Quote from LynchMob on May 18, 2022, 10:58 am

https://www.mlb.com/padres/news/prospect-team-of-the-week-may-16-2022?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

This is the Prospect Team of the Week for May 9-15:

Catcher: Luis Campusano, El Paso Chihuahuas (Triple-A)
Padres No. 3, MLB No. 42
.444/.546/.889, 5 G, 8-for-18, 1 HR, 1 3B, 3 2B, 4 RBI, 7 R, 4 BB, 4 K

It may be hard to believe this is Campusano’s sixth year in pro ball and may be even harder to believe he’s still just 23. Back in El Paso after some late-April games with the big club, baseball’s No. 6 catching prospect put together one of his best stretches of the young season. In El Paso’s home series against Sacramento, Campusano had two-hit games in all four of his starts, only going hitless in a pinch-hit at-bat on Saturday. The backstop doubled twice on Wednesday and once on Thursday before belting a homer on Friday night. Sunday afternoon, he notched his first triple since last July 24 with the Chihuahuas. This selection marks the first Prospect Team of the Week nod of Campusano’s career. After hitting .359/.375/.487 in nine April games at Triple-A, Campusano has been even better in May with a .423/.531/.846 line through eight contests.

Quote from fenn68 on May 18, 2022, 1:50 pm

Have to admit on the fence with Campusano.

Top 100 prospect as a catcher who can hit (as shown in high A and AAA) is a very valuable commodity. Padres have little in the pipeline after Nola (Alfaro is a FA after 2023). That sounds good.

However, at age 23 still a lot of concern about his defensive ability as a catcher and from every indication Melvin prefers defense first in his catchers. Other organizations probably could care less about defense if the catcher can hit.

So, about the hitting, Very successful in the minors but in his limited ML AB, frankly, looked terrible / lost. No idea what the Padres development folks think about his hitting in the future. If they really see it coming around at the ML level and still question his defense … maybe a shift to 1B/DH since any hitter is hard to find.

Padres see Campusano every day and by now have a pretty good internal evaluation of his future. Other teams may only see the big bat and top 100 prospect status. IF the Padres internal evaluation is a bit less than we think but other teams evaluate him high as an offensive catcher … he may be the trade chip used at the deadline to fill a critical hole in the pennant run.

Quote from Randy Manese on May 18, 2022, 11:33 pm

The Campusano I've been watching on MiLB looks very much like the catcher I saw in Lake Elsinore in 2019, where he won the batting title and I believe was co-MVP of the California League.  Currently, he has no Passed Balls and has thrown out 50% of the runners who have attempted steals.  He has very good mobility behind the plate and blocks balls well.  The defensive downfall often cited is his inability to call a good game, i.e., get pitchers confident in what pitches he calls for them to throw.  He also was cited for not being a superior framer of pitches, but it seems he has improved in that area also.

With the electronic sign caller and potentially robot umps, I'm thinking that this deficiency is grossly overrated.  Managers can call games from the dugout vice throw the burden on a young catcher with an older more experienced starting staff.  I think we can live with his non-elite defense but it still is a decent defense that likely won't cost us many games.

The problem Campusano has had in the majors is that he completely abandons his disciplined approach in the minors and swings for the fences.  If he just does what has made him a successful hitter, he could be around .280 with 15-20 HRs ceiling - I'll take that from any catcher and certainly we would not have gotten that kind of production from Hedges, Mejia, Torrens, Caratini  or even our current duo of Nola or Alfaro.

Padres have a slew of good defensive catchers in the minors, starting with Seagle, Valenzuela, Vizcarra and even Alvarez-Lopez and Duarte but none can hit like Campusano although there might still be some hope for a "light" version in Valenzuela.  He may be brought in slowly to eventually replace our current starters in the coming year or he could be a very nice trading chip to help us get our offense over the hump.  However, what is wrong with Campusano being a part of that offense?  What's wrong with a BB rate of around 10% and a K rate of less than 16% for most of minor league career?  I've been a Campusano fan since I saw him in Lake Elsinore in 2019 and I believe his injuries, legal problems and alleged attitude issues are in the past and have matured him into one of the Padres best offensive prospects in a very valued position.

Quote from LynchMob on August 4, 2022, 9:40 am

Our Top Gun now, I s'pose ...

From today's DFR ...

the other big hero was designated hitter Luis Campusano.  Campusano homered in the sixth to bring the Chihuahuas within one, but more impressively down by two in the 10^th inning, the Georgia native laced a double to right scoring two and re-tying the game.  This was the first multi-extra base hit game for Campy since June 28.

