees, Rivera got back to the majors in 2011 with Minnesota. He got into a career-high 45 games but hit only .144 in 104 AB, and found his way back to AAA for all of last season.
After a lackluster 2012 with Rochester, Rivera signed with the Padres and proceeded to reel off a career year in Tucson. His .343 BA is good for fourth in the PCL, one point ahead of teammate Dean Anna. Well, former teammate now.
I'd go into more detail because he's had an interesting career, but it's been a really long day and I'm thoroughly exhausted. It has taken all I have to keep my eyes open long enough to churn out these 347 semi-adequate words. Maybe I'll do a "Getting To Know Your New Backup Catcher" thingie in the morning after I get some shut-eye and then a couple cups of coffee. Seems like it'd be good for at very least a rec and a pity-comment.
UPDATE (8:10am):
Grandal is indeed being placed on the 60-day DL.
#Padres officially add C Rene Rivera to 40-man. Grandal goes directly to 60-day DL. X-ray today, MRI tomorrow.
— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) July 7, 2013