PEORIA – With temperatures spiking to over 100 degrees and a scheduled camp day for San Diego Padres minor league players, on-field activities were compressed into the morning. Although only one game was on the schedule, it featured players from the Spring Breakout roster, who got to face off against some big-league stars on the Seattle Mariners side of the Peoria Sports Complex.
With opening day in El Paso just a week away and Double-A San Antonio preparing to host a three-game exhibition series against Dos Laredos of the Mexican League the same weekend, pitchers who are ticketed for the upper minors are well into their standard throwing progressions. That translated to some extended bullpen sessions for system veterans like Miguel Cienfuegos, Ian Koenig, and Jared Kollar.
Most eyes on the minor league “six-pack” of bullpen mounds, however, were on last year’s fourth-round pick, Michael Salina. The hard-throwing righty, who had Tommy John surgery last April, has progressed well through his rehab schedule. On Friday, he threw an “up-down” bullpen session, going through about 25 pitches, taking a break, and then returning for another 15. He has a few more boxes to check before he faces live batters for the first time in the coming weeks. Assuming he continues to feel good, he could be built up enough to head to an affiliate in May.
Salina wasn’t the only elbow-surgery rehabber to toe the rubber, as Zack Qin also had a solid session that included his full repertoire. The 20-year-old, who became the first player from mainland China to sign with the Padres when he agreed to a contract in 2022, has been out for approximately 11 months since his Tommy John procedure. In the year he was off the mound, the 6-foot-3 lefty has added significant muscle mass. He last appeared in an official game for Lake Elsinore back in August, 2024, but he could be back in the Cal League by early summer.
We also got our first look at last year’s eighth-round pick, Jamie Hitt, and 15th-round sidearmer Ryan Reed. Both lefties are tracking toward being ready for the Single-A schedule to begin in two weeks.
Righty Carlos Medina, who signed right at the end of the 2025 international free agent period, was brought stateside earlier this week and threw his first bullpen of the spring. The 21-year-old from Mexico will be part of extended spring training and should see action in the ACL.
Showcase Preparation
Romeo Sanabria prepares for an at-bat in Peoria. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
The full lineup of position players who will showcase against the Chicago Cubs Saturday evening took the field against Mariners starter Logan Gilbert. The righty mostly kept Padres prospects in check, but first baseman Romeo Sanabria – who has reasserted himself well this spring – had a pair of hits, including a loud double down the right field line. Sanabria, whose bat speed faded significantly in the second half of last year, looks to have made significant strides in his conditioning for the second consecutive winter and is making frequent, loud contact.
After Gilbert gave way, Ethan Salas, who was in the lineup as the designated hitter, hit a booming double to the wall in center field against a left-hander. The 19-year-old will be behind the plate tomorrow night.
While he’s certainly not typically part of our beat on the minor league side, Griffin Canning looked good in his inning of work as he continues his progression to return from last season’s Achilles injury. The righty, who was sitting 91-93 in his last on-field action, jumped up to 94-95 and touched 96. He opened his frame by giving up a flare hit to Rob Refsnyder and a walk to Cal Raleigh, but then dialed in his feel for his slider and change and struck out three batters in a row.
Tyler Schmitt looked solid preparing for the start of his first professional season.
Righty Tyler Schmitt threw four strong innings as he ramps up to join the starting rotation in Lake Elsinore. The 20-year-old was the Padres’ 17th-round pick out of the University of Illinois, where he led the staff in innings pitched and strikeouts. The Wisconsin native did not see any official action after signing with the Padres last year.
Odds and Ends
Ryan Wideman drew a walk off of Gilbert after falling behind in the count 0-2. The athletic outfielder struggled with pitch recognition after signing as the club’s third-round pick last year, so his ability to lay off several high-quality big league sliders was good to see. … Kale Fountain continues to get action in right field. The 2024 draftee struggled with a few balls in the air. Still, there are few environments anywhere in the sport that are as hard to navigate as the Valley of the Sun when the wind is blowing. There is no cloud cover. … Francis Peña (note, MLB has finally added the tilde to his official player record) is still trying to right the ship after things went backward for him starting early last year. The righty is now working from an exaggeratedly closed-off set-up, but still struggling to return to the same live arm action we saw in 2024. The righty tried to come down and in to Raleigh, and last year’s big league home run champ easily launched it over the right field wall. … Raleigh took nine at-bats in the contest, collecting three walks and had three hits. He also worked most of the game behind the plate and made a pair of impressive defensive plays on bunts. No players attempted to shake his hand on the way to the plate.
