I knew the Padres’ system was down before I started writing this up, but afterward, I realized it was in much worse shape than I’d realized. You just can’t trade that many prospects in that short a period of time without it affecting your system, and the state of their system is compounded by their draft strategy, which focuses on high-risk, high-upside prospects, notably high school pitchers, who fail at higher rates. I have a pure reliever at No. 8 on this list, and it’s not because I think he’s Hoyt Wilhelm.
(Note: Tools are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale; ages as of July 1, 2026.)
Height: 6-1 | Weight: 185 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 20
I don’t know what to make of Salas right now, as he missed nearly all of the 2025 season with a stress fracture in his lower back, playing in only 10 games and doing nothing when he did take the field. He’s still young, turning 20 this June, but the only place he’s hit was in Low A back in 2023, and he didn’t hit well in High A in 2024, although you can argue he was very young for the level at 18. Even now he’d be a college sophomore, and if he hits passably in Double A this year he’ll be ahead of the game. When healthy, he’s a plus defender who as a hitter has a good feel for the strike zone, flashing raw power in batting practice that hasn’t shown up in games. I don’t like giving up on prospects who are this young and inexperienced unless there’s some clear evidence that they can’t hit or they won’t throw strikes or something like that, and we don’t have enough evidence either way on Salas. His 2026 season isn’t a make-or-break year by any means, but it is going to be significant for everyone’s projections on him going forward, because we haven’t had enough looks or data in the past 18 months.
2. Kruz Schoolcraft, LHPHeight: 6-8 | Weight: 229 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 19
The Padres went for a high school arm in the first round again last year, taking this 6-foot-8 lefty from Portland, Ore., who at his best is up to 98 with an above-average changeup and a plus slider. He’s very athletic and was a very good high school hitter, although at his height that’s a nonstarter for him in the pros. He spins the ball well and gets excellent extension out front, so everything he throws should play up as hitters get so little time to react — especially lefties, who will probably think the ball is coming from some other dimension. If you’re going to play in the high school pitching sandbox, this is the guy you want.
3. Kash Mayfield, LHPHeight: 6-4 | Weight: 200 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 21
Mayfield was the earlier vintage of Schoolcraft, as the Padres took Mayfield in the first round in 2024. He’s also a tall (6-4) lefty who threw hard in high school, although he’s not quite the athlete that Schoolcraft is and doesn’t have the same caliber of breaking ball. He was up to 99 as an amateur, throwing about a grade or so less hard in pro ball last year. He shows a plus changeup on which hitters whiffed 55 percent of the time they swung at it and that helped him to a reverse platoon split in Low A — righties hit just .191/.287/.265 off him. He cuts himself off and comes back across his body, which adds deception but makes it hard to get to his glove side and may also be a risk factor for injuries, while his slider is a clear third pitch for him. He’s a back-end starter right now, with some upside if he can develop a better breaking ball.
Miguel Mendez may be ready for the big leagues this year. (Tracy Proffitt / Four Seam Images via Associated Press)
4. Miguel Mendez, RHPHeight: 6-2 | Weight: 165 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 24
Mendez is a three-pitch starter who was outstanding in Low A and High A last year thanks to a huge improvement in his command and control. He’s still skinny and needs to fill out more to handle a starter’s workload. He also needs to use his changeup, which looks like an average pitch, much more to neutralize lefties; he used the slider more than the changeup against left-handed batters last year, so the fact he had a platoon split is hardly surprising. I like how the arm works, and the slider flashes plus. He did tire at the end of the year and walked 17 in 22 1/3 innings after a promotion to Double A. He’ll probably go to Double A to start 2026 and has a chance to debut in the majors before the year is out.
5. Humberto Cruz, RHPHeight: 6-1 | Weight: 170 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 19
Cruz is a slender right-hander from Monterrey, Mexico, who has a great feel to pitch and can throw hard but needs to get a lot stronger to hold up as a starter. He’s barely 170 pounds and doesn’t have a lot of upper-body strength yet to maintain velocity. His best pitch is his slider, which breaks downward very late for the hitter, generating whiffs on 58 percent of swings in his brief time in Low A last year. Unfortunately, he blew out his elbow after those 20 innings in the California League and had Tommy John surgery that will keep him out until 2027.
