Padres land four players on MLBPipeline Prospect Team of the Year
Credit: Jerry Espinoza
Four San Diego Padres were named to the MLBPipeline’s Prospect Team of the Year.
It is a well-known fact that the San Diego Padres have a rich minor-league system that is stuffed with talent.
On Monday that fact was cemented as four Padres were named to MLBPipeline’s Prospect Team of the Year. Three players, MacKenzie Gore, Ty France, and Luis Campusano, were named to the First Team while Luis Urias was named to the Second Team.
Headlining the crop of players on the First Prospect Team is none other than Gore, who was named not only the Top Left-Handed pitcher spot but also Pipeline’s “Pitcher of the Year.” After a year of struggling with blisters, Gore was dominant in Lake Elsinore before being moved up to Double-A Amarillo. He looked a little more human with the Sod Poodles but still pitched to an astounding 1.69 ERA with 135 strikeouts and 28 walks in 101 combined innings.
Gore only scratched the surface of his front-of-the-rotation ceiling in 2019 and will look to continue his progress next season.
Depending on how he grows on the mound, San Diego could take a Chris Paddack-esque approach with him and promote him directly to the Majors to make his big league debut. With an arsenal of four powerful pitches and a bulldog-like mentality, he very well could be in a Padres uniform in 2020.
Here's our 2019 Prospect Team of the Year: https://t.co/WobbjEmSbb pic.twitter.com/YHIxXaXBIc
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 9, 2019
At catcher, Campusano is making a name for himself in a system that is chock full of talented backstops. Spending his entire season at Lake Elsinore, Campusano mashed to the tune of a .325/.396/.509 batting line with 15 home runs and 81 RBIs. He showed excellent plate discipline with a BB% of 10.7 against a strikeout rate of 11.7%. His outstanding season earned the 20-year-old co-MVP honors in the California League. Austin Hedges and Francisco Mejia are currently the starters at the Major League level, but Campusano will be knocking on the door soon enough.
Named at the third base position is France, the winner of the 2019 Triple-A Home Run Derby and the 2019 Pacific Coast League MVP. When in a Chihuahua uniform, France has displayed immense power, blasting 27 home runs and 27 doubles en route to a .770 slugging percentage and a staggering OPS of 1.270. The power has yet to materialize at the Major League level but, with more playing time and at-bats, the San Diego State alum can become a force to be reckoned with.
Finally, we come to Urias, surprisingly named as a shortstop on Pipeline’s Second Team list. Unsurprisingly, Urias tore apart Triple-A pitching, collecting a .315/.398/.600 batting line with 19 home runs with El Paso. He continued to display the plate discipline that he had shown in the lower levels of the minors with a walk rate of 10.6% and a strikeout rate of 18.3%.
The shortstop position hasn’t been kind to him this season as he has made many a fielding blunder and his hitting talents haven’t exactly translated at the major league level. Urias is still a talented player, but he is only at shortstop temporarily. He will get plenty more time to prove himself at the major league level.
The talent is flowing in the farm system, and there is a great chance that these four young men will lead a bright Padres future.
I am currently attending San Diego State University while working on achieving a major in journalism. At SDSU, I write for The Daily Aztec while also hosting the sports radio show “Picked Off”, for KCR Radio. A loyal fan of San Diego sports, I hope to bring content that you will enjoy reading.