Padres Prospect Names to Know at the Peoria Sports Complex

With all full-season minor leagues underway, organizations are now limited to no more than 165 players on active domestic minor league rosters.

By moving 10 players to their full-season or 60-day injured lists, the Padres have pared down to 161, though that could tick back up if Tom Cosgrove clears waivers and returns to the minors, and they need to leave space for players who are sent down once some of the arms on the big league Injured List are ready to return.

While 127 players are on the rosters of the four affiliates, a group of 34 active players and the long-term injured list players remain in the Peoria Sports Complex. Some of the players there are expected to join full-season clubs relatively shortly, while many will be part of the Arizona Complex League season that opens on May 3 and will run until the day before the draft begins on July 13.

Here’s a look at some of the key names to know who aren’t in action yet.

Preparing to Join an Affiliate

Outfielder Tim Locastro and reliever Andrew Bellatti joined the organization on minor league deals in spring training and weren’t built up when the season opened. Depending on how they look as they work during extended spring training, they’re both likely to head out to an upper-level club shortly.

Several players who were expected to break with full-season squads dealt with injuries during spring and needed time to get fully healthy and ready for action. Now that Francis Peña has joined El Paso, Miguel Mendez (foot) should be the next to leave the desert barring setbacks. Lefty Bodi Rascon (Tommy John surgery) could also be ready to depart the complex soon as well.

Outfielder Kavares Tears and shortstop Cobb Hightower were slated to be key contributors at Lake Elsinore from day one, but both dealt with hamstring issues during spring training. Both are getting game action in the desert now and should be headed to the Cal League, where they’ll provide needed length to the Storm lineup, before the end of the month.

Longer Term Injury Returns

Rather than putting corner infielder Kale Fountain (Tommy John surgery) or vaunted right-handed starter Humberto Cruz (right shoulder) on the Lake Elsinore IL, the Padres are keeping both players active in the desert. Fountain should be hitting without restrictions in games by the time the ACL season opens and Cruz is on track for competitive innings in early May. Both will get their feet wet in the desert, but could play their way to Elsinore quickly if they show full health.

Tucker Musgrove, initially drafted as a two-way player in 2023, had Tommy John surgery shortly after signing. He’s continuing to rehab from the procedure working as a pitcher only and is on roughly the same trajectory for getting his full-season debut.

Prepping for the ACL Season

Because the Padres invested nearly all of their 2023 and 2024 international free agency bonus pools into Ethan Salas, Leo De Vries, and Cruz, many of the other signees were old for their classes, and the youngest players have been slow movers. While the club wound up spending seven figures on several players this January, none of those latest additions have yet come to the U.S.

That means that Venezuelan Luis Maracara, who impressed in the DSL last summer, is the only player younger than 18 currently at the complex. He and fellow right-hander Winyer Chourio, 20, are lone 2024 signees other than De Vries and Cruz who has arrived stateside. A small group of players from the class of 2023 joined them in coming over for this year’s spring training, headlined by catchers Yoiber Ocopio and Alcides Hernandez, outfielder Gustavo Marquez, and infielder Yimi Tovar.

The ACL squad will feature some intriguing pitching. Righty Kannon Kemp, who earned the second-largest signing bonus in the Padres’ 2023 draft class, had shoulder surgery last spring and has yet to make his professional debut. The big Texan is on a regular schedule during extended and should get a full workload once things get underway. Righty Langston Burkett, who signed out of high school as an undrafted free agent in 2023, showed flashes last spring before injuries stymied him. He’ll look to show better stamina and consistency on the mound.

Outfielders Donte Grant and Alex McCoy are about as dissimilar physically as any two players can be, but both could be fun to watch. Speedster Grant, 20, signed out of high school in 2023 and got off to a quick start last summer before a shoulder injury ended his season. He’s a fast-twitch athlete who was set back this spring with a hamstring issue. McCoy, 23, is as physical as any player in baseball. Listed at 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds, the Hofstra University product, who signed as an undrafted free agent last summer, has gaps in his swing, but hits the ball hard when he makes contact.

Infielders Luis De Leon, Ismael Javier, and Emil Turbi each got their feet wet in limited action last year and will be back in the desert this summer. They’ll pair with big first baseman Victor Figueroa, who seeks to become the second late-round pick out of junior college in Florida to show a big left-handed bat in the last three years.

Long-Term IL

Jonney Rosario blew out his elbow in his first start for Lake Elsinore last spring and had Tommy John surgery 12 months ago. He opened the year on the 60-day IL, but should be in action on a rehab assignment during the ACL season. If he looks strong enough, he could be in Elsinore once he’s eligible in June. Reliever Adan Moreno went down just a week after Rosario and is on a similar timeline. Meanwhile, Dane Lais, who signed for six figures out of high school in 2023 and also had Tommy John surgery last spring, could also begin a rehab assignment in May and will likely remain for the full ACL season.

First baseman/outfielder Albert Fabian, who suffered a brutal leg injury last May, is the only position player on the 60-day. Once cleared for all baseball activities, he’ll have a rehab assignment before looking to rejoined Fort Wayne in June.

See You Next Year

Carson Montgomery also shut down in Lake Elsinore last April, but he didn’t undergo Tommy John until July. It’s possible he could get into game action very late this year, but the Padres opted for caution with Rascon and Garrett Hawkins, who had surgery in July, 2023. Lefties Adler Cecil and Zack Qin both had Tommy John surgery at the end of spring training this year and won’t throw from a mound this season.

A Special Note

Way back in 1993, the Padres drafted local kid Matt LaChappa out of El Capitan High School in the second round. Warming up in the bullpen of their then-affiliate Rancho Cucamonga early in the 1996 season, LaChappa had a massive heart attack which left him paralyzed with serious health complications. Every year since then, the Padres have tendered him a minor league contract to keep him eligible for baseball’s health insurance. Now 49, LaChappa remains a “Padre for Life” with the organization continuing to hold a full-season IL spot for him each year even under the new restrictions MLB has imposed.