According to a report by Baseball America, the Padres have promoted top hitting prospect Kyle Blanks to the big leagues and should join the club soon. The 22-year old was hitting .283 in Triple-A Portland in the Pacific Coast league with 12 dingers, nine doubles and 38 RBIs.

While he’s not considered a Grade-A prospect, Blanks can hit and the Padres wouldn’t be calling to ride the pine. San Diego is desperate for offense, even more so now that top pitchers Jake Peavy and Chris Young are on the disabled list and the club expected to be trailing in most ballgames.

There’s also a good chance that this call could just be temporary. San Diego is set to host Oakland for a three game series and the A’s are expected to throw three left-handers (Josh Outman, Brett Anderson and Dallas Braden), so maybe the Pads look at this weekend has a great chance to see what Blanks has while giving Adrian Gonzalez a day or two off at first base. Not that Gonzo can’t hit left-handed pitching, but if San Diego wanted to give him a breather, now would be the time.

Another possibility is that the Padres could be set to make a move soon. It’s quite possible that San Diego is getting ready to deal one of its outfielders (Chase Headley?) and will employ Blanks in left field. Or, if the Padres feel confident enough that Blanks can play third base, maybe the club has a deal in place to trade Kevin Kouzmanoff.

If I’m thinking too out of the box in terms of trades, maybe Blanks will help in the outfield until Scott Hairston comes off the DL and then subsequently be sent back down to Triple-A.