2024 ACL Padres Player and Pitcher of the Year

Summary: While signing bonuses aren’t everything when it comes to benchmarking the talent of players in the low minors, they are informative. Only three position players who spent 2025 in the desert signed for more than $200,000. That showed as the club was the least productive offense in the desert. The pitching staff featured a few more players with some profile when they signed, but most of those names have been in the system for multiple years and are slowed by injury and/or performance issues. In all, the roster gathered for competition in Peoria was thin and featured many players already in their 20s. That said, the organization has had success in the last two years with older international pitching signees, and they had another batch of contributors this year. As a group, the staff finished in the bottom quartile of the 15-team league in most categories.

Overview: Our approach to eligibility has remained consistently simple. Players are considered with whichever team they appeared for the most. So, while Maikel Miralles opened the year in the desert, he’s not discussed below. For the top prospect, we consider not just what the player did this year but his age and potential impact in the major leagues.

Level: The changes to the timing of the draft and domestic roster sizes and the elimination of short-season leagues have had far greater impacts on the lowest level of stateside professional baseball than just shifting the name to the poorly-acronymed Arizona Complex League. Because play began more than a month before the draft, the ACL club featured a significant wave of older international pitchers making their professional debuts after signing in late 2022 or early 2023. No members of the draft class logged any action on the circuit.

The newly configured levels of the minors have incentivized organizations – even those not as prone to aggressive promotions as the Padres – to quickly move high-end college position players to full-season ball. Long-time scouts are still trying to recalibrate to the new level of competition.

Regarding the experience, baseball in the “Fire League” is unlike anything else in U.S. professional sports. Games are rarely played in front of more than a half dozen people who aren’t team employees or players’ family members. Game time temperatures were well above 100 degrees for more than a month straight this summer, and even with the pitch clock, games often lumber well past three hours. The ACL will test even the most hearty fan’s commitment.

Player of the Year: 3B B.Y. Choi (Kevin, John, David, Mark)
Choi’s path to professional baseball is a unique one. Rather than pursue a career in Korea, the Seoul native opted to attend college at the New Mexico Military Institute, which has become a landing spot for international players looking to establish themselves in the U.S. Choi struggled through his first collegiate season, but had a massive campaign in 2023, earning an opportunity as the Padres’ final pick in that summer’s draft. A big-bodied left-handed hitter, Choi saw little action after the draft and returned to the desert for the 2024 season. There, he showed plenty of pull-side power and a patient approach, though he had more success avoiding awful pitches rather than identifying and laying off good breaking balls. Playing the whole year at 22, Choi showed more athleticism at shortstop than you’d expect from his build, but he ultimately profiles more at third base, especially if he can make enough contact for his power to play. Choi is very much a project and will need to progress slowly through the organization, but he earned the right to play his way up in the system with a balanced, productive campaign similar to last year’s top performer in the desert.

Others Receiving Votes: OF/C/1B Colton Vincent (Ben)
Vincent came out of Florida State as an undrafted catcher in 2023 but quickly added versatility in the outfield and at first base. The 24-year-old opened the year in Fort Wayne but appeared sparingly and was returned to the desert. He posted an .827 OPS in Peoria, the second-best among players who played in at least 40 games. He continued to provide some production when he moved up to Elsinore later in the year.

Others of Note: The Padres have been aggressive in targeting lower-profile high school students as day three signs or undrafted free agents over the last several years. Two of them shined this year. Spence Coffman, who the club drafted in the 19th round out of Mississippi in 2022, returned to the desert this year stronger and more athletic than he had been through his first 18 months in the system. A combination of ability and system need led the organization to move him to the outfield for the year, and the now-20-year-old responded with a productive season. He hit .295/.364/.341 while cutting his strikeout rate and beginning to pull the ball with some authority. He’ll need to continue to grow physically and in production as he continues, but his athleticism is a plus in a thin system. … Part of the “system need” above came when Donte Grant, an undrafted high schooler out of Oregon last summer, went down with a shoulder injury after just 11 games. The left-handed hitting outfielder had drawn eyes throughout extended spring training and was off to a quick start with a .300 average and seven stolen bases before his season ended. He should be healthy by the start of spring training and could be an interesting guy to watch for Lake Elsinore. … Much of the rest of the team’s production came from older players in the system. Addison Kopack and Kaden Hollow, another pair of 23-year-old undrafted catchers who played other positions through the summer, both posted OPSes near .900 during the summer, giving much-needed length to the lineup. San Diego native and minor league veteran L.J. Jones signed a free agent deal in June. What was intended to be a brief warm-up in the ACL turned into a longer stay as he dealt with injuries and tried to get ready. He put up a stellar .418/.470/.714 line, but ultimately never got to a point where he could join an affiliate, and he was released in July.

