Upgrading catcher position is proving to be difficult task for Padres
Credit: USA Today Sports
The San Diego Padres need to upgrade the production they are getting from the catcher position. But this is proving not to be an easy task.
It is plain and simple.
The San Diego Padres need better results from their catchers.
Martin Maldonado is hitting .189 on the season with 32 strikeouts in 90 at-bats. He owns a .535 OPS in 36 games. His offensive upgrade, Elias Diaz is hitting .217 with a .592 OPS and 35 strikeouts in 138 at-bats. The duo is arguably the worst offensive catching tandem in the league. Both are veterans at the tail end of their careers- the numbers will not improve dramatically.
The Padres also have Luis Campusano on the roster, but he has proved to be worthless and is 0-for-14 this season. It really doesn’t matter what his offensive numbers are in Triple-A, because it simply has not transitioned at the major league level. He owns a .674 OPS in 176 games in the majors. The Padres are reluctant to start Campusano behind the dish as well, as his defensive issues are well-known.
Campusano is 26 and exactly what the Padres need- a young catcher, who is under team control for multiple years.
However, it is painfully clear that the team has moved on from his services. Luis Campusano is not the answer.
Upgrading at catcher is easier said than done right now. The position is one of weakness throughout the league. There simply are not many productive catchers around MLB. The Padres are not the only team suffering behind the dish.
Kyle Higashioka produced last year for the Padres, slugging 17 homers and putting up a .739 OPS in 84 games. This past winter, the Padres elected to not re-sign the backstop. The team took a lot of flak for the choice, but Higashioka is enduring a down year in Texas. He has only one homer and owns a .602 OPS in 33 games for the Rangers. The $12 million invested in him looks to be a bust.
A.J. Preller and his staff are savvy. They knew Higashioka played over his head in 2024.
But they also put their hopes in Maldonado and Diaz. This is proving to be a bad idea. And the worst part is that the team is enduring a difficult task in attempting to upgrade at the position. With injuries and lack of production around the league, teams are simply not looking to move a catcher who is viewed as a positive player.
As teams fall out of the race, catchers may become available on the open market. But, for now, the Padres must roll out that tandem with a spot sighting of Campusano. If that continues, the team may elect to call up prospect Brandon Valenzuela and see what he can give you.
Not exactly ideal, but there are few options for Preller and the Padres.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. James has written about the Padres and their prospects for over a decade. He also writes about San Diego State as well as other local sports. James is the Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
Maldonado plays for the Mayaguez Indians in Puerto Rico. In the
2024-25 season the indians where in the fifth position until Maldonado arrived in december, the Indians won their 16 of 21 games enter the semi finals and won it the enter the finals and won the season championship. He ended batting for .235, but is not batting, is the way he worked the pitchers, and thats what a team needs an excellent catcher who engineer wins with pitchers.. I hope Padres send him to the Big League team again, there is 2 or 3 more good years behind the plate, the team will never regreet using him in the big team, he is the tressure the Padres need in the team….
The best catcher to work pichers is Machete Maldonado, he’s not batting well but, no one does a better job behind the plate than him, pichers respect him for that