Navigating The San Diego Padres' Catcher Quandary

[Randy Holt]

If the San Diego Padres have any hope of sustaining their hot start to the season, it's likely going to have to come in the form of some kind of offensive supplementation. 

We know what the team looks like when the top hitters are, well, hitting. Fernando Tatis Jr, Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado. These guys can carry a lineup over a multi-day stretch. But, as we've seen, that only goes so far. Having watched the team hang just three runs against the Seattle Mariners over the weekend, it's clear that there's a bit of help needed in addressing these quiet stretches. 

But the current roster construction makes it a difficult proposition. Each of the four main infield spots is locked down. Center and right out on the outfield grass are each handled for the next decade. So you're looking at either left field or catcher as a spot that merits an upgrade. We'll talk about the rotating band of heroes in left in the coming days, but catcher represents a different animal entirely. 

The Padres knew coming into the season that they did not have a long-term option. Luis Campusano has received a couple of chances to run with the job and has failed to do so. This was true to the extent last year, when he lost the starting gig to Kyle Higashioka altogether. As Campusano prepared to at least start the year in El Paso (where he's remained for much of the year), the team turned to a pair of light-hitting veterans: Martín Maldonado & Elias Diaz. 

That tandem has produced about as expected, with middling defensive output and even less on the offensive side. Maldonado has graded out as an average framer but below average in the blocking & run prevention aspects of the position. Díaz, meanwhile, has been well below average in framing but average in the other two areas. If you could combine them, you'd have a pretty sturdy backstop behind the plate. Alas...

From an offensive standpoint, the duo ranks 21st in the league in on-base percentage (.294), 16th in isolated slugging (.129), 20th in wRC+ (87), and features the 11th-highest strikeout rate the position has to offer (22.2 percent). Considering the respective histories of each, it almost stands to reason that it could be worse, which is something the Padres are probably fearing as they project deeper into 2025. 

There are a couple of issues with such a situation behind the plate. Obviously, you'd prefer to have average defense all around, at minimum. Especially when a staff that runs as deep as the one in San Diego. Then, you'd like to have even average offense in order to supplement the heavier hitters in the upper half of the lineup. The Padres aren't getting average on either side of the ball. That's issue number one. 

Issue number two is... what exactly do you do about it? The thing about catchers is that if you have one, you're probably not moving them, which means that a majority of outside options will ring fairly similar in skill set to the pair the team currently employs back there. To say nothing of the fact that teams are hesitant to add catching in-season anyway, given the nuances associated with the position (read: handling a new staff on a short timeframe). Does that make perhaps the team's most immediate area of need also the least likely to be upgraded? 

We know that Campusano's out. Maybe there's space for him to rotate in at designated hitter in the near future with the way he's going in El Paso. But there just isn't a lot of freedom of movement for the San Diego Padres as it relates to the catcher position. 

The good news is that it could be worse. It could be better, with average being kind of a decent threshold for short-term catching options. But given the perception of these two as both hitters and as defenders, it could be worse. Ideally, the team acts on it before that manifests.

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