PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Team Starts Shuffling Roster Heading Into the Second Half

The Padres, attempting to bolster their bench for the second half of the season, optioned catchers Tom Lampkin and Brian Dorsett to triple-A Las Vegas, and are expected to call up left-handed first baseman Phil Stephenson and veteran catcher Dann Bilardello.

The Padres, who will announce the moves today, also could trade outfielder Shawn Abner as soon as today. Abner was told by Joe McIlvaine, Padre general manager, that he would be traded during the All-Star break.

“I said goodby to a few guys today,” Abner said. “Hopefully, the next time I see them I’ll be wearing a different uniform.”

Lampkin, who earned a spot on the Padres’ 25-man roster out of spring training, is batting .184 with no homers and three RBIs, and is hitting .038 (one for 26) since May 30. Lampkin, however, has started only two games in the past six weeks.

“He (Padre Manager Greg Riddoch) said I’ll be called back up,” Lampkin said, “but look at the other guys that have been sent down. They’re still down there.”

Dorsett was called up June 4 to enable the Padres to use Lampkin more as a pinch hitter. Yet, Lampkin is hitting only .176 as a pinch hitter this season while Dorsett batted .083.

“It’s tough to handle when you know you can play,” Dorsett said. “That’s the thing that hurts. They more or less are saying you’re not a major league catcher.

“When you believe in your abilities and believe in what you do, you never think it’s you that’ll go.”

Stephenson, 30, who batted .209 with four homers and 19 RBIs last season for the Padres, has been out this season with a cracked bone in his right kneecap. He played 20 days on a rehabilitative assignment in double-A Wichita and Las Vegas, and the Padres were pleased with the way his knee responded.

Bilardello, 31, has been a journeyman throughout his 13-year professional career. He lasted played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, playing in 52 games each of the past two seasons. The Padres have juggled their rotation for the second-half of the season, pushing Andy Benes, 4-9, back as the fifth starter.

The rotation order now is: Bruce Hurst (9-5), Ed Whitson (4-6), Dennis Rasmussen (3-4), Greg Harris (1-1) and Benes.

“Obviously, we wanted Hurst to lead off for us,” Riddoch said, “and then we wanted to mix up our right-handers and left-handers. The only decision was whether to put Andy fourth or fifth, and since the Mets are first up, and they have trouble with right-handed breaking ball pitchers, we figure we’d got with Harris.”