Beneath is an evaluation of the prospects within the farm system of the San Diego Padres. Scouting stories have been compiled with data supplied by trade sources in addition to my very own observations. That is the fifth 12 months we’re delineating between two anticipated aid roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see within the “place” column beneath: MIRP for multi-inning aid pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning aid pitchers. The ETAs listed typically correspond to the 12 months a participant must be added to the 40-man roster to keep away from being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Guide changes are made the place they appear acceptable, however we use that as a rule of thumb.
A fast overview of what FV (Future Worth) means could be discovered right here. A a lot deeper overview could be discovered right here.
The entire ranked prospects beneath additionally seem on The Board, a useful resource the positioning affords that includes sortable scouting data for each group. It has extra particulars (and up to date TrackMan knowledge from numerous sources) than this text and integrates each crew’s checklist so readers can evaluate prospects throughout farm programs. It may be discovered right here.
Different Prospects of Be aware
Grouped by sort and listed so as of choice inside every class.
A Phalanx of Reduction DepthGarrett Hawkins, RHPHarold Chirino, RHPLuis Germán, RHPVicarte Domingo, RHPAustin Krob, LHPManuel Castro, RHPEnmanuel Pinales, RHPRaul Brito, RHPClark Candiotti, RHPMaikel Miralles, RHP
Hawkins is a Canadian righty with a misleading fastball who’s coming off TJ and combating walks. Chirino is a 27-year-old Venezuelan righty and former Brewer who signed a minor league deal through the offseason. He has an extremely whippy arm motion that generates a 94-96 mph fastball with hellacious tail, which he doesn’t command. It produces a ton of groundballs. Germán is a 23-year-old Dominican righty who’ll contact 99 however has struggled with command for his complete profession. Domingo was a nineteenth rounder out of the College of British Columbia (the identical faculty Hawkins went to) whose fastball is averaging 20 inches of vertical break and lacking bats at a plus price at Lake Elsinore. He has a shot to be an enormous league reliever if a second pitch emerges, and his changeup seems prefer it’s his finest shot. Krob has been written up on the Padres checklist as a slider-heavy lefty reliever previously, however at the same time as he’s shifted into the bullpen within the minors, he hasn’t loved a velo bump (his fastball has barely generated a whiff), nor has his slider carried out like even a mean pitch. Castro is a 5-foot-8 Mexican reliever at Double-A San Antonio. He has a plus curveball and sits 93-94. Pinales is a 24-year-old Dominican righty sitting 94 and lacking a ton of bats at San Antonio with an above-average slider. Brito is a 28-year-old Dominican righty whose profession started with the Marlins earlier than he signed a minor league cope with the Padres in December of 2022. He struggles with walks however sits 95 with using life, and he’s hanging out nicely over a batter per inning in El Paso. The son of former 16-year large league knuckleballer and present D-backs broadcaster Tom Candiotti, Clark had a nomadic newbie profession that noticed him at 5 colleges in 5 years, ending at Arizona in 2024. He’s an enormous 6-foot-4 righty with slider and is a possible center reliever. Miralles is a 20-year-old righty with a 92-95 mph fastball and an above-average upper-80s slider.
Energy-Over-Hit SleepersMarcos Castañon, 2B/3BBraedon Karpathios, OFRosman Verdugo, INFSean Barnett, OF/RHPVictor Figueroa, 1B
Castañon is a 26-year-old bat-first depth infielder from UC Santa Barbara. He has plus bat pace however no actual defensive place, and he’s chase susceptible. No, that’s not the villain from the second Ghostbusters film. Karpathios is a Lancaster, PA native who went to a Maryland JUCO and signed as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He has developed plus energy however is whiffing an excessive amount of for the principle part of the checklist. Verdugo is a flexible 20-year-old infielder with above-average uncooked energy projection, however he’s hanging out 37% of the time at Fort Wayne after hovering a bit beneath 30% for the previous couple of years. Barnett was a two-way participant at Division-II Wingate who had an enormous junior season on the dish (together with 26 bombs), however has swung and missed a ton since coming into professional ball. He might in the end revisit the mound full-time, as he’s been into the mid-90s throughout developmental exercise. He has but to pitch in an precise professional sport, although. Figueroa is a 240-pound power-hitting first baseman who clubbed a bunch of homers on the advanced earlier than he was promoted to Low-A close to the tip of Might. He’s 21.
