San Diego thoroughly shuffled their pitching staff on Saturday, placing RHP Clay Condrey and RHP Brandon Villafuerte on the disabled list, and demoting RHP Roger Deago while calling up LHP Randy Keisler, LHP Charles Nagy, and RHP Carlton Loewer. As all three call-ups needed to be added to the 40-man roster, the Padres also transferred RHP Kevin Jarvis, LHP Kevin Walker, and RHP Jay Witasick to the 60-day DL, though as the move is retroactive to March 26th, they'll all be eligible to rejoin the team on May 26th. Both Walker and Witasick are set to begin rehab assignments, so they could be back in the majors within a few days of that time.

Condrey reportedly strained an oblique muscle on his left side while he was warming up to enter the Padres' May 15th game against the Braves. He had thrown 126 pitches in a start three days earlier, but San Diego intended to move him from the rotation into the pen, as they believe he's better suited for relief work. I expect him to miss at least six weeks with this injury, so I'll be surprised if he's back with the Padres much before the All-Star break. His performance during his rehab assignment and San Diego's level of need for a long reliever will determine when the 27-year-old rejoins the team, as the Padres aren't expected to have him start again unless they are without other options. Condrey needs to improve his control if he's to retain a position in the majors after he returns.

Unsurprisingly, Villafuerte is suffering from a strained shoulder. After pitching back-to-back outings of 30 and 52 pitches, Villafuerte complained of inflammation in his shoulder. Provided the 27-year-old didn't suffer any structural damage, Villafuerte should recover after resting and rejoin the team shortly after he's eligible to leave the DL.

Villafuerte began the season as the Padres' closer with his competition of Witasick and Jaret Wright sidelined by injury. However, after he blew a couple saves at the end of April, San Diego decided to try others in the role. At the time of his injury, the Padres seemed like they might be interested in giving Villafuerte another shot at the job, but they'll now likely continue to flop between Matt Herges and Wright until one of them saves a few in a row. Fortunately, Trevor Hoffman's rehab is going well, so he might actually rejoin the team sometime around the All-Star break.

Luther Hackman was sidelined with a sore shoulder for part of last week, leading me to believe he might take a trip to the disabled list when San Diego wants to activate Witasick and/or Walker.

San Diego called up Roger Deago when they placed Adam Eaton on the disabled list on May 10th. Deago hardly fits the profile of a pitcher you'd expect to be making his major league debut. This year is the 25-year-old 5'8" Panamanian's first season pitching for a major league affiliate. (San Diego's website lists his birthday as June 21, 1969, but numerous other sources including team press releases list him as 25.) The Padres called him up from AA Mobile where he had compiled a 32:12 K:BB with 29 H and 3 HR allowed in 31.1 IP for a 3.51 ERA over six starts with a mid-80s fastball. Before San Diego signed him as a nondrafted free agent in October of 2002, he was pitching for the Panamanian National Baseball team. He also represented his country as a long distance swimmer on their swim team.

Deago made his major league debut as the starter in San Diego's May 10th game in New York. The first batter he faced as a major league pitcher, Raul Gonzalez flew out to center. He retired the first four batters he faced with Cliff Floyd providing him with his first swinging strikeout before he gave up a single to Tony Clark for his first major league hit allowed. Ty Wigginton then struck out looking. Deago didn't walk a batter until Jay Bell led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a base on balls. He pitched six innings, compiling a 4:3 K:BB with 5 H and 2 ER allowed before Villafuerte came into relieve him to start the bottom of the 7th.

Eaton left his April 4th start against Philadelphia after the sixth inning due to a strained groin. He hoped to rejoin the team after missing only one start, so the Padres did not immediately place him on the disabled list. However, he needed a little extra time to recover. As the move to place Eaton on the DL was retroactive to May 5th, he's eligible to rejoin the team on the 20th. San Diego has already sent down Mike Bynum to open a roster spot with the intention of activating Eaton for a start in Milwaukee on Tuesday. Eaton's reportedly fully recovered from his injury, so the only concern is that the 25-year-old might be rusty in his first start back after two weeks off.

In addition to making roster changes, the Padres also dismissed pitching coach Greg Booker, replacing Booker with AA Mobile pitching coach Darren Balsley on Saturday. San Diego hopes that the pitching coach who oversaw many of their young starters' minor league breakouts will be able to guide them in the majors. Balsley reportedly is skilled in instilling his wards with confidence. However, he also supposedly has a solid grounding in the other pitching coach duties. The skills he learned as an advanced scout for the Blue Jays should be useful in helping his pitchers prepare for their outings, especially since the Padres don't employ an advanced scout.