Mayfield, Bateman Give Padres Upside on Day One of the Draft

Through the ten drafts that A.J. Preller has overseen, the San Diego Padres have earned a reputation for focusing the top of their draft classes on high school players. Often, the organization has been especially aggressive on players who were a bit off the beaten scouting paths.

Sometimes – as with late-blooming Maryland prepster Jackson Merrill (2021) or pop-up second rounder Luis Campusano (2017) – zigging while the industry zags has had a big payoff. Sometimes, late-risers like Hudson Head (2019) or Sam Keating (2017) have quickly looked miscast.

“With our group, there’s no stones unturned,” said Preller on a conference call with the media after the first two rounds of the 2024 draft wrapped up.

“Whether it’s sports science, R&D, performance data, I think the biggest part is that it’s all hands on deck from an information standpoint. Chris [Kemp, the Padres’ head of scouting] and his staff just know these players really well. It doesn’t guarantee you’re going to make the right pick every single time, but it gives us a way better success than not.”

Preller and his organization once again wagered on upside and getting beyond the showcase circuit Sunday, selecting Oklahoma lefty Kash Mayfield with their first pick. Mayfield, who at 19, is the oldest high school player in the draft class, made huge strides in velocity this year to jump into first-round conversations.

Mayfield chose to take last summer off from the typical circuit of tournaments and showcases, instead rebuilding his body to maximize his ability.

“Last year, I weighed 175 to 180, and then I got up to 205 this year,” Mayfield told us after the draft.

“Taking the summer to kind of redevelop my whole body ended up being a great decision. I don’t think I would ever be in this position if we didn’t. I felt like, if we did go into the summer, I would end up hurting myself.”

Instead, he showed himself as healthy and more equipped for success this year.

“He was preparing to come out at that Super 60 event in January and he came out 92-95 and proved that with his strength gains and development, he was ready to go,” said the Padres’ Kemp.

Mayfield’s emergence is the sort of development the Padres feel they are uniquely positioned to take advantage of.

“We’re a hard-working group. It’s area scout driven, twelve months out of the year,” said Kemp. “We’re going to basketball games, we’re meeting with kids on campus, with teachers. It’s just a full-on process, so we’ve got good boots on the ground and when stuff starts popping, I think we have a bit of an edge compared to the industry sometimes.”

While Cam Caminiti, the nephew of the Padres’ legend who was widely considered the top prep lefty in the class, nearly fell into their laps, Atlanta selected him with the pick immediately before San Diego’s. But that didn’t keep the Padres away from his demographic.

After getting Mayfield, who is a sturdy 6-foot-4, they went even bigger with their next pick, fellow southpaw Boston Bateman. The Los Angeles county native is already a monstrous 6-foot-8, 250 pounder at 18 years old. Bateman, who did perform at the Perfect Game national showcase at Chase Field last summer, is up to 97 with his fastball and has shown a true curve this spring.

“He’s got 80-grade makeup for our group on the ground,” said Kemp. “We love the way he competes. It’s an outlier frame and we believe there’s huge upside here.”

While Kemp has more budget and picks to work with than last year, when the Padres lost their second and fifth round selections as a penalty for signing Xander Bogaerts, the club is still balancing a more limited signing pool than they’ve had across most of the last decade.

By increasing their revenue, they’ve dropped out of the group of clubs that receive a competitive balance pick, and by virtue of being as far over the luxury tax threshold as they were last year, they received only fourth-round compensation picks when Josh Hader and Blake Snell walked away as free agents this winter. As a result, the team can spend up to $9,828,525.

“There are definitely a lot of options left on the board,” said Kemp. “I think we’ve got close to $4 million left to work with.”

The draft resumes at 11:00 a.m. PT on Monday at with rounds three through 10, with rounds 11-20 to follow on Tuesday.

The Padres have also been among the sport’s most active – and effective – in signing undrafted players over the last several years. Players who aren’t selected can sign for up to $150,000 beginning immediately after the final pick on Tuesday.