Zawadzki down, Ryan up

First, some self-promotion:  my weekly Padres recap at Baseball Digest is up for your enjoyment.

A rather quiet off day.  Among several moves the Padres made on Monday, two stood out:  Lance Zawadzki was optioned back to Portland, and catcher Dusty Ryan was called up.  It's interesting Zawadzki was sent down given Jed Hoyer's recent comments about not having someone on the roster able to spell Chase Headley at third from time to time.  That problem was probably exacerbated with Everth Cabrera's injury, which forced Jerry Hairston Jr to play every day at short.  With this move, there's no one to back-up Headley at third.

Dusty Ryan's call-up may be a precursor to Yorvit Torrealba serving his suspension.  I believe MLB rules prevent teams from replacing a suspended player on the roster; in other words, while Torrealba is serving his suspension they have to play with 24 men.  Could someone confirm that in the comments if so inclined?  I wonder if the team told Torrealba to just serve the suspension and get it over with.  Note that's all speculation on my part.

Ryan has a total of 80 plate appearances over 2 years in the majors, all with Detroit.  He didn't hit the ball well at all in 2009; hopefully he's put that behind him.  Welcome to the National League, Dusty Ryan.

Elsewhere, the aforementioned Cabrera continues his rehab assignment and could be back with the Padres late this week.  Also, Kyle Blanks has suffered a setback in his rehab, coming down with elbow stiffness.  He was due to complete rehabbing on Sunday, when the Padres would either have to activate him or option him to AAA.  Looks like that decision will wait for a later day.

Padres start a 3-game set with Tampa Bay, which will conclude the Interleague docket for 2010.  San Diego is catching the Rays at a good time; Tampa has dropped 4 of 5 and 7 of their last 9 against the NL.