The Padres selected two left-handed high school pitchers on Sunday in Day 1 of the MLB Draft.

On Monday, the Padres came back with another ten picks, including two compensation picks, in rounds 3-10.

After numerous high-profile trades, the Padres looked to rebuild some of their depth not only in the minors but also in players who may be called up to reinforce the major league roster soon.

Round 3- (88th-overall) selection Cobb Hightower- SS (High School)

The Padres continued their run of high school players by drafting SS Cobb Hightower out of North Carolina. He shows excellent bat speed and a lot of projection in terms of power and hit skills. He’s already a good infield defender with a strong arm, something the Padres have enjoyed collecting in their middle infielders. The Padres will likely need to spend money to pry him away from a commitment to his hometown, North Carolina Tar Heels.

Cobb Hightower: We put together good at-bats with runners on base (highschoolot.com)

Round 4- (118th overall) Tyson Neighbors- RHP (Kansas State) 

The Padres drafted a fantastic reliever in RHP Tyson Neighbors from Kansas State.  Neighbors was a phenomenal closer with a high 90s fastball, a high 80s cutter, and a low 80s slider who could foreseeably join the Padres major league roster in a year or less.

Compensation pick (Snell) 134th overall Kaveras Tears- OF (Tennessee) 

Tears was a starter for only a year but showed amazing tools, including great bat speed, raw power that’s right now mostly based on line drives, and excellent defensive skills.

Compensation pick (Hader) 135th overall Clark Candiotti- RHP (Arizona) 

Candiotti, the son of former knuckleballer Tom Candiotti, pitched for multiple colleges before ending up at Arizona. He brings a pair of excellent breaking pitches with a mid-90s fastball, showing great potential as a reliever or starter.

https://www.mlb.com/video/2024-draft-clark-candiotti-rhp?partnerId=web_video-playback-page_video-share

Round 5- (151st overall) Kale Fountain- 3B (High School)

The Padres went back to high school to grab Nebraska power-hitting third baseman Kale Fountain, who needed just three years to set the state’s all-time home run record. As noted, he brings outstanding bat speed, leverage, and strength to the table, but he needs to show improvement in his pitch recognition. There are questions about whether he’d stay at the hot corner, but if needed, he’s considered an excellent first-base candidate.

Round 6- Darrien McDowell OF- (University of West Florida)

Round 7- Kai Roberts OF- (University of Utah)

Round 8- Nick Wissman RHP- (University of Dayton)

Round 9- Zach Evans RHP- (Lenoir-Rhyne University)

Round 10- Jack Costello 3B- (University of San Diego)

The Padres have a great track record of signing draft picks in the A.J. Prellar era.

Loren Casuto

A Native San Diegan, Loren has spent his entire life not only as a fan but an active participant in San Diego’s sports world. In 2006 Loren joined two other die hard Charger fans to create Bolttalk, where Loren was a co-host and regular columnist from 2006 until the Chargers left in 2017. After that he started another podcast, The Grid Podshow, from 2020-2021 with his former co-host and colleague, speaking about the local sports community and popular culture.

When he’s not giving his opinion about San Diego sports, Loren is an adjunct professor at San Diego State and an attorney.