San Antonio – The San Diego Padres have sent infielder/outfielder Kyle Blanks to the San Antonio Missions for a rehabilitation assignment. Blanks will join the Missions April 14 from an extended Spring Training stint in Peoria, AZ and will be with the team at least through the homestand.

Blanks will not count against the San Antonio roster since he is on the Major League disabled list.

Blanks, a 6-6, 270 pound native of Moriarty, New Mexico, was drafted by San Diego in the 42nd round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft out of Yavapai (AZ) Junior College. Blanks appeared in 132 games for San Antonio in 2008 and hit .325 with 20 home runs and 107 RBI. He recorded nine RBI in a game on August 25, 2008 at Corpus Christi, which is tied for the fifth-most RBI in a single game in Texas League history.

In 2008 Blanks was named the Padres Minor League Player of the Year and the Topps Texas League Player of the Year.

Blanks made his Major League debut on June 19, 2009 against the Oakland A’s as a pinch-hitter. He appeared in 54 games for San Diego that year and hit 10 homers in only 148 at-bats.

Blanks played in just 33 games for the Padres in 2010 before being placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 18 with a strained right elbow. After a rehab assignment with Class A Lake Elsinore and AAA Portland, he was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on July 29 and had season-ending surgery on his right elbow.

Kyle Blanks career batting record:

YEAR     CLUB                                     AVG       G             AB          R             H             2B           3B           HR          RBI

2005       Peoria (R)                            .299        48           164         33           49           10           1              7              30

2006       Ft. Wayne (A)                    .292        86           308         41           90           20           0              10           52

2007       Lake Elsinore (A)              .301        119         465         94           140         31           4              24           100

2008       San Antonio (AA)             .325        132         492         75           160         23           5              20           107

2009       Portland (AAA)                 .283        66           233         35           66           9              1              12           38

SAN DIEGO (ML)              .250        54           148         24           37           9              0              10           22

2010       Lake Elsinore (A)              .270        10           37           3              10           3              0              0              4

Portland (AAA)                 .333        1              3              0              1              0              0              0              0

SAN DIEGO (ML)              .157        33           102         14           16           6              1              3              15

MINOR LEAGUE TOTALS               .303        396         1,469     246         450         87           10           61           293

MAJOR LEAGUE TOTALS               .212        87           250         38           53           15           1              13           37

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