The Padres’ bench is a little longer today because they activated Alexi Amarista (hamstring) from the 15-day disabled list. Jon Jay (shoulder), however, has not recovered enough to return to the starting lineup, leaving center field and leadoff duties to Travis Jankowski.
The 24-year-old rookie is hitting .250/.438/.417 in 16 plate appearances as the leadoff hitter. He was in the nine-hole on Tuesday against Giants’ left-hander Madison Bumgarner, but is back atop the order with the right-handed Johnny Cueto on the mound.
The splits – albeit in an extremely small sample – support the decision.