Padres bring Burroughs back to bigs

SAN DIEGO -- As the saying goes, "Sometimes you have to take a step back before you can take a step forward." That's certainly true for Sean Burroughs, who on Wednesday discovered that on occasion, you also have to head west before you can head east.

After spending six weeks reworking his swing at Triple-A Portland, Burroughs was recalled Wednesday, just in time to make the third baseman eligible for postseason play. So after playing on Tuesday night in Tucson, Ariz., Burroughs flew to San Diego on Wednesday morning and joined the Padres for their weekday matinee and the subsequent road trip to Milwaukee.

"They told me before the game last night (in Tucson) that there was an 85 percent chance (of a recall), so it was pretty hard concentrating on the game last night, I was pretty jazzed," Burroughs said. "I jumped on a 6:30 (a.m. PT) flight out of good, old, beautiful Tucson, Arizona, and flew back into San Diego. I went home real quick and got my suit, and I couldn't get here quick enough."

To clear room on the roster for Burroughs, the Padres designated reliever Paul Quantrill for assignment. Quantrill was 1-1 with a 3.41 ERA for San Diego, but manager Bruce Bochy was sad to see him go. The skipper felt the Padres needed 14 position players on the roster.

"It's probably as difficult a decision as we've had," Bochy said. "We had to get down to 11 pitchers, we felt, to give us some depth in the infield."

Burroughs, who will serve in a reserve role in September, batted .290 in 32 games for Portland with 11 extra-base hits, 14 RBIs and 21 runs scored. It was a marked improvement from his line in 78 games prior to his July 23 demotion (.255 with one homer and 15 RBIs in 78 games).

And it's a long way from the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League to PETCO Park, but Burroughs believes his new approach has made him a better all-around hitter, regardless of where he's playing.

"This is the best I've felt in years" he said. "Myself and the hitting coach worked on some things, trying to change my swing. It's a little bit longer, not as short and I'm not afraid to go up there and hit some balls hard ... and try to drive the ball to right a little more."

The left-hander hit .271 as a rookie in 2002 and followed with a .286 average and a career-high .402 slugging percentage in 2003. Since then, though, Burroughs has struggled to pull the ball, with only three homers in 778 at-bats. In his first stint with the Padres this season, Burroughs slugged just .302.

After struggling through his first week at the Triple-A level -- repeatedly being late on pitches and fouling fastballs off instead of putting them into play -- Burroughs said he and Portland hitting coach Jose Castro worked on lengthening what had become a short, soft swing by getting Burroughs' top hand more involved.

Bochy plans to use Burroughs as a pinch-hitter and in the occasional double-switch, in addition to the spot start when regular third baseman Joe Randa needs a rest. Quantrill's future with the Padres, though, is much less certain.

By rule, designated players must be traded, released or outrighted to the Minor Leagues within 10 days. However, Wednesday is the last day for players to be traded, and Quantrill has more than enough service time to refuse a Minor League assignment and become a free agent if he wishes. Bochy said Wednesday he doesn't know what Quantrill has in mind.

"Obviously, our hope is he would decide to stay if there's not a trade and we could re-sign him," Bochy said. "The only problem is, I know he wants to pitch in the postseason for us, and that would take an injury at this point."