Slumber Company: Sleeper Hitting Prospects in the Padres System

The Padres have quickly moved back into the upper echelon of farm systems over the last year, largely on the backs of the high-profile names at the top of the organization. Where the club hasn’t caught up to the game’s top organizations is in the depth of obvious future big leaguers.

Despite that, we think some lesser-known players could emerge as prospects in the coming year. None of the prospects below were among the 30 position players who appeared on at least one of our individual top 30 lists, so they’re deep sleepers.

Finding true sleepers in minor league baseball is getting harder for various reasons, starting with the numbers game. When minor leaguers reported for the aborted 2020 spring training, there were 198 players in camp. Today, thanks to MLB’s move to reduce domestic rosters, there are 50 fewer players in uniform. Almost a dozen of those on the back fields have not yet logged an official at-bat or inning pitched. We’re ruling them out of this piece, so that makes for a relatively small pool of candidates.

Last year’s list included Matt Batten, who contributed valuable at-bats to the big league club, and system veteran Taylor Kohlwey, who finally got his first taste of the majors. But it also included Eddy Beltre and Maikol Muñoz, who were both released out of the Arizona Complex League.

Catchers

Players ranked: Ethan Salas; Brandon Valenzuela; J.D. Gonzalez; Lamar King, Jr.

Oswaldo Linares: The 20-year-old Venezuelan opened his first stateside season in Lake Elsinore but wound up back in Arizona for the start of the complex league season. Back in the desert, the 2019 international free agent pounded the ball to the tune of a 1.157 OPS for several weeks before heading back to the Cal League. He continued to hit through July before hitting a wall and posting a sub-600 OPS over the season’s final six weeks. When he’s on, his bat offers plenty of upside potential, and he’s athletic enough behind the plate to get a few looks in the infield as well. While the bottom of the Padres’ system is crowded at catcher, Linares should get an opportunity to impress in 2024.

Carlos Rodriguez: A fellow 2019 international signee out of Venezuela, Rodriguez’s calling card is his receiving behind the plate, but he has the makings of a solid approach at the plate. Originally a switch-hitter, he now goes just from the left side, where he shows a strong command of the strike zone, though he has yet to make much hard contact. In some organizations, he’d have a good chance for a starting job to open the 2024 season, but Rodriguez will need some things to break his way.

Infielders

Players Ranked: Jackson Merrill; Leo De Vries; Eguy Rosario; Nathan Martorella; Marcos Castañon; Nerwilian Cedeño; Romeo Sanabria; Rosman Verdugo

Kervin Pichardo: Originally acquired in late spring 2022 in a trade that moved James Norwood off the Padres’ 40-player roster, the Bronx native had poor results in limited exposure that year but showed enough in his batted ball data to hold out hope. Last year, as a utility infielder at Fort Wayne and a brief stint in Double-A, Pichardo came into his own, finishing the year with an OPS of nearly 1.000 over his final 100 plate appearances while showing enough to stay at shortstop defensively. Now 22, he should get a chance to start regularly for the TinCaps this year. If he can build on the end of his 2023 campaign, he could assert his place among the system’s more interesting middle infielders.

Yendry Rojas: A seven-figure signee in 2022, Rojas was reported to be one of the better left-handed bats in his class. That hasn’t translated into game action, even as the Padres have shown uncharacteristic restraint in his timeline. While he drew plenty of walks in campaigns in the DSL and Arizona Complex League, the now-19-year-old posted a sub-.300 slugging percentage in 44 games in the desert last summer, looking physically overmatched. The core bat-to-ball skills are still in there, but he will have to demonstrate some ability to make more impactful contact, especially if he eventually slides down the defensive spectrum from his current perch at shortstop. Rojas has the pedigree, athleticism, and raw tools to put himself back among the system’s names to watch in 2024, but it will take a real commitment to work to get there.

Outfielders

Players ranked: Jakob Marsee; Samuel Zavala; Dillon Head; Homer Bush; Tirso Ornelas; Tyler Robertson

Albert Fabian: When Fabian makes contact, it can be very loud contact. The 22-year-old has connected for 32 homers over 197 games across the last two seasons, among the highest totals in the system. Unfortunately, most of those have come at Low-A Lake Elsinore. Each season, the lefthanded slugger has gotten promoted to High-A but has fallen flat at the higher level. Fabian’s downfall has been an over-aggressive approach that’s left him with an 84:21 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 273 Midwest League plate appearances. If Fabian can develop a more discerning eye, he could ride his power up the system; if he can’t, it’s hard to see a path forward.

Utility

Players Ranked: Graham Pauley

Ripken Reyes: The Cal Berkeley undergrad and University of San Diego graduate student is barely 5-foot-7, has averaged just one extra-base hit every 20 plate appearances since the Padres drafted him in the 30th round back in 2019, and will turn 27 before the season starts. Yet he’s continued to reach base at every stop, posting a .400 on-base percentage and just a 14% strikeout rate through more than 1,300 professional plate appearances. That gives him a puncher’s chance to break through and get a big league opportunity, especially after he added 70 points to his slugging percentage in his second pass at the Texas League. He’s already appeared at every position on the field except catcher and first base, though he fits best at second base. Reyes fits more in the mold of a potential up-and-down contributor, but he’s making the best of his opportunity.