Who is Freddy Fermin? The Padres gave up a lot to acquire the former Royals catcher. He is paying early dividends.

It’s safe to say the Padres haven’t had a true franchise catcher proficient both with the glove and bat in over a decade. They thought it was going to be Derek Norris in 2015, after A.J. Preller went through his first shopping spree as Padres general manager.

Instead, Derek Norris had a 79 OPS+ in two seasons.

Austin Hedges was excellent defensively, but posted a putrid 66 OPS+ in just over 400 games.

You might need to go back to the early career of Yasmani Grandal. He spent parts of three seasons with San Diego, from 2012 to 2014, with an impressive 119 OPS+ in that span.

Since then, it’s been a game of musical chairs behind the plate.

Since the departure of Hedges in 2020, they have had Austin Nola, Victor Caratini, Jorge Alfaro, Gary Sanchez, Luis Campusano, Kyle Higashioka, Elias Diaz, and Martin Maldonado get significant time behind the dish.

All this, while they wait for teenage phenom backstop Ethan Salas to be the franchise’s “savior” at the position.

To be frank, Salas has lost a bit of his luster. After bursting onto the scene in 2024, he has tumbled. Last year, he was rated the No. 8 overall prospect in all of baseball and the top catcher.

Now, with injuries and subpar hitting statistics in the minors (.206 average, 75 wRC+ in High-A last year, and .188 and 77, respectively, in Double-A this year before a back injury), he’s falling. Now, he stands as the 86th-ranked prospect and doesn’t appear on the list of top 10 catchers.

That, plus the recent trade deadline move, might be very telling about where the Padres think they are at catcher.

They entered the July 31 trade deadline desperately needing to upgrade at catcher. Diaz and Maldonado were combining for bottom-three production at the plate without elite defensive metrics to justify their being in the lineup.

Most assumed the Friars would get another stopgap catcher to buy them time before the 19-year-old Salas can get healthy and a bit more experience in the minors before being the cornerstone of the future.

With the acquisition of former Royals catcher Freddy Fermin, that picture isn’t as clear anymore.

Do the Padres have doubts about Salas? Is that why they surrendered not one but two controllable young starting pitchers to get Fermin?

Fermin has done little to squelch the possible future controversy. For starters, he is under contract through the 2029 season, four more seasons after this.

Also, he has worked in the shadow of possible Hall of Fame Salvador Perez in Kansas City. He has never gotten the chance to be the main backstop. The Padres were very vocal about how much they liked Fermin and felt like he only needed a long runway as the starter to flourish.

Given how much the Padres gave up to acquire him, it’s more of a demand that he become San Diego’s main catcher until Salas is ready, if he ever is. The investment is high in Fermin.

Not only that, but Fermin has done nothing but hit since putting on brown and gold. In nine games for San Diego, he is 11-for-31 (.355 average). His .878 OPS is second only to Jackson Merrill on the team since the deadline, for those with at least 20 at-bats.

Freddy Fermin sneaks one out to give the @Padres a 3-run lead ? pic.twitter.com/5ikR1SHKxi

— MLB (@MLB) August 12, 2025

Defensively, his pop time ranks in the 90th percentile, and he has already gunned down two of four attempted base-stealers with the Padres.

The only thing working against Fermin is his age. He turned 30 earlier this season. But hey, maybe he’s learned a thing or two from his former teammate, Perez, who is still playing at a high level as a career catcher for Kansas City at age 35.

Given his level of play so far with the Padres, the investment the Padres put in to acquire him in two young starting pitchers, along with his cheap contract for the next four seasons, and Salas’ setbacks in development, it’s fair to wonder if Fermin is the true catcher of the present and future few years for the Padres.

If he can maintain anything close to what he has done in a small sample size so far, he absolutely has to be.

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.