Luis Campusano's September Slump Has Put Padres In A Precarious Position

Prior to 2026, Luis Campusano had never really gotten his opportunity to solidify a role with the San Diego Padres. Previously looked at as a bat-first catcher, the most extensive run he got was 299 plate appearances in 2024 where he was almost entirely unplayable behind the dish. It's otherwise been a smattering of up-and-down travel from El Paso, none of it sustainable. This season, however, has represented a shift.

While Campusano's 224 plate appearances won't represent a career-high, it's not due to a lack of faith from first-year manager Craig Stammen. Rather, that's the byproduct of a midsummer injury. Because when Campusano's been healthy, he's been in the mix. And Stammen has had every justification to run his No. 2 catcher out there as much as possible.

Campusano's line on the season stands at .268/.366/.438. His wRC+ is at 130, his ISO is at .170, and he's shown enough defensive growth throughout the season to justify a place as the team's backup behind Freddy Fermin. His role as a pure bat has also expanded. With Gavin Sheets and Miguel Andujar each missing time in the season's second half, Campusano has gotten more run as the team's designated hitter; after appearing just once as a DH prior to the end of July, he's done it 10 times (two as a pinch-hitter) since the start of August. 

In general, it's all optimism around the output of Luis Campusano this season. But here at the midway point of September, some struggles are beginning to emerge in a way that they hadn't in the months prior. 

Much of the positive work Campusano turned in came in April & July, with the two months in between becoming a wash due to a fractured toe. On either end of the injury, though, he posted identical .326 averages, on-base figures of .380 & .456, and a combined wRC+ of 152. While there wasn't as much power in the latter of the two months, he walked more than 19 percent of the time and got plenty of fortune on batted balls. 

August is where we saw things slow down a touch. His wRC+ slipped to 112, but the power bumped back up (.115 ISO), and he continued to turn in strong numbers thanks to his plate approach (13.1 BB%). The calendar flipping over to September, however, hasn't left us with as much room for optimism. 

Midway through the month (52 plate appearances), Campusano's slash reads .229/.288/.438. His walk rate has fallen to below six percent. The power, at a .208 ISO, has become the only redeeming factor as his bat is just scratching above the average threshold (103 wRC+) in the first two weeks of the season's final month. While it's a concerning level of decline given what we saw over the first handful of months of the season, it's also not something that's particularly mysterious. 

Campusano has become more aggressive: His 54.4 percent swing rate is his highest in an individual month. With the exception of an even 50 percent back in April, it's actually startlingly higher than any other month. His chase rate has ballooned to 34.5 percent. It hasn't led to any decrease in the contact trends, but the quality of it has waned; his hard-hit rate of 28.9 percent is 14 percentage points lower than it was in July and seven points lower than it was in August. That has, in turn, led to a decline in his batted-ball fortune, where his BABIP is just .229 for the month. 

There are myriad reasons why this shift could be occurring, but it seems likely that Campusano is selling out for power. The increase in swing rate coupled with the fact that his 74.7 MPH bat speed this month is easily his fastest of the season is indicative of such a mindset. That he's not losing anything in terms of his contact rates speaks to his ability to make contact, but the loss of a mature plate approach has sapped him of actual production by decreasing the quality of said contact.

This is something that Campusano will have to rein in down the stretch if he's to continue being a crucial supplemental bat for the Padres. There aren't any questions about what we saw earlier in the year, but that early success has wrought new expectations. At a time when the Friars need all the offense they can get, a more well-rounded approach from Campusano would go a long way toward lengthening the lineup.

Do you approve of the job the Padres front office is doing?

Do you approve of the job the Padres front office is doing?

• Do you approve of the job the Padres front office is doing? Required
  

  
• Save

See All Padres Polls >