Padres Prospects 2025 Backfield Notes – March 1

PEORIA – Full minor league camp doesn’t get underway officially until next week for Padres’ prospects, but all the pitchers and catchers are in uniform, minicamp hitters have been going for ten days, and a majority of position players are already at the complex and taking part in voluntary work. That means there are well over 120 players getting ready for the 2025 season.

Our MadFriars on-site coverage from the Peoria Sports Complex is just getting underway as well, with plenty of upcoming interviews and deep dive pieces on Padres prospects for our subscribers. As players get ramped up, here is some news on key prospects in big league camp and notes from around the backfields.

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Pitching abounds

For much of the offseason, the Padres’ biggest concern was pitching depth in the big leagues and upper minors. The organization took steps to address the big league rotation in February when they signed Nick Pivetta and Kyle Hart, but the already in-house candidates have also made strong cases so far. Matt Waldron, Stephen Kolek, and Jhony Brito contributed to the big league club last season and have seen positive results in the early going.

New 40-player roster additions Ryan Bergert, Henry Baez, and Omar Cruz have all impressed in the early going, but one topic around the club has been the performances of non-roster invitees Braden Nett, Bradgley Rodriguez, and Francis Pena.

Nett, 22, made a strong two-inning appearance Friday night, allowing one run and striking out three. The hard-throwing righty has cleaned up his mechanics over the winter (“I’m glad you noticed,” he exclaimed when we noted the head whack in his delivery has calmed down), allowing him to land more of his pitches for strikes. While his fastball was only sitting at about 95 mph, he showed a deep arsenal with a 33% whiff rate and landed seven pitches for called strikes. He’s worked four innings, striking out five against two walks and two more hit batters. Obviously, command remains the primary concern for the 2022 undrafted free agent, but he’s demonstrated an ability to incorporate feedback and coaching well.

When asked by a reporter what the importance of keeping his head steadier was, Nett sheepishly admitted, “I’m not going to lie. I don’t know. They told me, so I’m just following directions.”

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A year ago, reliever Bradgley Rodriguez had not thrown an official competitive pitch in the United States, but the Venezuelan was drawing plenty of whispers on the back fields with his triple-digit fastball. Twelve months later, he’s retired all nine batters he’s faced in big league action as a non-roster invitee. Friday was perhaps his most impressive outing yet, as he completely shelved the changeup, which is his best pitch. Instead, he broke out a slider that he’s rarely shown in action. The 21-year-old already showed the ability to work multiple innings last year while showcasing a repertoire that could easily play at the back end of the bullpen. While it’s unlikely Rodriguez will pitch his way onto the opening day roster, it’s increasingly seeming that the question is when, not if, he will pitch for the Padres in 2025.

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We got our first look of the year on Saturday morning at righty Victor Lizarraga. While he’s already spent a full year in Double-A, the San Diego native will pitch as a 21-year-old all year. For several winters, the goal has been to coax a little more velocity out of him with some additional muscle mass. The first results were definitely encouraging. In addition to showing the changeup that is his best offering, the 2021 signee ran his fastball up to 94 as he faced hitters in two simulated innings. Lizarraga flashed weapons breaking to both sides of the plate with a tight slider and big downer curve in addition to the fastball, which had a good run. A series of minor injuries have kept him from breaking through the 100 inning plateau each of the last three seasons, but he should be on track for a full season, whether he heads back to San Antonio as part of what would be an incredibly deep starting staff or moves up to El Paso.

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While Kash Mayfield and Boston Bateman, the two lefties who led off last year’s draft, are clearly the most interesting Padres prospect arms at the lower levels of the system, the organization is excited about several of the international pitchers they’ve managed to identify and sign without the benefit of any available bonus pool to spend. Righty Maikel Miralles, who signed as an 18-year-old out of Venezuela in 2023, made his way to Lake Elsinore for 16 outings late last summer. He’s grown a couple of inches since coming into the system and showed pretty good feel for a mid-90s fastball and two offspeed pitches in his live BP session Saturday. He should join the Storm rotation to open the year and has the chance to get some attention in the 2025 season.

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Health Updates

A number of pitchers who finished last year on the shelf are at full go at this point. Garrett Hawkins and Bodi Rascon, who had Tommy John surgery on the same day in 2023, are both facing batters in live settings as they fight for spots in San Antonio. … Seth Mayberry, who also spent all of last year rehabbing, re-signed as a minor league free agent right before camp opened. The 24-year-old righty, who initially signed out of high school at 17 years old, pairs a sinker and slider well off each other from a low arm slight. The righty punched out 54 in 41 innings for San Antonio in 2023. … Ian Koenig, who dealt with two stints on the IL in 2024, is back in form. Initially an undrafted free agent out of junior college in Santa Cruz, the 23-year-old – who has ditched his mullet – can flash a plus breaking ball and has a good feel for the zone.

Humberto Cruz, who was dealing with a minor shoulder issue at the end of instructs last year, is slowly getting up to speed. The 18-year-old righty got plenty of heat as one of the top Padres prospects when he came stateside last year, but logged just two official innings. He’s throwing from flat ground out to 120 feet at this point and is on track to pitch in games by extended spring training. .. Kale Fountain‘s return from Tommy John surgery looks to be on track. The big infielder just began taking swings and is fielding grounders but is still a bit off from making any throws. He’ll likely DH through extended and could find himself in Elsinore at DH or first base by later in the summer.