While more than half of the Padres’ top 20 prospects have been underway in big league camp since last week, Wednesday marked another important milepost in the ramp-up for the 2024 season: participants in minor league minicamp reported to the Peoria Sports Complex.
Dylan Lesko got his first taste of professional action at the Peoria Sports Complex last spring. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Most minor league pitchers and catchers won’t arrive until next Wednesday, and position players will follow a week after that. However, a group highlighted by Dylan Lesko, the Padres’ first three picks in last year’s draft, outfielder Samuel Zavala, and – once his visa is finalized and he can get to Peoria – Leo De Vries will get a head start with more tailored instruction and attention from the player development staff on-field starting Thursday.
While changes in the Padres’ farm system, the schedule of minor league seasons, and MLB’s aggressive effort to limit the number of players in the minor leagues, have changed the size and makeup of minicamp over the last decade, the brief working period remains an important opportunity for player development staff to spend structured time with key prospects.
This year’s minicamp group includes a mix of system vets, first-time professionals, and a few veteran minor leaguers who came into the organization this winter.
For Jagger Haynes and Isaiah Lowe, a pair of starting pitchers who showed encouraging results before injuries derailed their 2023 seasons, being fully healthy and on track to open the year bodes well for getting back on track this year. With an extended time to get stretched out before the minor league season opens in early April, both could prove ready to start the campaign alongside Lesko in High-A Fort Wayne.
Hard-throwing Braden Nett, who took a step forward with his command in a strong AFL campaign and should be in the mix with that trio, is also part of the minicamp group.
Dillon Head works out during the Padres minor league minicamp. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Dillon Head, the Padres’ first-rounder last year, will work alongside fellow outfielders Zavala, Homer Bush Jr., and Tyler Robertson, who will likely open the year as the TinCaps’ starting outfield.
Until De Vries – who will make his first on-field appearance as an official member of the Padres organization once he has clearance to travel – arrives, catcher Jandaniel Gonzalez is the youngest player in camp. The Padres’ third-round pick last summer out of high school in Puerto Rico, Gonzalez was kept sidelined last summer by a knee injury.
At the other end of the spectrum, lefty Austin Davis, who at 31 already has 136 games of big league experience but signed a minor league deal after a disastrous year in Triple-A Sugar Land, and 30-year-old outfielder Zach Reks, who just signed a minor league contract after two years playing in Korea, will get a chance to show their new organization whether they might emerge as depth options in El Paso.
With in-season domestic minor league rosters limited to 165 players, older minor league free agents may struggle to hold onto spots in the system this year.
Here is the full camp roster:
Pitchers
Omar Cruz*
Austin Davis*
Jagger Haynes*
Dylan Lesko
Carter Loewen
Isaiah Lowe
Braden Nett
Cole Paplham
Josh Roberson
Catchers
Jandaniel Gonzelez*
Addison Kopack
Brandon Valenzuela#
Anthony Vilar*
Infielders
Nerwilian Cedeño#
Leo De Vries#
Ray-Patrick Didder
Clay Dungan*
Ripken Reyes#
Outfielders
Homer Bush Jr.
Dillon Head*
Kai Murphy*
Zach Reks*
Tyler Robertson
Samuel Zavala*
*Lefthanded
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