Jhony Brito dressed at the locker between Freddy Fermin’s and Michael King’s on Monday afternoon, disappeared into his manager’s office and returned without a concrete answer as to exactly how he’ll be deployed on Tuesday.

Chances are, it’ll be a lot more familiar than the middle-relief role he was getting used to the last time he was in the majors.

Not that he’s all that picky after losing all of last year to elbow surgery.

“Yeah, happy — happy after all that time and trying to come back from injury,” the 28-year-old Brito said through interpreter Jorge Merlos. “It’s exciting to be back. Once they told me I was going to come back, I was really excited.”

Brito made 13 of his 25 rookie appearances in 2023 in the New York Yankees’ rotation. He joined pitchers Michael King and Randy Vásquez, catcher Kyle Higashioka and pitching prospect Drew Thorpe in the package that fetched Juan Soto and Trent Grisham in December 2023 and then spent most of his time working the seventh, eighth and ninth innings in his first year as a Padre.

Brito was beginning to stretch out as a starter in the minors late in the summer when his elbow started barking. It was still an issue the following spring, forcing him to undergo an internal brace procedure on his UCL over a repeat of the 2017 Tommy John surgery that cost him the 2018 season. Brito also had his flexor repaired while the surgeons were working on his UCL as he missed all of 2025.

Brito got back into game action in May in the Arizona Complex League, made four rehab starts at Double-A San Antonio (1.96 ERA, 18⅓ IP) and four more starts for Triple-A El Paso (0.96 ERA, 18⅔ IP), although three occurred after he was activated at the end of his 30-day rehab window and officially optioned to El Paso. He has thrown between 71 and 77 pitches in each of his four appearances with El Paso. The Padres have not said how he’ll be deployed — he could start, he could pitch behind an opener or perhaps even piggyback with right-hander Germán Márquez — nor is it all that important to Brito.

“I feel like I can contribute however the team needs me,” Brito said. “I know (the rotation is) kind of a little bit of trouble right now, but however I’m available I’ll be there.”

Estrada’s progress

Two days after throwing his first bullpen, Jeremiah Estrada was in the Padres clubhouse on Monday. He was expecting to throw a couple more bullpens before facing live hitters, perhaps after the All-Star break. A progression from there would take him into a rehab assignment as he eyes a second-half return.

Estrada was placed on the 15-day injured list on June 5 with inflammation in his right knee. It is his second time on the shelf this season, but he missed less than a month with elbow tendinitis earlier this season.

The knee has been an entirely different animal to tackle, Estrada said Monday.

“It’s getting there,” he said, noting he’d been much more accustomed to how to whip his arm into shape after an injury as opposed to his lower half. “It’s much better. For sure much better but still a little achy. … I’ve never felt this before, so I was just surprised.”

Estrada credited the training staff and the organization for getting him pointed in the right direction.

“It’s a quick turnaround, too, to how quick it kind of healed,” Estrada said. “The stuff they got me on, it helped me work out and continue to get stronger.”

The Padres are down three relievers in the bullpen at the moment: Estrada, Jason Adam (shoulder) and David Morgan (knee).

Up to speed

In the midst of 17 straight games until next week’s All-Star break, the Padres gave Xander Bogaerts a day off to start a four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was a good time to get Sung-Mun Song in the lineup as he was hitting .364/.462/.591 over his last 12 games.

“I definitely do feel he’s much more comfortable at this stage in the season than what he was at the beginning,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “(Sunday’s) game was a good example of him playing with some freedom, laying a bunt down, stealing two bases. He’s been making a lot of great plays on defense, which he’s done all year, but I think he’s coming into his own, and he wants to prove that the type of player that he was in Korea is the type of player that he is here in the United States.”

Song went 1-for-3 with a walk and two steals in Sunday’s win in Los Angeles. He hit his first homer during a two-hit game on Wednesday at Wrigley Field and had his first two-walk game on the previous homestand.

The 29-year-old Korean import had a .475 OPS as of June 15. His recent hot pocket has lifted it to .666 on the season as he’s hitting .239/.338/.328 with nine RBIs and nine steals while seeing time at shortstop, second and third base.