Four Padres Pitching Prospects Who Could Spend Time In San Diego This Season

[Bryan Jaeger]

Injuries to a pitching staff are common. Teams win or lose by picking the correct player to be the next man up. Our main pitching options are on the injured list: Joe Musgrove will miss the season recovering from Tommy John surgery, Yu Darvish got moved to the 60-day injured list, and Michael King is expected to be out until after the All-Star Break.

Since these guys will not be of any help in the near future, let's examine the prospects who could receive a call-up if an injury occurs. MLB.com has six pitching prospects with a debut ETA projected for this season, but I will showcase the four of them.

4 prospects (and rank among Padres' farm system) whose names we could see on the big-league mound this season

Braden Nett
Over four seasons in Single A and Double A, Nett has a 4.82 ERA. However, this season in Double-A San Antonio, he has posted a 3.58 ERA over 55 1/3 innings. He also has a 28.2 strikeout percentage and a career-lowest 9.8 walk percentage, so the righty is starting to find control around the strike zone.

His fastball can reach 99 mph but consistently sits 95-97 mph. His arsenal also consists of an 81-84 mph slider that racked up a 38 percent whiff rate last season, a 90-92 mph cutter, an upper 70s curveball, and a low 80s splitter.

With this variety of pitches, Nett could fill a long reliever role or make a spot start here and there.

Bradgley Rodriguez
Rodriguez received a brief call-up on May 31, and in relief, he pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He returned to Triple-A El Paso where he has struggled. In two appearances, the righty has accumulated a 10.80 ERA over 1 2/3 innings. Still, before this, in Double A, Rodriguez had 18 appearances and only gave up an earned run in three of those spots.

The 21-year-old dealt with elbow issues in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, missing the entire seasons. He's purely a short reliever who has topped 101 mph but is more consistently in the 96-99 mph range. His 86-89 mph changeup had an impressive 58.2 percent whiff rate in 2024, and he throws a sharp-breaking slider in the upper 80s against right-handed batters.

If he can settle down in Triple A, his three-pitch arsenal is lethal enough that he could join San Diego for a bullpen stint later on this season.

Francis Pena
Pena has been stellar in Single A and Double A levels in his four-year career. The righty had a 0.50 and 1.53 ERA amongst both levels in 2023 and 2024 before struggling in Triple A, posting a 5.17 ERA over 15 2/3 innings.

This season, in 27 1/3 Triple A innings, Pena has accumulated a 4.61 with an ugly 27:18 strikeout:walk ratio. He possesses two fastballs that range in the 95-98 mph area. He throws his cutter 35.2 percent of the time and has a 36.2 percent amongst all levels in 2024. The righty's sinker has more than 12 inches of arm-side run.

The amount of success Pena has had may result in a later 2025 call-up.

Omar Cruz
Like Rodriguez, Cruz has received a cup of coffee in the majors. In two outings, over 3 2/3 innings, the righty accumulated a 4.91 ERA. Cruz has pitched seven seasons in the minor leagues but has posted a 4.89 ERA in Triple-A this season.

His most successful pitch is his 79-82 mph changeup, which had a 49 percent whiff percentage in Double-A and Triple-A in 2024. The lefty complements his changeup by throwing a fastball out of the same arm slot at 91-94 mph, which is why he's seeing so much success fooling hitters with his off-speed pitch.

Cruz needs to work on his control, as his walk percentage has steadily grown each season, up to 6.17 percent in 35 Triple A innings and 7.36 percent in his MLB outings this season. He's 26 years old and should get another shot at the big leagues later this season.

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