Padres Coach Revealed Injuries Forced Him to Retire

The San Diego Padres have plenty of talent in their lineup, but a key veteran signing that the team made in January continues to positively affect the ball club each day, despite not taking a single at-bat this season.

The Padres signed MLB veteran Nick Punto to their coaching staff this past offseason to bring 14 seasons of big league experience to their clubhouse.

The San Diego native recently told the San Diego Union-Tribune's Annie Heilbrunn about the decision to finally hang it up back in 2014, his final year in the Show.

"It was very hard," Punto said. "I thought my body was still doing OK enough to play, but my elbow was shot. I messed my elbow up. It was just hard to get on the field without taking too many anti-inflammatories and it was messing up my stomach. So basically, injury just kind of got me to say goodbye."

Punto also joked that although there is a large gap in his resume from his playing days to the start of his coaching tenure, his connections with the current Friars staff likely got him back to an MLB clubhouse.

"So yeah, they dragged me right off the couch, sitting there in Orange County (laughs). You know, I played with (Manager Mike) Shildt. I’m guessing Shildt had some influence. I played with (Padres special assistants) A.J. Ellis and Allen Craig. So I’m sure they just were spitballing some names and, you know, I got lucky enough to be thrown in the hat."

Punto started his MLB career as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies for three seasons before heading to the Minnesota Twins for the next seven.

He started the 2011 campaign with the St. Louis Cardinals and hit .278 in his lone season with the birds to help them eventually win the World Series in an improbable October run.

The next season began with the Boston Red Sox and ended with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he would stay until the end of 2013. Punto would play 73 games with the Oakland Athletics to round out the 2014 season that would prove to be his last in MLB.

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