In a career that is in its 14th season, Ian Kinsler has four walks and three hits in 18 pinch-hit appearances.

The idea has always been that he would get many more than that this season.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Kinsler said of knowing he’d eventually transition into a role player when he signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Padres in the offseason. “I knew the situation of the ball club.”

The initial thinking was it would already have happened. But second baseman Luis Urias struggled, and shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. got hurt.


So Kinsler has pinch-hit just three times this season and on Saturday made his 33rd start at second base.

But the Padres’ decision makers discuss the timing of Urias’ next promotion virtually every day. There is a thought that at some point the 21-year-old must be brought up, even if the team believes he still has work to do on his approach and mechanics.

And it is hoped Tatis, who is up to running at 90 percent but still feeling some tightness as he works back from a left hamstring strain suffered April 28, is back for at the start of the next road trip, May 24 in Toronto.

Kinsler’s transformation will likely begin in earnest around that time.


“You know, I expect to play baseball,” Kinsler said. “But that’s not going to deter me from trying to help the team win in whatever role that I’m in. That’s the reality of it. And right now, my focus is to play good baseball and try to help this team win however I can. And as the summer goes along, whatever that role takes on, that’s what it’s going to be.”

While he has never had to think and ready himself like a role player, Kinsler has begun to mine advice from career back-up Greg Garcia and first base coach Skip Schumaker, who spent time as a utility player in his career.

“Yes, learning how to prepare yourself to pinch-hit is something new, but we have guys in the clubhouse that do it,” Kinsler said. “Greg’s obviously one of the best that we have, and Skip did it for a lot of his career, so I talk to him about it. There’s people who have experience in that role and, for me, it’s just trying to find what gets me to be ready the best way I know how. Outside that, it just comes down to performing.”



Wingen’ it

Right-hander Trey Wingenter is expected to be activated Sunday after looking good throwing a live batting practice session — or half of one — on Saturday afternoon. He was so strong that manager Andy Green halted the session early.

“Stuff was coming out really well,” Green said. “We shut down the live BP quicker than we thought we would just so we could hasten his return.”


Basically, Wingenter can’t get back quick enough.

He was pitching almost exclusively in high-leverage situations, taking some of that responsibility from Craig Stammen, whose workload was bordering on excessive. Since Wingenter was shut down May 4 with a shoulder strain, the Padres have had to use Phil Maton and Brad Wieck in multiple close-and-late situations.

“He looked like the guy you’d like to have on the mound in a pivotal situation,” Green said of Wingenter’s turn on the mound Saturday.



Quantribution

Cal Quantrill will make his third major league start on Sunday against the Pirates.

He’s done well to get as far as he has in his first two starts, which is the backdoor compliment no pitcher wants.


Quantrill allowed a double and triple and one run in his first inning against the Braves on May 1 and then made it two outs into the sixth inning having allowed one more run that night. In his last start, May 7 against the Mets, two doubles and two singles and two runs in the top of the first were the only times the Mets scored off him in 4 2/3 innings.

Just 58 percent of Quantrill’s pitches have been strikes. His 52 percent first-pitch strike rate is 10 percent below the major league average for starting pitchers. He turns two-strike counts into outs just 55 percent of the time, 20 percent below the MLB average.

One thing he does remarkably well is get out of trouble. He turns 2-0, 2-1 or three-ball counts into outs 60 percent of the time, 10 percent higher than the league average. Problem is, Quantrill has been in those counts 17 times in the 41 plate appearances against him.

× Hear from Padres manager Andy Green on starting pitcher Cal Quantrill’s role with the team.


“We like the bulldog mentality we’ve seen in him and we like his ability to make pitches in pivotal situations,” Green said. “We want him to pitch ahead. … He pitches ahead, he’s going to have a lot of success. The first couple outings, that hasn’t really been the case, but he’s battle to make it through a lot of tough situations.”

The 24-year-old, who was the Padres’ first-round pick in 2016, is making these starts to provide an extra day of rest for Chris Paddack and Matt Strahm. Both of them are building strength after pitching limited innings in recent years due to injury.

Paddack and Strahm pitch Monday and Tuesday, respectively. The Padres are off Thursday, which creates natural space before their following starts. That likely means another turn in Triple-A for Quantrill, as the Padres do not figure to need an extra starter again until the first week of June.

