Major League Baseball introduced the Spring Breakout series in 2024 as a way for teams to highlight top prospects in front of fans during spring training. In year one, the Padres had to deal first with significant roster turnover just before the scheduled Spring Breakout game, then had the game pushed back a week because of rain.
Tirso Ornelas shined in last year’s Spring Breakout game. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
The Padres’ prospect group ultimately won on the backs of four prospects whose paths have diverged significantly in the last year. Nathan Martorella and Robby Snelling were both traded away, while Tirso Ornelas is now knocking on the door of the Padres’ big league roster. Bradgley Rodriguez, who announced himself by striking out top Mariners prospect Harry Ford, has vaulted from a sleeper with no domestic experience to a likely big league contributor this year.
The Padres head into their 2025 matchup against the Sacramento Athletics with fewer nationally-recognized names, but the organization is excited about the strength of the group that will showcase in Peoria. Here’s what you need to know about all the players on the roster (and a few who aren’t).
The Top Names
Ethan Salas is in his second straight Spring Breakout contest. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Ethan Salas and Leo De Vries are clearly the stars of the Padres’ system going into the 2025 season. The best signees from their respective international free agent classes in 2023 and 2024, are widely considered top 50 prospects in the game and are central to the organization’s plans for the future.
That duo is joined by nine of the Padres’ other Top 20 prospects:
LHP Boston Bateman (5)
RHP Isaiah Lowe (7)
RHP Braden Nett (8)
LHP Jagger Haynes (9)
1B Romeo Sanabria (11)
RHRP Bradgley Rodriguez (14)
RHP Victor Lizarraga (16)
RHRP Francis Peña (17)
SS Cobb Hightower (19)
Last year’s first-round pick and the club’s number three overall prospect, Kash Mayfield, was on the roster initially announced several weeks ago, but he’s part of the large contingent of Padres who’ve dealt with the flu in camp and missed his last scheduled simulated game. He’ll instead be throwing a bullpen session on the back fields this morning as he builds up for the season.
Speedy outfielder Kai Roberts has impressed in camp this spring. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
The roster includes a number of players who appeared on our individual Top 30 lists over the winter:
RHRP Tyson Neighbors (Clark was highest on him, ranking him #17 overall.)
LHP Austin Krob (#19 in John’s rankings)
RHRP David Morgan (#25 in John’s rankings)
C Brandon Valenzuela (who topped out at #13 on David’s list)
C Lamar King (who ranged from #16-22 on our lists and was just outside our Top 20)
3B Rosman Verdugo (who ranked at #27 for both Clark and David)
3B Jack Costello (Clark had him highest at #25)
OF Braedon Karpathios (#24 on David’s list)
OF Kai Roberts (#27 for Ben and John)
OF Tyler Robertson (#26 for John)
Other Names to Watch
Right-handed pitcher Bryan Balzer is perhaps the most likely breakout candidate on this year’s roster. Originally a $10,000 signee out of high school in Japan in 2023, Balzer immediately had Tommy John surgery after signing and only got as far as throwing bullpens in his rehab last summer. The 19-year-old can dial it up to the upper-90s consistently and shows a nasty slider as well. He will almost certainly be part of a deep Lake Elsinore pitching staff this spring.
Relievers Manuel Castro and Ethan Routzahn may not actually appear in today’s game, but will both be key contributors in the upper minors this year. Routzahn, who turns 27 next week, originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2021 out of St. John’s. The sidearmer generates more velocity than many pitchers who deliver from as low as he does while creating plenty of horizontal movement. Though he doesn’t get many strikeouts, opponents pound more than 50% of their contact into the ground and only generate a 22% hard-hit rate, which helped him post a stellar 2.35 ERA across 23 innings for El Paso. He’s not on the 40-player roster, but will be part of a deep Chihuahuas bullpen and could find a big league role this season.
Though Castro is not as undersized as his listed 5-foot-8 stature, the righty out doesn’t look like a typical pitcher. But the Guasave, Mexico, native generates impressive velocity and carry on his fastball, helping him put together a 29.3% strikeout rate and sub-3.00 FIP as he moved from Lake Elsinore to San Antonio over the last two years. He’ll be back in Double-A to open his age 23 season, where he’ll look to continue to put away hitters in a late-inning role.
Righty Eric Yost rounds out the pitching staff after showing solid results as a starter in his first full season after the Padres drafted him out of Northeastern University on day three in 2023. His fastball doesn’t offer the same firepower as most of the starters on the roster with him, but he offers a kitchen sink repertoire and walked just 7% of batters he faced last year. He’ll be back in the Fort Wayne rotation to open the year.
Infielder Brandon Butterworth, who is one of our Padres system sleepers, is a speed-first middle infielder who the club drafted out of North Carolina St. in the 12th round last year. While he got off to a slower start than many of the college hitters in the class, he’s shown a good feel for the barrel. He’s joined by system veteran Marcos Castañon, who provided just-below league average offensive production in San Antonio last year. The UC Santa Barbara Gaucho, who will be 26 when the season starts, has knocked out 55 homers over the last three seasons.
System favorite Anthony Vilar is on the roster as the third catcher for the game. The 25-year-old out of Miami, selected three rounds behind Castañon in 2021, has become one of the top receivers in the organization. He had an offensive breakout in Fort Wayne last year, leading the team to move him around the infield as well to keep his bat in the lineup.
Who’s Not There
In addition to Kashman, outfielder Kavares Tears (#12) has also been removed from the roster since it was first released. The powerful outfielder, selected in the fourth round out of the University of Tennessee last summer, was sidelined by hamstring issues last year, preventing him from making his professional debut. The 22-year-old was dealing with minor hamstring tightness again this spring, so he’s being held back as a precaution.
Righty Humberto Cruz (#4), who threw from a mound for the first time earlier this week, and Kale Fountain (#18), who has just begun non-throwing activities on his way back from Tommy John surgery last fall, were never expected to participate.
Five of the Padres’ top prospects are already on the 40-player roster and are not participating today. Henry Baez (#6), Ryan Bergert (#10) and Omar Cruz (#20) have all been optioned to the minors in the last week, while reliever Sean Reynolds (#13) and outfielder Tirso Ornelas (#15) remain in big league camp.
