SAN FRANCISCO — Gavin Sheets came out of Sunday’s collision with an immovable object better than could reasonably be expected.
“It felt like I ran into a wall,” Sheets said Monday, a little more than 24 hours after doing just that trying to chase down a home run to left field.
He was not in the lineup against the Giants, but he was said to be available off the bench.
While he hit the wall solidly with multiple body parts Sunday, Sheets’ hip took the brunt of the impact. There was also concern about his head, wrist and thumb.
After clearing concussion tests Sunday, Sheets traveled to San Francisco on the team charter. How he slept and felt Monday provided further encouragement.
“Woke up, head felt head felt good,” Sheets said. “Last night, obviously sore, mainly the hip. But think I woke up today, and all things considered for the play, I feel pretty good.”
Sheets ran 85 feet and reached a top speed of 23.9 feet per second while tracking the fly ball hit by Adam Frazier and said he hit the wall as full speed as it looked like he did.
“With Frazier up, I was playing in,” Sheets said. “It’s not really a guy that you’re expecting to go backside juice. And so obviously had a lot of room. I knew it was gonna be close, whether it got out or not. Really didn’t have time to slow up just because it hit right on top of the wall. So I just kind of went for it.”
Sheets has been the Padres’ primary designated hitter for most of the past month, but started in left field five of the seven games leading up to Monday. It’s partly because he has been so productive at the plate and partly due to the Padres not really having better options.
Excluding Sheets, the Padres have gotten a .188 batting average and .496 OPS from their left fielders.
Jason Heyward (oblique) is eligible to come off the injured list Tuesday, but that is not expected to happen. Tyler Wade made his third start there Monday.
The team has been seeking a left fielder via the trade market for weeks.
Bergert to rotation
Ryan Bergert threw four scoreless innings for Triple-A El Paso on Wednesday in Sacramento, remained there for the duration of that series and on Sunday caught a ride to San Francisco.
He will make his first big-league start Tuesday against the Giants.
“It feels like they have some trust in me to allow me to start a game,” Bergert said Monday. “So I’m excited to do it and happy to help.”
Bergert allowed one hit in four scoreless innings over four relief appearances for the Padres earlier this season. He got the win on May 5 at Yankee Stadium. He entered that game in the seventh inning with the Padres trailing by a run, and they took the lead in the eighth inning.
“I think it definitely was good to get my feet wet a little bit,” Bergert said. “That kind of made it a little bit more normal than it would have been coming up debuting as a starter. It just gave me a comfort level.”
Since being optioned on May 7, Bergert has allowed two runs in 13⅓ innings over four Triple-A starts.
He is filling the hole in the rotation created when Michael King went on the injured list with a shoulder issue.
Kyle Hart got the first shot to fill in for King and allowed the Marlins five runs in 4⅔ innings on Wednesday. Hart was optioned Friday when the Padres called up reliever Bradgley Rodriguez to fortify their bullpen.
King has begun playing catch, but the timetable for his return is not known.
Busy bullpen
Yu Darvish played catch in the outfield and then in the bullpen Monday afternoon at Oracle Park and plans to throw a full bullpen (or closer to it than he has in nearly a month) on Tuesday.
Darvish, who was shut down in mid-March with elbow inflammation, made a rehab start May 14 but experienced discomfort in his elbow afterward and did not throw off a mound again until Saturday.
When Darvish was finished Monday, reliever Bryan Hoeing stepped on the bullpen mound and threw as pitching coach Ruben Niebla, bullpen coach Ben Fritz and others watched.
Hoeing is on a rehab assignment with Triple-A El Paso while working back from a shoulder issue that forced him to be shut down before spring training.
He has pitched 3⅓ innings between Double-A and Triple-A since May 20 and said his shoulder feels good. As long as that continues to be the case, he could return soon.
Hoeing had a 1.52 ERA in 23⅔ innings (18 games) for the Padres last season after being acquired at the trade deadline.
