CRAIG’S COMMENTS: Catchers getting healthy, speaking of big games and pitching in heat and humidity

Photo of Walker Buehler pitching in the Padres brown road uniform

Luis Campusano (broken toe) began his rehab assignment with Triple-A El Paso and was 2-for-2 with a home run. And №1 prospect Ethan Salas returned from the injured list for Double-A San Antonio.

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Meanwhile, Padres’ manager Craig Stammen spoke to the fact that the Padres games against the Cubs have additional importance:

“Obviously, the way the playoffs are set up now with the wildcard and the tiebreakers and stuff, all these games are very important,” Stammen began. “We have a chance to play one-on-one a team that we’re going to be competing against all year for a playoff berth. We can help ourselves in the standings.

“Then again it’s only the end of June, so we have a lot of games left to play and all those games matter the same amount as these games. We have to weigh those two at the same time. We understand our opponent. We played the Cubs in the playoffs last year. So, they’re big games, fun games to play at the end of June.

Stammen on Ty France and Miguel Andujar:

“They have been great. We’ve had a lot of big hits from both those guys.”

Stammen on drawing positives from losses the first two nights at Wrigley Field:

“There were definitely some positives in the past two games. We just couldn’t deliver the knockout punch, which has been the story of some of our losses, the inability to deliver that punch at the end or when we needed to with runners in scoring position. We have to keep working, keep getting better in those situational hitting opportunities.”

Stammen on Walker Buehler and pitching Wednesday in the heat and humidity of a summer afternoon game at Wrigley Field:

“Get a good night’s sleep, wake up, drink a lot of water, get the fluids in you all that kind of stuff and then try to have quick innings and get back in the dugout and keep cool when you can,” said Stammen.

“I loved pitching in humidity. I could feel how sticky that ball was and how much of a better grip it was than it is in the cool, dry air of say San Francisco or Colorado or something like that. I enjoyed the humidity. I thought my body felt better. I felt looser. Instead of 90, I was throwing 91.”