San Diego shuffled their pitching staff again this week. On Tuesday, the Padres called up Oliver Perez and J.J. Trujillo, then demoted Jeremy Fikac and Dennis Tankersley. Fikac and Tankersley have struggled recently and the organization feels they will benefit from some time in the minors.

Due to injuries the Padres have needed to replace several members of their rotation this season, and it's difficult to ignore the plethora of talent in their upper minors. Consequently they're cycling through their prospects, though many really need to spend this season in the minors. No one's development should be seriously stunted by these call ups and next year San Diego will have several more rotation candidates than they can carry.

Brian Tollberg's elbow injury did require Tommy John surgery, which he underwent last Wednesday. San Diego likely won't have his services again until late next year or possibly even 2004. Luckily the Padres' upper minors are loaded with potential starting pitchers.

In his 32.2 IP in the majors this season, Fikac allowed 29 H and 7 HR with a 30:16 K:BB. He needs to cut down on his HR/9 and improve his control, which will help his command. I'm alright with this move as long as they leave him in the minors long enough to work his deficiencies and don't pull him back up to the majors right away.

Tankersley started seven games for the Padres during his time in the majors. He was okay in his first four starts but fell apart in four innings on May 31st before only lasting 3.1 IP in both of his final two starts. He leaves the majors after allowing 35 H and 7 H in 33.2 IP with a 28:25 K:BB. His seems to need more time in the minors to work on the consistency of his control as he compiled a 21:12 K:BB in his first 4 starts (23 IP) and a 7:13 K:BB over his last 3 starts (10.2 IP). He also needs to work on his HR/9, though three of those dingers were acquired in a game at Coors in which he otherwise pitched fairly well.

Trujillo, a 26-year-old right-handed submarine reliever, split last season between A+ Lake Elsinore in the California League and AA Mobile in the Southern League. His fastball is in the mid-80's rather than the mid-90's, which cuts down on his dominance, but his other skills look good and he still manages a respectable number of strikeouts. Before his promotion he posted a 48:11 K:BB in 39 IP with 23 H and 1 HR allowed at AA Mobile for a decent improvement over last season's dominance. I think he'll likely need to return to the minors at some point for some AAA innings, but he shows definite promise.

Unfortunately, Trujillo's debut didn't go so well. San Diego brought him into Tuesday's game in Baltimore for the bottom of the 10th. Trujillo brought the count to 2-2 against Tony Batista, the first batter he faced in the majors, and then allowed a walk-off home run.

Perez, a 20-year-old left-handed starter, is scheduled to make his debut start on Sunday. He split last season between A Fort Wayne in the Midwest League and A+ Lake Elsinore. Like the other Padres' prospects discussed today, he needs to work on his control, though his other skills look very good. He began this season at Lake Elsinore, but after allowing only 36 H in 48.2 IP with a 66:24 K:BB, San Diego promoted him to AA Mobile. In 23 IP before his major league call up, he allowed 11 H and 1 HR with a 34:16 K:BB.

Perez's reportedly somewhat of a finesse pitcher, as while his #1 pitch is a hard slider, his fastball tops off in the mid-90's. I like his potential but question the decision to call him up now with so little experience in the high-minors and control problems hovering under the surface. Right now he's a prime candidate to struggle against major league offenses, so I don't expect him to stick in the San Diego rotation until late next season or even 2004.

The Padres called up Jason Pearson for Jason Boyd last week. Florida signed Pearson as a nondrafted free agent in 1998 but released him before the 1999 season, so he spent 1999 and 2000 in the independent leagues. Cincinnati signed him after the 2000 season, but the Padres plucked him from the Reds in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft.

He's worked as both a starter and reliever during his professional career. His skills looked good at AA Mobile last season, though while his dominance is fine for a starter, it could likely use a boost if he's going to work out of a pen. Working in relief at AAA Portland, Pearson compiled an 18:9 K:BB in 30 IP with 25 H and 3 HR allowed before his promotion.

However, San Diego attempted to send Pearson back to the minors through waivers and lost him to San Francisco on Tuesday. Pearson only pitched 1.2 innings while in the majors but had three strikeouts with only one hit and no walks allowed. The Padres didn't have to send him through waivers, but they wanted to move him off the 40-man roster. I think this was generally a poor decision on the part of San Diego and could work out really well for the Giants. Although he likely wouldn't measure up to Aaron Fultz's past performance, he could likely be at least as good as Fultz and Chad Zerbe this season.

San Diego called up Kevin Barker to fill Pearson's roster spot. Barker, a 26-year-old left-handed first baseman picked up in a small trade with Milwaukee this off-season, was hitting .257 with a .343 OBP, and .386 SLG in 210 AB at AAA Portland on 54 H, 10 2B, 1 3B, and 5 HR with a 26:40 BB:K and 1/2 SB%. He'll help the Padres in the infield off the bench while Phil Nevin and Sean Burroughs are out.