Quote from LynchMob on August 31, 2022, 1:32 pm

https://www.mlb.com/padres/news/minor-league-prospect-statcast-standouts-of-2022?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

Luis Campusano, C, Triple-A El Paso (Padres No. 2, MLB No. 98), home run distance: This season the 23-year-old catcher’s Minor League slugging percentage has dropped to .483, its lowest level since 2018, but that doesn’t mean Campusano can’t still pack a big punch when he makes contact. His July 22 homer at Reno measured in at a whopping 491 feet, making it the second-longest Statcast-measured homer of the Triple-A season. (Only a 493-foot homer by Round Rock’s Zach Reks beat it.) In case you were wondering, the longest Padres homer this season was a 463-foot shot by Manny Machado on June 18. There are a lot of factors involved in Campusano’s number -- Reno’s elevation, dry conditions and 16 mph winds blowing toward the outfield, for starters -- but anyone capable of hitting a baseball 491 feet anywhere has power that will play in The Show.

Quote from MrPadre19 on July 12, 2023, 6:36 am

No body in the Org has a better opportunity to secure their future with this team than Campusano.

Once he comes back he has a 2 month opportunity to prove he should be the Starting Catcher for the next 2-3 years.

Nola and Sanchez are hardly standing in his way.

 

Quote from BoosterSD on July 12, 2023, 6:45 am

Quote from MrPadre19 on July 12, 2023, 6:36 am

No body in the Org has a better opportunity to secure their future with this team than Campusano.

Once he comes back he has a 2 month opportunity to prove he should be the Starting Catcher for the next 2-3 years.

Nola and Sanchez are hardly standing in his way.

 

I will say that despite Sanchez reputation as not good of a defensive catcher, and he does butcher some balls, the SP seem to be pitching well to him.

So while both Nola and Sanchez bats leave something to be desired, Campusano will need to perform on both sides of the ball to become the dominant C going forward.

Quote from fenn68 on July 12, 2023, 7:14 am

Going to be some twists and turns in the catching position later in 2023 then in 2024.

Agree that Sanchez has looked better defensively than advertised (seems to work well with Snell) although is bat is not that impressive except for the occasional power. He will be a FA after the season. Padres seem to agree and he is virtually getting all the catching at this point. However, no way he (or about any catcher these days) will keep catching games at this pace.

On the other hand … Nola seems to have fallen totally out of favor and clearly can’t hit (can debate why) and although controlled for a few more years is already in his early 30s … not good for most catchers.

I guess the first debate is IF the Padres are making a run at the Wild Card … who shares time with Sanchez? Nola the experienced veteran who knows the staff but can’t hit or Campusano who has the potential to hit and boost the offense but with questions about his defense. I think 2023 will be the last season he can be optioned to the minors. IF in contention guessing they go with Sanchez / Nola until they are out or to the end of the season.

IF they are clearly out in 2023 … do they want Campusano up to give him more “steady” playing time at the ML level? Probably yes, so do you DFA Sanchez (FA to be) or Nola (controllable but ineffective)? Does one make the IL? No other catcher in the system except Sullivan and he is not the future even as a back-up. Also, can they re-sign Sanchez at a reasonable price?

Bottom line (assuming they don’t find a new catcher for 2024) they need to re-sign Sanchez (or a FA) and pair him with Campusano in a split catching role. Frankly can’t afford to DFA Campusano in 2024 (will loose him) while he has long control and low cost and still the potential to be better than any of the current alternatives. Nola looks to be the odd man out (age / performance).

 

Quote from sportwarrior on July 12, 2023, 10:52 am

Quote from fenn68 on July 12, 2023, 7:14 am

Going to be some twists and turns in the catching position later in 2023 then in 2024.

Agree that Sanchez has looked better defensively than advertised (seems to work well with Snell) although is bat is not that impressive except for the occasional power. He will be a FA after the season. Padres seem to agree and he is virtually getting all the catching at this point. However, no way he (or about any catcher these days) will keep catching games at this pace.

On the other hand … Nola seems to have fallen totally out of favor and clearly can’t hit (can debate why) and although controlled for a few more years is already in his early 30s … not good for most catchers.

I guess the first debate is IF the Padres are making a run at the Wild Card … who shares time with Sanchez? Nola the experienced veteran who knows the staff but can’t hit or Campusano who has the potential to hit and boost the offense but with questions about his defense. I think 2023 will be the last season he can be optioned to the minors. IF in contention guessing they go with Sanchez / Nola until they are out or to the end of the season.

IF they are clearly out in 2023 … do they want Campusano up to give him more “steady” playing time at the ML level? Probably yes, so do you DFA Sanchez (FA to be) or Nola (controllable but ineffective)? Does one make the IL? No other catcher in the system except Sullivan and he is not the future even as a back-up. Also, can they re-sign Sanchez at a reasonable price?

Bottom line (assuming they don’t find a new catcher for 2024) they need to re-sign Sanchez (or a FA) and pair him with Campusano in a split catching role. Frankly can’t afford to DFA Campusano in 2024 (will loose him) while he has long control and low cost and still the potential to be better than any of the current alternatives. Nola looks to be the odd man out (age / performance).

 

Is there some procedural rule preventing us from optioning Nola? I believe he technically has two option years left.