As Padres Catchers Flounder, Luis Campusano Is Destroying Triple-A Pitching

[Samuel Cozart]

If you're a fan of understatements, then I've got one for you: the 2025 season has been a nightmare for the Padres behind the plate. The pair of the regressing Elias Diaz and 38-year-old Martin Maldonado has not been close to good enough at catcher for San Diego. One last glimmer of hope for a solution at the position lies in El Paso: Luis Campusano. 

Campusano has been tearing it up at the plate for the Chihuahuas, putting up impressive numbers. During his time in the Pacific Coast League, he boasts a slash line of .316/.439/.626. Those numbers are good enough for Campusano to rank 12th in the PCL in average, as well as second in OBP and SLG. Unsurprisingly, those ranks combine to put Campusano atop the PCL with a 1.064 OPS. Coinciding with those numbers, Campusano has mashed 13 home runs during his Triple-A tenure in 2025, which places him at tenth in the PCL. 

These numbers don’t come in a small sample size either. Campusano has appeared in 48 games for El Paso this season, going with 214 plate appearances. It is clear that he is thriving at the minor league level, with the skill set to make an impact in the majors. So Campusano is clearly the Padres’ solution at catcher, right? The answer is more complicated than it seems. 

For starters, the PCL is an extremely hitter-friendly league. Hitters flourish when playing down in the PCL, opposed to producing lower numbers in Major League Baseball. Per the MILB website, PCL hitters slash an average of .277/.347/.431 with a .778 OPS compared to MLB’s average of .260/.329/.397 with a .726 OPS. The PCL also features an average of 5.1 runs per game, compared to just 4.4 in MLB. 

Oddly, the PCL’s inflated stats are unique to the league, rather than all of Triple A. The International League, the PCL’s Triple-A counterpart, reflects more similar hitting numbers to the major leagues. This is due in large part to the amount of hitter-friendly parks around the league. Parks located on high-altitude hold extreme favorability to the players at the plate. PCL hitters get to enjoy environments like Isotopes Park (Albuquerque), Aces Ballpark (Reno), and Security Service Field (Colorado Springs), all high-altitude locales. Padres fans know the effects of a high-altitude ballpark all too well, having to witness San Diego travel to Coors Field a handful of times each year.

It is important to take the PCL’s favorability towards catchers into account when considering Campusano’s impressive season. Taking his stats at face value would not be enough to determine if he is truly the solution at catcher for the Friars. Adjusted for various park factors and the inflated numbers of the PCL, wRC+ shows the runs created by a player at true value. 

According to FanGraphs, Campusano owns a 151 wRC+ this season, which is a ridiculously strong number for a catcher. The league average wRC+ for all players is 100, so he is creating runs at a well-above-average rate. The youngster blows Diaz’s wRC+ of 78 out of the water (though, of course, Diaz is playing against MLB competition). Even when accounting for the batting practice feel of the PCL, Campusano is still producing numbers at a rate that prove him able to perform at the highest level. However, his time in the majors tells a story of inconsistency. 

Campusano has bounced between the major and minor leagues since 2021, and finally got a real chance to prove his worth in 2023. During that season, Campusano produced impressive numbers. A slash line of .319/.356/.491 in 49 games showed that he had the potential to fill San Diego’s void at the position. However, his 2024 tenure told a completely different story. In 91 games last season, Campusano’s numbers dipped to .241/.259/.407, a significant drop off from the prior season. In 2025, Campusano has appeared in nine big league games, where he hasn’t registered a single hit. 

It feels inevitable that Campusano will get called up to San Diego during the club’s catching crisis. Whether he maintains his form from Triple A or returns to his recent major league struggles will determine his fate with the organization. If he can perform to his potential right out of the gate from getting called up, the Padres may their answer to their hole at backstop. If not, acquiring a catcher at the trade deadline will be San Diego’s top priority.

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