PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Santiago Hopes to Return by July 1

ST. LOUIS — Padre catcher Benito Santiago, who fractured the little finger on his right hand Saturday night against the St. Louis Cardinals, said Sunday that he hopes to rejoin the team by July 1.

“They told me I’d be out for a month,” Santiago said. “I don’t know what to say. Everything was going so good. I was hitting good. The team was playing good. And this happens.

“Man, what a lousy feeling.”

Santiago blamed the hard dirt by the second-base bag for his injury, resulting in a fracture at the base of the knuckle. While sliding into his second with a double, his finger was caught in the dirt, and there was no give.

“I felt it right right away,” Santiago said, “but I didn’t feel any pain. Then it started to hurt. Real bad. When I started to pick up a bat, I knew it was bad.”

Santiago, who took a flight to San Diego Sunday for an appointment today with Dr. Jan Fronek, said he hardly was able to sleep. Yet, he didn’t know whether it was caused by the pain or just frustration.

“It could have been worse, I guess,” Santiago said. “If it happened to me, it’s good that it happened early, and not later. I’ll just have to step it up when I get back.

“I think this team’s going to miss me.”

The last time Santiago was on the disabled list in 1990 with a broken left arm, the Padres were 21-31 in his absence.

The Padres, in fact, may learn quickly what life will be like without Santiago, who’s eligible for free agency at the end of the season.

The Padres are expected to turn over the bulk of the catching duties to Dan Walters, who is being groomed to replace Santiago as the starting catcher in 1993. He’ll play in his first major-league game tonight against the Chicago Cubs, catching Andy Benes, his teammate at double-A Wichita in 1989.

“This is like a dream for me,” said Walters, who was hitting .394 with two homers and 25 RBIs at Las Vegas. “It’s a bummer the way it happened because Benny was playing so well, but what an opportunity.”

Indeed, Walters, 25, was a six-year minor-league free agent at the end of the 1991 season. There was little interest in him because of his weak catching skills. Simply, his arm was not up to major-league standards.

“If I hadn’t shown improvement in my catching,” said Walters, 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, “I never would have been here. That’s the part of the game I needed to improve on, and everything’s turned out great.”

Walters has thrown out 31% of the runners attempting to steal this season. Santiago has thrown out only 23.8% of those attempting to steal.

“Really, it’s unbelievable the way everything’s worked out,” said Walters, a graduate of Santana High School in Santee.

Third baseman Gary Sheffield popped a blood vessel on the middle finger of his right hand and left the game after five innings. The swelling diminished with treatment, however, and he is expected to play today. . . . The Padres were impressed with reliever Gene Harris’ two-inning performance in which he did not allow a hit. . . . The Padres have taken outfielder Steve Pegues off their 40-man roster to make room for Walters, and will designate Pegues for assignment.