LOS ANGELES -- The Padres’ already-thin catching situation took a major hit on Friday.

Luis Campusano had surgery to repair a ligament in his ailing left thumb, manager Bob Melvin said, setting a timetable of at least eight weeks before Campusano's potential return. That would rule Campusano out until sometime around the All-Star break.

Campusano, who opened the season as the team's backup, was making a case for more regular playing time before he sustained the injury in mid-April. Initially, the Padres were hopeful his absence would be a short one. Campusano was able to swing without issue. But he repeatedly aggravated the injury while doing catching activity.

"He could pick up the bat OK, but he just couldn't catch," Melvin said. "Even when he was getting some soft toss, he was still getting some pain there. We went in and looked a little bit deeper; [it] needed surgery. There was a tear in the ligament -- fixed it."

The Padres expected to give the 24-year-old Campusano an increased role this season, perhaps a somewhat even timeshare with starter Austin Nola. Campusano was once one of the organization’s top prospects, and he’d started the year with a .656 OPS while making strides defensively.

His absence leaves the Padres with Nola and Brett Sullivan sharing the catching duties. Nola has struggled at the plate all season, posting a .471 OPS across 27 games. Sullivan earned his callup last month after Campusano’s injury and has been mostly solid.

Between the righty-hitting Nola and the lefty-hitting Sullivan, the Padres can employ something resembling a platoon. But it won’t be a straight platoon, Melvin said, with Nola better equipped to catch certain pitchers on staff with deeper arsenals, namely Yu Darvish.

“It allows us to ... match up against righties and lefties,” Melvin said of his current catching situation. “There are some guys that Noles is a little bit more familiar with, catching. There are some guys that Sullivan has caught and kind of understands them right now. We'll see where it goes, but it allows us to get both guys some at-bats and some rest, and we'll see where we go, matchups, as the game goes along, too.”

The Padres can ill afford any further injury issues behind the plate. Beyond that duo, their organizational catching depth is limited, though Pedro Severino was recently activated from the IL at Triple-A El Paso. He’d presumably be next in line.