Pitcher of the Year: Yovannki Pascual (Kevin, John, David, Mark)
Any conversation about pitching stats in the ACL comes with this small sample size caveat: even those with the heaviest workloads only face about 150 hitters and rarely throw even four innings in a single game. With that said, Dominican lefty Yovannki Pascual was the most productive pitcher on the staff in Peoria, posting a 2.88 ERA over 25 innings. Signed as a 20-year-old before the 2023 season, Pascual shows good velocity with an impressive breaking ball, helping him strike out a quarter of the batters he faced in the desert while also recording a ton of grounders. His command deteriorated in a late-season turn in the Lake Elsinore bullpen. Still, the latest $10,000 signee with upside to come through the system has player development staff intrigued heading into 2025.

Others receiving votes: Abraham Parra (Ben)
Parra’s unsightly 14% walk rate led to a 9.59 ERA, but the 18-year-old worked a team-high 35.2 innings in his first stateside campaign, and he struck out better than a batter per inning. The Venezuela native showed some intriguing stuff and will get a chance to try again next season.

Others of Note: After he was one of the higher-profile pitchers in the Padres’ 2022 class, lefty Braian Salazar only logged three innings last summer before shoulder issues shut him down. He was back on the mound this year as a 19-year-old, and while the velocity spike scouts projected when he signed still hasn’t come, he got off to a strong start and struck out nearly 30% of the batters he faced in the desert. He’ll need to rein in his control, but the lefty has the build and arsenal to develop as a starter if he stays healthy. … Lefty Zack Qin, the Padres’ first signee from mainland China, was slated for one of the top workloads on the staff, but an injury in extended spring training meant he was still building up when the league opened and he threw just two innings in June. He only got up to three innings in one outing, but over 18 frames, he struck out 23 and easily posted the best K-BB% of any pitcher on the staff. He has  good size and was showing more velocity late in the season. He turned 19 in July, so he’s age-appropriate for the league. … Originally signed as a two-way player out of Mexico, Ruben Salinas had a solid offensive showing in the desert in 2022, but was moving full-time to the mound in 2023 when his ACL blew out and he had to undergo Tommy John surgery. Now 21, the Baja California native posted a solid 24:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his 24 innings of work, though he never got through three innings of work.

Those we didn’t see: While the mid-July draft means there was never a chance we’d see early-round high school picks Kash Mayfield and Boston Bateman, other key potential contributors also didn’t appear this year. Kannon Kemp, whose $650,000 signing bonus dwarfs what any other remaining members of the 2023 draft class got, had shoulder surgery in the spring and didn’t throw a pitch all year. Similarly, potential two-way player Tucker Musgrove had Tommy John surgery last summer and could not return to action this summer. It’s unclear if he’ll return on the mound. Righty Dane Lais, an over-slot day three pick last summer, dealt with elbow issues through spring training and underwent Tommy John surgery in May. He’ll look to make his professional debut at some point in 2025.

Top Position Prospect: C Lamar King Jr.
Continuing a trend for the Padres’ draft classes in recent years, King was drafted in the fourth round out of high school in Maryland in 2022. With a build that reflects his father’s career as an NFL defensive lineman, right-handed hitter was seen as raw with the potential for offensive upside. The the 6-foot-4 backstop’s development has been stunted by injuries, including a shoulder issue that led to surgery at the end of the 2023 campaign. That left him limited to designated hitter to open this year in the desert, but he showed plenty of promise as he got his first extended look at professional pitching. As a 20-year-old, he hit .275/.400/.417, connecting on more extra-base hits as the season progressed and he got further removed from his surgery. He showed good pitch recognition and a surprisingly quick bat for a player his size. He began to see time a few games a week at first base as the season wore on, but he continued to catch bullpens and hone his receiving outside of game settings all year. Should he have to move from behind the dish, the offensive bar will be high at first base, but King has a clear path to a big league career with development as he advances in the system.

Top Pitching Prospect: RHP Humberto Cruz
While he only threw two official innings in the last week of the ACL season, Cruz was the talk of the complex late in the summer. Cruz signed in February after the Padres traded to acquire the $750,000 in bonus pool space needed to land the 17-year-old as the top amateur pitcher in Mexico. The righty still only weighs about 175 pounds, but he’s already up to the mid-90s easily in competitive settings and has hit higher numbers in the bullpen. With the ranks of starting pitching thinned out significantly in the organization, he’ll join Mayfield and Boston as a trio who could potentially represent the next wave of prospects by the end of 2025.