After hitting .300 with a couple of homers and 27 RBI for the Dodgers AAA affiliate, collecting a total of 100 hits, the Phillies decided to sign and take a chance on the 31-year old son of Hall of Fame OF Tony Gwynn, out of Long Beach, CA and San Diego State University.
At first, the deal seemed promising as he made the MLB roster out of spring training as a backup outfielder/pinch hitter. He also made the opening day starting lineup as the DH as the Phillies started the season in an AL Ballpark, against the Texas Rangers, batting 9th. With the struggles of LF Dominic Brown, Gwynn Jr. had his share of opportunities to possibly become the starting LF or make his way into a platoon, but that never did pan out.
In June of 2014, disaster struck Gwynn as he found out his father, Mr. Padre, Hall of Famer OF Tony Gwynn, had passed away at the age of 54 at his Powat, CA home after losing his battle with cancer of the salivary glands due to his use of smokeless, chewing tabacco he had used throughout his life and playing career. On June 16th the Phillies placed him on the bereavement list to be with his family in California to mourn the death of his father.
After batting only .163/.281/.204 with 0 HR and a mere 3 RBI in 98 at-bats in 67 games, the Philies designated him for assignment of July 21st. In 170 1/3 innings in the OF this season, Gwynn played all 3 positions with most of his time coming in CF (127 2/3 innings), where he had 2 assists and credit for 1 double play as well. In 8 career seasons for the Brewers, Padres, Dodgers and Phillies, he is a career .239/.310/.311 hitter with his most value coming as a base stealer as he stolen 79 career bases and had double digit steals from 2009-2012 with the Padres and Dodgers.
It would not surprise this writer to see a team take a chance on him after the trade deadline for depth and assign him to their AAA affiliate to see if he could also possibly contribute down the stretch for the MLB club.