While the San Diego Padres’ big league club is suddenly – and understandably – garnering much more attention, the minor league system remains the big source of optimism for the organization. As Fernando Tatis Jr., Luis Urías and Francisco Mejía get comfortable with their new high-profile teammate in the main Peoria Sports Complex clubhouse, 190-plus prospects are on the back fields working to join them.
Even with five of the MadFriars Top 20 in major league camp, the group fighting for a full-season roster spot on April 4 contains a bevy of future big-leaguers. A half-dozen or more are widely considered among the best prospects in the game.
Unlike recent seasons when many minor league free agents were in the mix at all levels of the organization, just 14 opened camp last week. More than half of them are relievers. In another departure from recent precedent, none of last summer’s international free agent signees came stateside to start their first professional season.
The sheer number of players already in the mix for roughly 100 full-season roster spots drives both those changes. Almost 30 players on the big league side who won’t be in San Diego on opening day and three short-season rosters’ worth of players pushing their way up, put pressure on both ends of the system.
In all, 108 pitchers, including 27 who got a head start during minicamp, are working under the watchful eyes of a dozen coaches and instructors. Another 83 position players are in the mix.
In recent years, the organization around 50 players remained in extended spring training once affiliates got underway. Another 15-20 players will likely be doing injury rehab work at the complex.
The full minor league camp group is below. While they are already playing unofficial scrimmages daily, minor league games officially begin Friday. Camp breaks March 30.
| Right-handed Pitchers | Left-handed Pitchers | Catchers |
|---|---|---|
| Angel Acevedo | Ryan Bollinger | Rainier Aguilar |
| Korey Anderson | Jose Cabrera | Luis Campusano |
| Luarbert Arias | Joey Cantillo | Michael Cantu |
| Elliot Ashbeck | Thomas Cosgrove | Justin Cohen |
| Lake Bachar | Omar Cruz | Juan Fernandez |
| Michel Baez | Dan Dallas | Nick Gatewood |
| David Bednar | Cullen Dana | Marcus Greene |
| Carlos Belen | Omar Fernandez | Jonny Homza |
| Cole Bellinger | Jesus Gonzalez | Blake Hunt |
| Edwuin Bencomo | MacKenzie Gore | AJ Kennedy |
| Colby Blueberg | Will Headean | Jose Lezama |
| Ronald Bolanos | Osvaldo Hernandez | Kyle Overstreet |
| Caleb Boushley | Jerry Keel | Alison Quintero |
| Robert Calvano | Aaron Leasher | Luis Roman |
| Martin Carrasco | Kyle McGrath | Chandler Seagle |
| Ryan Colegate | Gabriel Morales | Brandon Valenzuela |
| Dylan Coleman | Adrian Morejon | Gilberto Vizcarra |
| Tom Colletti | Dillon Overton | Jalen Washington |
| Efrain Contreras | Manuel Partida | |
| Starlin Cordero | Ramon Ernesto Perez | Outfielders |
| J.C. Cosme | Hazahel Quijada | Tyler Benson |
| Dom DiSabatino | Travis Radke | Aldemar Burgos |
| Ignacio Feliz | Paco Rodriguez | Tre Carter |
| Mason Fox | Erik Sabrowski | Michael Curry |
| Jose Galindo | Fred Schlichtholz | Alex Dickerson |
| Jeferson Garcia | Daniel Sexton | Nate Easley |
| Carlos Guarate | Ben Sheckler | Yordi Francisco |
| Jordan Guerrero | Trent Shelton | Michael Gettys |
| Oliber Guzman | Eric Stout | Jawuan Harris |
| Manny Guzman | Cody Tyler | Mason House |
| Jonathan Guzman | Alexuan Vega | Hunter Jarmon |
| Henry Henry | Noel Vela | Taylor Kohlwey |
| Chris Huffman | Ryan Weathers | Greg Lambert |
| Sam Keating | Grant Little | |
| Reiss Knehr | Jorge Ona | |
| Spencer Kulman | Infielders | Tirso Ornelas |
| Nick Kuzia | Kelvin Alarcon | Blinger Perez |
| Reggie Lawson | Luis Almanzar | Robbie Podorsky |
| Kyle Lloyd | Gabriel Arias | Boog Powell |
| Diomar Lopez | Luis Asuncion | Buddy Reed |
| Frank Lopez | Chris Baker | Jeisson Rosario |
| Moises Lugo | Jordy Barley | Agustin Ruiz |
| Adrian Martinez | Olivier Basabe | Jacob Scavuzzo |
| Seth Mayberry | Matthew Batten | Nick Schulz |
| Trevor Megill | Luke Becker | Payton Smith |
| Michell Miliano | Ivan Castillo | Angel Solarte |
| Evan Miller | Allen Cordoba | Jack Suwinski |
| Felix Minjarez | Jarryd Dale | Jaquez Williams |
| Tyler Mortensen | Xavier Edwards | Dwanya Williams-Sutton |
| Gabe Mosser | Nick Feight | |
| Andres Munoz | Ruddy Giron | |
| Chandler Newman | Sean Guilbe | |
| Duilio Ochoa | Luis Guzman | |
| Luis Patino | Reinaldo Ilarraza | |
| Jose Quezada | Yerri Landinez | |
| Emmanuel Ramirez | Justin Lopez | |
| Hansel Rodriguez | Carlos Luis | |
| Fernando Rodriguez | Tucupita Marcano | |
| Blake Rogers | Seth Mejias-Brean | |
| Miguel Rondon | Kelvin Melean | |
| Chris Rowley | Owen Miller | |
| Grant Sides | Connor Panas | |
| Harrison Simon | Jason Pineda | |
| Jake Sims | Esteban Quiroz | |
| Austin Smith | Eguy Rosario | |
| Wen-Hua Sung | Esteury Ruiz | |
| Dominic Taccolini | Elvis Sabala | |
| Mason Thompson | Ethan Skender | |
| Nick Thwaits | Lee Solomon | |
| Dauris Valdez | Michael Suarez | |
| Todd Van Steensel | Pete Van Gansen | |
| TJ Weir | Brad Zunica | |
| Steven Wilson | ||
| Mark Zimmerman | ||
*Note: On March 8, Anderson Espinoza, Edward Olivares and Jesse Scholtens were also sent over to the minor league side of camp.
David,
Thanks for the info – all Padre fanatics are now able to match your info with our unofficial tracking of prospects throughout the minor league system. Unofficially, I have 57 more minor leaguers from last year’s Dominican summer league team plus this year’s new (2018-2019) international signees. That should bring the total players in the system to just under 300. Since the max for our organization is 325 (40 MLB, 38 AAA, 37 AA, 35 @ High and Lo A, short season (3 teams) and Dominican), there is still room for 2019 draftees plus any long term injured players who probably don’t count toward this number.
Looking forward to visiting several of the minor league teams this season and maybe bumping into one of you in my travels! Should be a great 2019 as the hot lava keeps flowing!
Thanks, Randy. Once Sammy Solis is officially under contract, the organization will actually have a total of 311 players signed. That total includes three players on the restricted list: AJ Brown, who will be selected as a wide receiver out of Ole Miss in the NFL draft; Padre for life Matt LaChappa; and Heriberto Sosa, who is under suspension.
I would expect that between now and opening day, there will be somewhere on the order of 25-30 releases from minor league camp, and a few guys currently on the 40-man roster will also be gone by then as waiver claims or outright releases.
Keep us posted on your travels. You can always email us at madfriars at gmail dot com or flag us down on Twitter.