David Bednar walked into the home clubhouse at Petco Park on Friday afternoon, scanned the room and, for a fleeting moment, thought the worst when he didn’t see his jersey or a nameplate at a locker.
Of course, the rookie right-hander wasn’t going anywhere.
He’s sharing a stall with El Paso call-up Seth Mejias-Brean, sometimes a necessity when rosters expand in September, although the 24-year-old reliever looks to be quickly carving out a place of his own in the Padres’ bullpen.
In a tie game Sunday afternoon, Bednar struck out two batters in a perfect seventh inning to help the Padres pick up a 2-1 win, the sort of critical frame reserved for free-agent-to-be Craig Stammen much of the first half of the season.