Kyle Blanks May Be Slimmer, But What is His Role with the San Diego Padres?

What a difference a year makes.

On Opening Day last season, OF Kyle Blanks was batting cleanup for the San Diego Padres and weighed in a slim, trim, ripped, ripe and ready 270 lbs. A lot was expected from Blanks in 2010, but after having a miserable April where he hit .191 and even a worse May were he hit .088, his season went up in smoke.

Blanks was really bad in 2010. In 120 plate appearances, he struck out 45 percent of the time and his OBP dipped almost 70 points from 2009. It wasn’t pretty.

Blanks suffered an elbow in May, which resulted in him ultimately needing reconstructive elbow surgery. He missed the remainder of the season.

Now a year later, Blanks enters spring training about 10 lbs lighter and is looking to have a bounce back season. The question I have is, where does Blanks fit in with this Padres team in 2011?

To be honest, I am not really sure. I will say this: Blanks won’t be batting cleanup on Opening Day.

The 24-year-old is currently rehabbing his elbow injury, which might not be the worst thing in the world for him. Right now the Padres have Brad Hawpe at first and Jorge Cantu could join him in a platoon. San Diego also has Ryan Ludwick slated to play left and Will Venable to play right.

There doesn’t seem to be a starting spot for Blanks on the Padres right now. The key part of that sentence is right now.

Hawpe, Cantu, and Ludwick aren’t part of the long-term solution in San Diego. They are stopgaps for the most part. If any of them get off to a slow start, the Padres shouldn’t hesitate to turn to Blanks if he is healthy.

My guess is that the Padres will have Blanks come off the bench early in the season and have him try to get back in the flow of things. If he can prove he can hit Major League pitching on a consistent basis, then Blanks will get his role back of starter on the Padres.

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