Padres Prospect Interview- Lamar King Jr. healthy and producing with Storm
Credit: Don De Mars/ EVT Sports
Catching up with San Diego Padres catching prospect Lamar King Jr, who is playing with the Lake Elsinore Storm.
Low Single-A Lake Elsinore has a 6-foot-3 catcher named Lamar King Jr.
The San Diego Padres drafted the catcher in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. King attended Calver Hall High School in Baltimore, Maryland, where in his senior year, the team won 17 games and only dropped six. In 2022, he went to the Padres with the 120th pick in the MLB Draft.
According to King’s baseball savant page, he was scouted as a catcher, who is” better than many might expect for his size, moving and blocking well behind the dish, and his arm already looks above average. He has experience calling games from high school, and that should ease his transition to the pros. There’s a chance for King to be an everyday catcher with his power and defense combination, though it might take some years of development to reach that ceiling.”
King only played in four games with the Arizona Cactus League Padres after being drafted in 2022. He went through a spell of injuries in 2023 with both shoulder and a concussion sidelining him for an extended period. When King returned from shoulder surgery last year, the ACL Padres kept King in a first base and designated hitter role. The Padres promoted King to the Lake Elsinore Storm in late July last season and finished with .271/.379/.421 line and two homers in 62 games between there and the ACL.
This season, King is returning to the catcher’s spot and couldn’t be happier about it. “Super excited to go out and play. Glad to be healthy,” King told EVT before Lake Elsinore’s opening day against Modesto. When King was asked about what his goals are for this season in Lake Elsinore, he responded with, “Main thing is my health. Just being able to play every game and just to stay healthy.”
The young catcher is happy to be back on the diamond in 2025 after his spell of injuries. King told EVT that he has focus early this season. “Just to keep having good at-bats. Just go out there and play the kids’ game that we play,” King said.
The 21-year-old is doing well in the California League, hitting .286 with two home runs, 10 RBIs, and an OPS of .830 in 42 at-bats. So far, it is a small sample size, only a few weeks into the season, but King feels well. “I am seeing the ball really well and catching it well,” King explains.
When asked about his hitting, King felt that the key to his early success is simple. “Stay up the middle. If I think pull, I’ll start to pull off the baseball,” King said. The start for the Lake Elsinore Storm wasn’t ideal, with the Storm dropping their first six games. But since that opening skid, the team is four and two. Lamar King Jr. hit his second home run in Thursday’s game in Fresno.
Looking at the rest of the season for King, he wants to grow his game. “Every aspect of my game I can grow, especially with catching. Starting to get back in there, I didn’t catch that much last year. So just being able to go back there and get comfortable and have fun,” King tells EVT.
Hopefully, Lamar King Jr. will continue to develop as the Major League Padres continue to search for a long-term solution at the catcher position. Maybe in a few years, it will be an Ethan Salas and a Lamar King Jr. duo at the backstop position for the major league club.
Until then, King will continue his development in Lake Elsinore and beyond.
A Southern California kid from San Clemente, he attended Gonzaga University and obtained a degree in sports management with minors in digital marketing and public relations. Max has been a San Diego sports fan for life.