Baseball in Fort Wayne

The just turned 24-year-old former Fort Wayne Wizard, Sean Kazmar, is hitting .264 with three homers, 39 RBI and a .333 on-base percentage has made 18 errors in the field with with Double-A San Antonio this season.

Those numbers aren’t exactly what I would call “Big League Watch List” material, but the Padres are short on infield depth and that might just mean an opportunity for Kazmar.

San Diego promoted the Double-A shortstop (and sometimes second baseman) today.  Luis Rodriguez is expected to start this evening’s contest, but he may see some action during the three-game series with Milwaukee.

Until late last season, Kazmar had been used primarily as a second baseman. 2008 marks the first year since being drafted in the 37th round (1112nd overall) of the 2003 draft that he has played short regularly. He started the season by hitting .just 198 over his first 48 games. Then he hit his stride and hit .314 over the next 63 games, including a .368 average over his last 10 games.

With the Wizards in  2004, Kazmar appeared in 5 games as a late season addition. He spent the entire 2005 season with the Wizards and appeared in 125 games where he hit .267 with 10 home runs 48 RBI, and seven stolen bases. He drew 44 walks and collected 469 hits in 469 at-bats.

UPDATE: The Padres/MLB.com have posted an article with quotes from Kazmar: “Kazmar Gets Unexpected Call“:

“He’s the best guy we have to play shortstop,” Padres manager Bud Black said. “He has shown a little bit of bat in the Minor Leagues. We saw him the last couple of springs, and he swung the bat pretty well. He’s a gritty, gutty-type player.”

Photo by Chad Gramling, 2005.