San Diego, CA
Padres notes: David Peralta and Mike Shildt’s St. Louis ties; Lake Bachar’s short trip
Before David Peralta was a big-leaguer, before he won a Silver Slugger in his Age 30 Season in 2018, he was a minor league pitcher working through two shoulder surgeries in the Cardinals system.
He recalls knowing that he was on borrowed time when he was called into an office in Jupiter, Fla.
The reason: He was being released.
The date: May 5, 2009. (“I don’t like Cinco De Mayo,” Peralta said with a laugh.)
The person across from a then 21-year-old Peralta: Mike Shildt.
The Padres’ current manager cut his teeth in baseball in the Cardinals system, was running extended spring training at the time and it was his job to be the messenger when the front office decided to cut Peralta lose.
“It’s a funny story, but I don’t think he likes this story and I don’t like it either,” Peralta said, still chuckling.
“He was more strict and he was doing it right,” Peralta said of what he remembered of Shildt from those extended spring training days with the Cardinals. “When you’re dealing with young kids, I was what 19 years old, 20 years, you want to be strict because you want to educate this young generation to become big leaguers. So he was very strict.”
Because Peralta said he didn’t speak much English at the time, Shildt kept the release meeting short. Peralta went on to play independent ball as a hitter, caught on with the Diamondbacks and made his MLB debut in 2014.
Two weeks after joining the Padres, Peralta relayed the story to Shildt and the two laughed over very different paths from St. Louis to San Diego.
“What I remember about him is, first of all, he’s just a tremendous young man, just a really, really conscientious, hard worker, very dedicated, just everything that you’d want,” Shildt recalled. “You pull for all of them, but you’re pulling like heck for this guy. You saw how hard he worked.”
Fifteen years later, Shildt is still pulling for a 37-year-old Peralta as the two make their way back to St. Louis for a four-game series.
“You know how crazy the world is,” Peralta said, “how crazy baseball is that we’re back together in the big leagues. It’s been fun.”
Notable
- RHP Randy Vásquez will be recalled to start Monday’s game in St. Louis. He’ll replace RHP Lake Bachar, who was optioned after Sunday’s game after serving as bullpen coverage for a single game (Bachar did not pitch). The last remaining player from the Padres’ 2016 draft class, Bachar has a 4.12 ERA over 67⅔ innings this year at Triple-A El Paso. He’s been a reliever since returning from Tommy John surgery in 2022. Bachar briefly replaced RHP Logan Gillaspie, who was optioned to El Paso on Sunday morning after throwing 44 pitches in appearing in two of the previous three games.
- INF Matthew Batten cleared waivers and has been outrighted to El Paso.
Joan Endres
OBITUARY
Born January 1939 in Cincinnati Ohio. Died February 14, 2026, in San Diego, California, with her sons at her side. Her beloved husband Dean passed away in 2010.
Joan was the only child of Thomas and Edna Palmer. In 1943, the family moved to San Diego, where Joan graduated from Helix High School in 1956.
In 1957 Joan married Dean Endres of San Diego, where they raised two sons. Joan followed her two great passions outside the home, the Arts, and Gardening. Both activities being a way to bring beauty to others and to the community.
Joan received a degree in Environmental Design from San Diego State University, and afterwords worked at UCSD, for the Campus Architect.
As an artist, Joan worked in various media, especially ceramics. She was active in many cultural and arts organizations, eventually becoming President of the Combined Organization for the Visual Arts (COVA). Later she turned to gardening, with the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca Community College and the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County.
Joan is survived by her son Jeff and wife Katrin, grandson Jackson, and son Todd Endres, all of La Mesa, and sisters Alice Buck of Phoenix, Elaine Kennedy of San Diego, Nancy and husband Don Jones of Vista, Eva Budzinski of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and their children and grandchildren.
There will be a Celebration of Life for Joan in the near future. Those who wish to attend should contact celebratejoanuvart@gmail.com to receive details when they are confirmed. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests a donation to the Water Conservation Garden or the Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN).
The San Diego State Aztecs’ have moved off the bubble and back into the NCAA Tournament’s Field of 64 in the latest ESPN’s Bracketology projections.
The Aztecs must feel like a yo-yo, but now it’s in a good way. Bracket expert Joe Lunardi moved them from the bottom of the First Four Out — No. 72 — to holding the Mountain West’s automatic bid after an 89-72 home romp Wednesday night over Utah State, which had held the auto-bid in bracketology for a few weeks now.
Lunardi now has the Aztecs as the No. 11 seed in the West Region, with a projected first-round date against former MW rival BYU in Portland.
Lunardi wrote that SDSU’s auto-bid “shifts the entire bubble.”
Wednesday night’s victory not only pulled the Aztecs (19-8, 13-4) into a tie with Utah State (23-5, 13-4) atop the MW standings, but it was just their second Quad 1 victory in six such opportunities.
SDSU’s next two games are both Quad 1 chances, at New Mexico on Saturday and then at Boise State on Tuesday night.
The win lifted the Aztecs only one spot in the NCAA NET Rankings, to No. 43. Those rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for March Madness.
SDSU’s resume for earning an at-large berth has been on shaky ground all season, and was seriously damaged last week when the Aztecs lost at home to Grand Canyon and were then routed at Colorado State, both Quad 2 games.
SDSU’s best bet to assure a trip to March Madness for the sixth straight season is to win the MW tournament in Las Vegas and claim the automatic bid. That requires winning three games in as many days, and perhaps a third showdown against the Aggies, who beat the Aztecs 71-66 in Logan on Jan. 31.
Lunardi now has Utah State projected as an at-large team, but still with the No. 7 seed in the East, facing No. 10 Texas A&M in a first-round game in St. Louis.
New Mexico (21-7, 12-5), lurking just a game behind SDSU and USU, has dropped from the Last Four In at No. 68 to the First Four Out at No. 70.
The Aztecs were the unanimous preseason pick to win the MW regular-season title in their final season in the league before moving into the Pac-12 along with Utah State, Boise State, Fresno State and Colorado State.
Saturday’s game at New Mexico is set to tip off at 11 a.m. PT and will air on CBS.
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