To make room on the 40-man roster, the Padres transferred 2B Matt Antonelli from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL.

Jerry Hairston has been anemic at short, and the Padres are still in something of a rebuild despite their surprise hot start, so I’d expect the team to give Zawadzki every chance to prove he belongs in the majors with Cabrera out.

Zawadzki turns 25 in a couple of weeks, and he has never played in the majors. He was a 4th round pick in 2007 who hit .289/.369/.476 with 15 homers across two levels last season.

Still, the switch-hitter was off to a dreadful .162/.240/.176 start in AAA, and he had never played there prior to this season, so he probably isn’t ready just yet. Then again, nobody thought Cabrera would be as good as he was last year, so who knows?

I see Zawadzki as a valuable utility player for the Padres down the line, and hopefully he’ll show some potential in the next few weeks as he begins his big league career.

No corresponding Portland roster move has been announced; minor league veteran and former Padre Sean Kazmar is expected to get the majority of the Beavers’ SS time while Zawadzki is in San Diego.

Pitchers Greg Burke, Mark Worrell, Ernesto Frieri, and Cesar Carrillo were sent down. Logan Forsythe, Dusty Ryan, Luis Durango, Aaron Cunningham, and Matt Antonelli joined them.

I didn’t expect any of the nine to make the team, but the moves bring the Padres’ roster down to 29 players, very close to the 25 of Opening Day.

Frieri hasn’t seen Triple-A yet, and Carrillo hasn’t done much in the minors in years. Worrell missed all of 2009 with an arm injury, and will need some time to get back in big-league form. Burke is a decent major league pitcher, but as a non-roster invitee on a team packed with ‘pen depth, he was a real longshot. It’s a credit to him that he outlasted Ryan Webb and Aaron Poreda.

Ryan is another solid major leaguer, but there wasn’t room for him with Yorvit Torrealba and Nick Hundley around. He’s exactly the sort of player that gets cut at the end of March. So is Aaron Cunningham, who will see regular Triple-A at-bats rather than being a platoon/bench player in the bigs.

Durango and Forsythe haven’t seen Triple-A yet, but both impressed in camp, so they were given long looks. Antonelli was a huge surprise, mashing this spring after spending two years flailing in Triple-A. Those three are guys to watch, as they could be back in San Diego before the All-Star Break.

Interestingly, catcher Chris Stewart remains on the 29-man roster. Stewart, 28, is a defensive standout who is just 9-for-48 with three major league teams. Another NRI, Stewart has shockingly outlasted Ryan in camp. I can’t see much of a reason to keep him around this long. He’s 2-for-9 with 3 walks this spring.

With Stewart likely to be cut at some point, the Padres effectively have 28 guys competing for 25 spots. Chris Denorfia and Matt Stairs are fighting for one spot, and Sean Gallagher, Tim Stauffer, Mat Latos, Clayton Richard, and Adam Russell are fighting for three spots on the pitching staff.

I’m continuing to pull for Denorfia, Gallagher, Latos, and Russell.

For those of you who don’t feel like looking through data, here’s a few highlights.

Matt Antonelli, former top prospect, hasn’t hit for two years, but is showing signs of life. He’s 8-for-17 with two doubles and only one strikeout. Given that projected starting 2B David Eckstein is a far worse player there than the Padres’ backup first baseman, San Diego might want to give Antonelli a look at the keystone.

Kyle Blanks is getting off to a good start, going 7-for-17 with three doubles, a triple, and just 2 K’s. No walks, however.

Logan Forsythe is impressing, going 4-9 with two doubles and three walks. He looks ready to open 2010 in AAA.

Tony Gwynn, trying to get the leadoff and CF job, is just 3-for-18 with no walks.

Luis Durango is 4-for-11 with three walks and no strikeouts.

Everth Cabrera and David Eckstein are a combined 4-for-30…not a good start for the projected double-play combo.

Yorvit Torrealba (.333/.333/.667) has outhit Nick Hundley (.222/.364/.222) in the catcher battle, though neither has gotten significant ABs.

Oscar Salazar is trying to make me look smart by posting a .417 OBP.

Star Adrian Gonzalez is off to a rough (.071/.188/.071) start.

Chris Denorfia (.333/.375/.400) and Aaron Cunningham (.235/.350/.412) are both making strong bids for the fifth OF’s job.

Scott Hairston is 0-for-11, so neither he nor Gwynn is taking advantage of the CF competition.

Chase Headley, Matt Stairs, Michael Collins, and Will Venable have all homered, but none has done too much else.

Sean Gallagher and Mat Latos have both pitched five solid innings, while Clayton Richard has gotten hammered (Come on, projected starting rotation!)

Adam Russell has shown good stuff, striking out five and walking none in four innings.