SAN DIEGO -- On Tuesday night, Trenton Brooks clobbered the first home run of his career into the right-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium. Having grown up a Padres fan in Alpine, it was quite a place to do it. Especially because he wanted that baseball, and, well…
“They threw it back,” he said. “Glad I hit it here.”
Friday night brought another very meaningful first for Brooks. It was his first game at Petco Park, where his family once owned season tickets in the upper deck above the first-base line. Brooks went to several games every season, keeping score diligently.
Before Friday’s game, Brooks noted that it felt weird to be at the center of it all -- rather than in those seats high above the first-base line. With dozens of family and friends in attendance, the 29-year-old journeyman met the moment, with a double and a run scored in two at-bats before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the Padres’ 6-5 series-opening loss to Kansas City.
“It was an awesome experience; it really was,” said Brooks, a graduate of Granite Hills High School in El Cajon. “Obviously, growing up, going to these games with my parents -- it’s surreal. It’s a blessing to be here.”
The Padres promoted Brooks last Sunday when Jackson Merrill landed on the seven-day concussion injured list. Since then, Brooks has yet to play a full game. He made three starts against right-handed pitching and twice came off the bench.
In other words, he has done his job. Tuesday’s home run came as a pinch-hitter after the Dodgers went to righty reliever Matt Sauer. The Padres were never going to ask Brooks to be an everyday guy. But if he can deliver some pop as a lefty bat off the bench?
“Listen, there’s opportunities to be had, right?” said Padres manager Mike Shildt. “Guys are getting opportunities, more toward the bottom. Our first five, six, seven are pretty set every night. It’s a little shorter without Jackson right now. But we’re going to do the best we can to match up, put him in good situations and create some opportunities. … The more you do, the more opportunities you earn.”
At the very least, Brooks seems to be earning himself the right to stay with the big league club once Merrill returns. Merrill went through a pregame workout on Friday afternoon -- hitting, throwing, running, taking fly balls. He’s eligible to be activated Sunday, though Shildt wouldn’t commit to that date just yet.
Whenever Merrill returns, the Padres have other areas they can trim on their bench. But now that Gavin Sheets has established himself as a regular, that bench does not include a lefty-hitting option for key at-bats against righty relievers. That’s where Brooks comes in.
“Trenton had a really good Spring Training,” said bench coach Brian Esposito, who served as acting manager on Friday night with Shildt suspended. “He’s a grinder. He gets in there, not afraid to take some swings. He’s got a really good eye at the plate, so he gets himself into some pretty good counts, where he’s able to do some damage when he gets that pitch over the heart of the plate.
“Pretty good showing so far. … It’s good to see what he showed in Spring Training carry over to the Major League level here now.”
Brooks spent eight seasons in the Minors before he earned his breakthrough with the Giants last year. But he wasn’t rostered and became a free agent after the season. He then signed a Minor League deal with the Padres.
As Esposito alluded to, Brooks mashed during Spring Training. He carried it over to Triple-A El Paso and earned a callup by hitting .311 with 14 homers and a 1.001 OPS -- ahead of an eventful four-game series against the Dodgers.
When Fernando Tatis Jr. was plunked in the ninth inning on Thursday, it was Brooks who entered the game as Tatis’ replacement in the outfield. But Brooks didn’t exactly anticipate the sparks that would fly -- with both benches clearing in the aftermath of the incident.
“I was like, ‘OK there’s a chance I might go in this game,’” Brooks said. “So I turned around for my stuff, and I looked back and nobody was in the dugout. I was like, ‘Oh boy, I better get out there.’ And I started running out there. It was an experience.”
A big league experience if there ever was one.