Powerful to BucketEric Yost, RHPYimy Tovar, INFLuis De Leon, INFKasen Wells, CF
Yost was a Day Three select of Northeastern with a plus curveball and starter’s management. He’s pitching nicely at Fort Wayne despite the fact that his fastball sits about 90 mph. Tovar is a 19-year-old Venezuelan skills-over-tools infielder hitting within the coronary heart of the ACL order after two years within the DSL. He has superior really feel for contact, however he’s of smaller construct and lacks large bodily projection. He’ll have to maintain making premium charges of contact as he climbs to be thought of a real prospect. De Leon, 19, is a compact switch-hitter who’s having a pleasant rebound within the ACL after a extremely powerful 2024. He’s brief to the ball and sprays liners to all fields. Mainly in the identical bucket as Tovar, he lacks power projection. Wells was a Day Three select of Weatherford Faculty final 12 months. He can actually go get it in heart area however has a gradual bat.
System Overview
This isn’t an particularly good farm system regardless of the 2 potential stars on the very prime. The Padres lack depth each general and when it comes to potential influence. There aren’t even any near-ready utility or platoon bats on this system. When you get previous Salas and De Vries, there are two thrilling teenage pitchers, a handful of high-upside relievers, after which a bucket of 40s. A giant a part of why is as a result of the Padres have been aggressive consumers throughout the previous few commerce deadlines. There are 23 gamers who the Padres initially drafted or signed who are actually prospects in different orgs, and that doesn’t embody the gamers from the Juan Soto commerce (and different offers) who’ve graduated and misplaced rookie eligibility.
The Padres are good at scouting. Processes be damned, the membership can establish gamers who’re truly good, and if these guys can’t crack an on a regular basis function in San Diego — the crew’s requirements are fairly exacting — they a minimum of are inclined to generate curiosity from different groups. This typically contains obscure, small faculty prospects who’re extra sleeper-y than prospect-y, and there are a lot of of these on this iteration of the Padres checklist: undrafted guys, gamers from D-II and NAIA colleges, excessive schoolers who weren’t showcase fixtures, and newbie gamers from Asia. It is a inventive org that leverages the relationships their mind belief builds with gamers and their households. They aren’t afraid to chop towards the analytical grain and make selections which might be questionable from the standpoint of sustainability in terms of roster constructing, or that is likely to be initially unpopular with a fanbase that, aside from the Wave and San Diego FC, has only one crew on the town to care about and nitpick.
San Diego nonetheless isn’t particularly good at growth, although. Specifically, it is not uncommon for pitchers to get higher as soon as they’re one of many exiled, even after they be a part of golf equipment which have struggled to get traction, just like the Marlins or Nationals. It’s one factor to make guys like David Morgan higher. A significant league franchise ought to have the ability to make the man whose most related reps got here with the Portland Pickles higher than he was after they signed him. It’s the lack to coax influence out of the seven-figure draftees that’s maddening, gamers who the membership pumps actual sources into who they’ll’t ripen. Oddly, possibly even by chance, the Padres’ method to worldwide scouting (typically to provide one man an enormous bonus) matches with this. Why hassle spreading your bonus pool out to a bunch of gamers when these gamers aren’t prone to get higher underneath your wing? As an alternative, get the man gifted sufficient to achieve spite of your shortcomings.
That is an totally fascinating franchise that has discovered methods to out-talent a lot of the remainder of the NL for the higher a part of the final half decade. The Padres have made the playoffs three of the final 5 years even amid managerial strife (which seems solved; the gamers appear to have real rapport with Mike Shildt), and are once more tilting efficiently in possibly the league’s finest division despite the fact that they each lack pitching depth and have handled significant absences in that a part of their roster.
