Padres center fielder Manuel Margot has been placed on the 10-day disabled list after suffering what was termed a “significant” bruise to his ribs when he was hit by a pitch in the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Franchy Cordero has been reinstated from the disabled list and will bat leadoff and play center field in Wednesday’s series finale at Coors Field.

Cordero, 23, had seven hits in 17 at-bats at Triple-A El Paso on his rehab assignment.

The most athletic player on the Padres roster, with speed and power that infuses every at-bat with anticipation, Cordero was on track to break spring training with the team until injuring his groin on March 15.


He had two home runs, a triple and five doubles in 35 at-bats in spring. On his stand-up inside-the-park homer, he didn’t seem to really starts sprinting until rounding second base. His triple came at slightly more than a jog.

He also struck out 13 times.

“If he stays selective, stays in the zone, he should be successful,” manager Andy Green said before Wednesday’s game. “We just want to turn his athleticism loose on a baseball field. … He’s up there with probably the top five, 10 most athletic guys in the game of baseball. So he’s a fun, electric guy to have on the field.

“He’s an interesting bat. He can hit anywhere in the lineup. He can hit in the one hole, because he absolutely flies. The challenge for him mainly now is get on base. But he’s got as much pop as anybody we have.”


The strikeout has been Cordero’s Achilles. He struck out 44 times in 92 major league at-bats and once every 3.3 at-bats in Triple-A last season. He also hit three home runs, three doubles and three triples for the Padres and 17 homers, 18 triples and 21 doubles for El Paso.

“It’s something I’ve put a lot of focus on in the offseason, in winter ball, putting a lot of emphasis on my approach,” Cordero said before the games. “I’m looking forward to seeing if I can add it to my game here at the big leagues.”

Margot’s postgame X-rays revealed no fractures, but the Padres felt the deep bruise would keep him from playing for several days.

The Padres had tentatively planned to activate Cordero on Thursday, so this move only accelerated that timetable.


It also, once again, saved the Padres from having to demote someone and keeps them from having to play musical chairs in the outfield. Last week, they placed right fielder Wil Myers on the DL with nerve irritation in his right arm. (Myers resumed “light” swinging Tuesday. He is likely at least a few days from beginning a rehab assignment.)

“We came into this with this expectation we’d be rotating a lot of really good outfielders, and we haven’t been able to stay healthy,” Green said. “We’ve been on the beat-up side to start the first two weeks of the season.”

kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com

UPDATES:


10:32: This story was updated to reflect the Padres making the transactions official and with quotes from Franchy Cordero and Andy Green.