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What a second half it's been for the San Diego Padres. Owners of the second-best record in baseball since the All-Star break, the Padres are playing like a championship contender. Along with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Padres are pushing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West with a little over five weeks left in the regular season.
This is the type of baseball San Diego envisioned playing in 2024 with their great abundance of talent. A few timely trades for Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez only increased the Padres' expectations and they've answered the bell during the dog days of summer.
There's still work to be done to secure a playoff berth, but the Padres are a team no one wants to see in October. They're getting healthier by the week and with rosters set to expand in September, San Diego can tap into its farm system for depth in the season's final weeks.
The Padres' farm was among the best in baseball entering 2024. However, the front office continued to be aggressive and shipped off nearly a dozen of their top minor leaguers over the last six months. There is still so much talent in San Diego's prospect pool. A few players deserve their chance in The Show this year.
The Padres have had several impact prospects in recent years. There's no reason they can’t use some of them in 2024 as they seek a return to the postseason.
Triple-A infielder gets another big-league shot
The Padres have an eye for international talent. They're not afraid to take a chance on a teenager either. According to MLB Pipeline, three of San Diego's top five prospects are international signees under 20 years old, including 18-year-old Ethan Salas at No. 1.
A look deeper down the farm will find 2016 signee Eguy Rosario. The Padres snagged the Dominican's services when he was 17. Now 24, the third baseman is knocking on the door of another promotion to the big leagues.
Rosario already has 48 major league games under his belt after making his Padres debut in August 2022. He pushed to be the Opening Day third baseman this year as Manny Machado recovered from offseason elbow surgery but settled for a platoon role.
Rosario hit well during his time with the Padres this year. He posted a .261 batting average in 46 at-bats through April with eight of his 12 hits going for extra bases. He has an OPS of .814 in 53 MLB at-bats in 2024, his last coming in a spot call-up in early July.
The reason he hasn’t stuck with the big league club isn’t necessarily because he isn’t good enough, but rather because the Padres don’t have room for him. Maybe that will change in September when rosters expand. Rosario is still young enough that he should continue seeing regular playing time though and San Diego can’t offer that to him at the moment.
His Triple-A numbers include a .905 OPS, 17 home runs, 17 doubles, four triples and 11 steals. He lacks defense in the infield so the Padres have tried him out a bit in right field this year with mixed results.
MLB teams can never have enough pop off the bench. Eguy Rosario provides that with solid speed to go with it.
Padres top 20 prospect makes MLB debut
Sticking with an international free agent who's made a name for himself in San Diego's system, Tirso Ornelas is on the cusp of reaching the majors. If you want to talk about raw power, few prospects in the Padres' prospect pool have more than Ornelas.
It took the 24-year-old outfielder a while to grow into his body and tap into that power, but he's crushed the ball over the last two seasons. Ornelas has 33 home runs and 52 doubles since the start of 2023, most of them coming at the Triple-A level where he's spent the entirety of this season.
Ornelas has arguably been the MVP for El Paso thanks to his bat and much-improved defense. He leads the team in hits, home runs, RBIs and OPS while hitting .305 with a whopping .512 slugging percentage. Defensively he's committed only two errors after having five in 2023.
The bulk of Ornelas' numbers increased each month until he hit a slump in August. Perhaps he's feeling the weight of a long season, but his recent performances shouldn’t hurt his chances to get his first MLB promotion in September.
Tirso Ornelas can provide real value for the Padres as they try to catch the Dodgers. Like Rosario, regular playing time will probably evade Ornelas this year if he's called up. Still, having a fresh bat on the bench who's shown a knack for improvement throughout his professional career is something San Diego should consider having down the stretch.
