Recapping San Diego Padres' 2026 Draft Class: Early Savings Give Way To Big Late-Round Swings

[Steve Drumwright]

Now that the 2026 MLB Draft is complete, it is time to make sense of what the San Diego Padres did.

Every draft's focus is, appropriately, on the first-round draft pick. For the Friars, that was high school right-handed starter Coleman Borthwick, taken with the 21st overall pick. At 6-foot-6 and listed at 245 pounds (or 260), the 18-year-old out of South Walton High School in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., is a prototype power pitcher who could lead a rotation.

Borthwick was the fourth pitcher and second from the high school ranks to be selected. That also fits how the Padres approach the draft: They take prep players in the first round, then shift to collegians after that. It is a two-part strategy. The Padres feel they find value that other teams steer away from in the first round. High school pitchers are inherently risky. For instance, last year, Seth Hernandez, a right-hander out of Corona High School right here in SoCal, was the early leader to go No. 1 overall. But high school right-handers don't go No. 1. Instead, he went sixth overall to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now, he has as much helium as anyone from that draft and was one of the stars of Sunday's Futures Game.

That's not to say that Borthwick will follow that pattern, but the pick was roundly lauded by draft experts. Borthwick has good athleticism, having also played third base and possessing a power bat. But he won't touch a bat as he enters pro ball. Instead, he will bring a four-seamer that generally sits in the 93-95 mph range, can easily get up to 98 and has touched 100 mph this spring. He also has a terrific, snappy slider and a changeup that will need refining.

His bonus is slotted at $4,224,700 and his signing is not in question. In fact, none of the selections in the first 10 rounds have signability issues.

Padres' Hidden Gems In The Draft

Every team looks for value or hidden talent wherever it can be found and that certainly holds true for the Padres. Of the 21 players the Padres picked, there look to be three (well, four, but we will get to that one in a minute) where they found value on a sliding player—at least by other outlets' rankings.

The first is seventh-round draft choice Joe Tiroly, a junior infielder out of Virginia. One reason could be a broken foot he sustained in fall camp as he transferred to Virginia that hindered him until the season began, yet he played in every game this season. He wound up with a .319/.408/.576 slash line and stepped in the postseason, leading the Cavaliers with 16 homers and 66 RBIs. He was the fourth of five Virginia players drafted, so he was surrounded by talent like he wasn't when he attended Rider, a much smaller Division I program. Tiroly, listed as a second baseman, is likely to also get a look at third base as he does have the arm for the position. Tiroly was ranked as the 99th prospect by Baseball America and 147th by MLB Pipeline and taken by the Friars with the 215th pick.

Next is North Carolina State first baseman Chris McHugh, who was taken in the 11th round. The Padres typically don't profile their first basemen as power hitters and McHugh certainly is not a prototypical player at the position. His slash line as a junior (.320/.409/.525) was down from his sophomore season (.365/.462/.533), but he still produced nine homers. One of seven players from N.C. State to be drafted, the right-handed hitter also saw time in left field and previously played third, certainly something the Padres will explore. In addition to driving in 50 runs, McHugh had a 16-game hitting streak and led the team with 23 multi-hit games. Due to his skills at the plate, the power can be developed. Baseball America ranked him 139th and was taken by the Padres at No. 335.

Another value pick was Northwestern junior shortstop Ryan Kucherak, who was selected in the 15th round. Kucherak was a teammate of No. 1 overall pick Roch Cholowsky at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Ariz., then went to LSU. He played sparingly at LSU, then transferred to Northwestern. He has power, having set the Northwestern record with 18 homers as a sophomore, then following that with 10 this past spring. He had a two-year slash line of .290/.388/.571 for the Wildcats. As a player with power is apt to do, he has swing-and-miss in his plate approach and did have issues with a wood bat in the Cape Cod League last summer. Kucherak will stick in the middle infield and also brings speed to his game. He was the No. 131 draft prospect by Baseball America and the Padres grabbed him with the 455th pick.

Player Who Can Make The Padres' Draft

As mentioned above, there don't appear to be any questions about signing picks in the top 10 rounds, which come with assigned slot values. Rounds 11-20 can be signed for $150,000 without affecting the draft pool. Any amounts over $150,000 count against the pool, which is $9,479,000 for the Padres.

College players aren't typically tough signs, so that leaves the four high school players taken. Borthwick and second-rounder Elliot Lascelles, a second baseman from Toronto, will be easy signs as well.

But that brings us to Denton Lord. While the name sets itself up for some terrific monikers, it is the talent that made the right-handed starter a top-100 draft prospect. Baseball America ranked Lord 54th and MLB Pipeline 80th. He has a commitment to Mississippi State, which already was going to make him a tough sign. Then, Lord announced Sunday on Instagram, after not being picked in the top five rounds, that he would honor his commitment to Mississippi State. The Padres rolled the dice and picked Lord in the 17th round (515th pick).

Here is where it gets even more interesting. Lord attended the same high school as Borthwick, the Padres' top pick. That relationship could be a huge lure for the Padres to get the 6-8, 220-pounder into their system. They can save money from the first 10 rounds and bundle that to hand to Lord. While NIL can get players to campus, the Padres can certainly negotiate to get Lord a signing bonus of $1 million to $2 million, more suitable of a second- or third-round pick.

Pulling this off would certainly be a boon to the Padres' system. Lord's four-seamer is 94 mph, one of the best of the high school class, and he can ramp up a few ticks when necessary. He also has good spin on his curveball that he sometimes uses too much as well as a slider. Lord also has a little-used changeup that can be developed. While possessing good tools at the moment, he also has plenty of projectability that an MLB team can work on to boost those assets. Lord did have Tommy John surgery as a high school freshman, but is clearly good to go.

Catchers

The Padres already have terrific catching depth in their system with Ethan Salas (Padres Mission's No. 1 prospect), Ty Harvey (No. 7), Lamar King Jr. (No. 11) and Truitt Madonna (No. 13) for starters, plus other hidden gems such as Yoiber Ocopio.

But like pitching, you can never have too much quality catching. The Friars spent three of their 21 draft choices on college catchers, whereas Havey, King and Madonna were high school products.

Those would be George Washington junior Robbie Lavey, USC sophomore Augie Lopez, and Notre Dame junior Mark Quatrani. Lavey and Lopez are left-handed hitters, which helps their cause. Lavey has been described as doing a lot of things well, but not one aspect stands out. Lopez broke through with a big power surge, hitting 19 homers this spring and needs to improve defensively. Quatrani jumped from the Ivy League at Cornell to the Atlantic Coast Conference and Notre Dame to improve his draft stock and all he did was slash .376/.457/.643 with 15 homers. The Padres could see a position change among this group down the road.

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