The Padres’ injured list still looks like a crowded holding pattern, but there are finally a few signs of movement. Samad Taylor is heading into game action, Miguel Andujar has resumed swinging a bat, and Nick Pivetta is back to rebuilding his arm strength after another setback.
Of the three, Taylor is the one closest to helping San Diego again. He has started a rehab assignment with Triple-A El Paso after missing more than a month with a right oblique strain.
That’s the most meaningful step in the group. Batting practice and running drills only tell part of the story; real game reps matter more.
Taylor hurt the oblique on a swing in early July, stopping a stretch in which the utilityman had been giving the Padres a lift. In 88 at-bats before landing on the injured list, he hit .330/.410/.398 with an .808 OPS and six stolen bases.
Some regression may have been coming eventually, but it never arrived before the injury did. Now the rehab assignment will show how soon that sparkplug can get back to San Diego.
Andujar, meanwhile, is out of his splint and has started a formal swing progression after fracturing his right wrist.
That’s a big checkpoint for a hitter whose value is built around the bat. He can run and field, but his impact comes from driving the ball, so getting cleared to swing is the key development here.
Once he can handle full swings without discomfort, a minor-league rehab assignment should be next. The Padres could use his right-handed bat as the season moves along.
Pivetta’s path remains the murkiest. He is throwing again and working through another buildup program at the Padres’ complex in Peoria, Arizona, but this is still not the finish line.
His rehab assignment was stopped after he left an Aug. 4 appearance having thrown only 14 pitches. A right elbow issue has already taken most of his season, and this latest interruption wiped out the momentum he had built. The Padres still don’t have a firm return date for him.
They need the version of Pivetta who put up a 2.87 ERA over 181 2/3 innings in 2025. For now, though, they’re still waiting for that pitcher to get back on a major-league mound before the season ends.
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