"Ryan Ludwick has proved his point. He is not as lousy as he looked last season. He is not the same hired gun who struggled to hit a moving target. He is not reprising his role as the pennant insurance who failed to perform.

He is pretty much what the Padres thought he would be, albeit a season behind schedule: a professional hitter, a reliable source of run-production, an outfielder who deserves to be in demand.

"I played terrible last year," Ludwick said Wednesday afternoon. "I wouldn't say I've been playing great this year, but I've been doing what I've been known to do and what they brought me over here to do — to drive in runs…

"Last year, every time I came to the ballpark I was stressed out, wondering if I was going to be able to make contact."

If his 2010 swing was compromised by a calf injury, by the cruel and unusual punishment meted out by Petco Park and/or by the pressure to provide a secondary power source behind Adrian Gonzalez, Ryan Ludwick was consistently accountable and eager to atone.

He wanted to show San Diego that he was better than a .211 bust, better than a ballplayer who generated more strikeouts than hits, and he has done that; so well, in fact, that he will likely be leaving before the July 31 nonwaiver trading deadline. Eligible for free agency at season's end, Ludwick has revitalized his value as the primary threat in the middle of the Padres' lineup and the National League leader in outfield assists. "