The Padres announced that second baseman today Jake Cronenworth He was placed on the seven-day concussion-related injured list. Striker Song of Sung-Mun he was called to take his place on the list. The Friars also returned the left Yuki Matsui from 15 days IL and selected partner Kyle Hart.
The team has not released details on Cronenworth’s injury, such as how he is recovering or how long they expect him to be sidelined. Admittedly, he hasn’t been in good form all year. He is currently sporting a .144/.272/.196 line this season. Ideally, some healing time will get him back on track. He had the potential to hit .246/.367/.377 last year.
His injury will allow Song to get his first real league action. The Padres signed him this offseason to a four-year, $15MM deal. He got that coming off a strong two-year showing in South Korea, hitting .327/.397/.524 in 2024 and 2025 with the Kiwoom Warriors.
He has not yet had the opportunity to transfer this type of production to North America. A ridiculous issue came up in January that ended up putting him on IL to start the year. After he got healthy and completed a rehab assignment, the Padres sent him to the minors in mid-April.
He was recalled briefly when the Padres faced the Diamondbacks in Mexico City, as the club allowed the 27th man in that series. Technically Ngoma made his big league debut but in a very short way. He ran to catch up Luis Campusano in the top of the eighth it was replaced Freddy Fermin under the frame.
Song has a .293/.364/.354 line in Triple-A this year. That looks fair but is actually low in the highly favored Pacific Coast League, which translates to an 82 wRC+. Rightfully so, he’s been warming up. He leaves El Paso sitting in eight Triple-A games with a .351/.400/.459 line during that span. That’s a small sample but he may have just hit his stride after starting the season injured.
He has been splitting his time between shortstop, second base and third base. Presumably, Song will take over as the everyday second baseman while Cronenworth is out, or maybe it should be considered Fernando Tatis Jr. wild card. The Padres have been operating without a true backup center fielder this season. Cronenworth was the backup at shortstop Xander Bogaerts while Tatis is Cronenworth’s backup.
Tatis came up short but has been in right field for years. He had only one inning of major league experience at second base before this season but pitched 49 frames in 2026. If the Friars feel comfortable with it, they can try Tatis there more often while Cronenworth is out. Tatis is off to a slow start this year, with a line of .252/.324/.301 and has yet to hit a home run, but he has a solid record and a career line of .275/.353/.504.
The Padres have it Ramon Laureano again Jackson Merrill next to Tatis in the outer space for many nights. If they were to move Tatis to second base occasionally, that would create more opportunities for the young guys Miguel Andujar, Gavin Sheets, Nick Castellanos again Bryce Johnson.
Castellanos and Johnson aren’t hitting much right now but Andujar has a .305/.337/.476 line. He has been used mostly at third base and in the designated hitter spot this year but has some experience in the outfield. Sheets hit the league average while playing mostly first base. If he can play the outfield a little bit, that could open things up Francewith a .283/.321/.528 line this season.
Perhaps the Padres won’t overthink things, especially since Cronenworth is likely to miss only a week. It is possible that they will go the easy way and have Song for the second time for the next little while. He really is the keystone tonight, with Tatis in his usual right field position.
Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