6. Jorge Quintana, SS/3BHeight: 6-2 | Weight: 183 | Bats: B | Throws: R | Age: 19
Acquired from the Brewers in the Brandon Lockridge/Nestor Cortes deal, Quintana’s a strong, 6-2 infielder with a big swing and the potential for plus power. He’s a true switch hitter and 50/55 runner who’s mostly played shortstop but probably ends up at third or second base. The Brewers gave him $1.7 million in the same year they signed Jesús Made for $950,000, but they had the prospect surplus to trade Quintana less than two years later. He did strike out a third of the time in his 25 games in Low A to end 2025, so he should start there and doesn’t look as if he’ll be a fast mover through the system. There’s pretty significant offensive upside here if he gets to enough contact.
7. Ty Harvey, CHeight: 6-2 | Weight: 215 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 19
The Padres took Harvey in the fifth round in 2025, although I had him ranked as a second-round talent based on his strong swing, hard contact skills and the possibility that he’ll stick behind the plate. He hit a ball 115 mph at the MLB Draft Combine, which I’m sure helped him get paid, doing it with a quiet, direct swing that lifts the ball enough to project 20+ home run power as he fills out. He’s a 60 runner and has a 60 arm, with enough athleticism to give him a chance to catch given a couple of years back there.
8. Garrett Hawkins, RHPHeight: 6-5 | Weight: 230 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 26
Drafted in 2021 out of the University of British Columbia, the Saskatoon native missed the 2024 season with Tommy John surgery. Hawkins returned last year and was unhittable in two stops, throwing 60 innings — all in relief — and punching out 80, walking 23 and posting a 1.50 ERA. He’s 93 to 96 mph with an above-average slider, but he pitches better than his stuff because he throws strikes and attacks with two pitches, coming from a high three-quarters slot that adds deception. He held right-handed batters to a .120/.176/.145 line in 2025, and while he had a platoon split, lefties hit only .163/.301/.233 off him. It’s straight relief, but he should pitch in the majors this year.
9. Lan-Hong Su, RHPHeight: 6-1 | Weight: 150 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 19
Signed out of Taiwan for $775,000 during the last international signing period, Su has a very fast arm and is 90-94 with projection left, showing a future plus curveball with feel to spin it. He’s 6-1 and has a wide enough frame to project added strength, while he rotates his hips well to generate that arm speed. He signed in October and hasn’t made his pro debut yet.
10. Tucker Musgrove, RHPHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 175 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 24
The Padres took Musgrove in the seventh round in 2023 out of the University of Mobile, an NAIA school in Alabama, where he was both an outfielder and relief pitcher, but he underwent Tommy John surgery before he threw a pitch in pro ball and returned only last year. He’s 95-99 with carry and can spin a 55-60 slider, with a good delivery and the athleticism you’d expect from a former position player. He threw once a week, never facing more than 10 batters in an outing, with two stints on the injured list and another month off without placement on the IL. He’s a two-pitch reliever if he can add to the workload, without a third weapon for lefties right now.
11. Ryan Wideman, OFHeight: 6-5 | Weight: 204 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 22
San Diego’s third-round pick last year, Wideman is a 70 runner who hits the ball hard but doesn’t make a ton of contact, chasing way too many pitches out of the zone, continuing to do so in a disappointing pro debut in Low A. He hit .229/.330/.271 in 26 games for Low-A Lake Elsinore as a college product, striking out 28.6 percent of the time with a 35 percent chase rate. He swings big and gets his front foot down very late, so maybe there’s a mechanical adjustment or two there to help him get more time to recognize pitch types and locations.
Bradgley Rodriguez made his MLB debut in 2025. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
12. Bradgley Rodriguez, RHPHeight: 6-1 | Weight: 160 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 22
Rodriguez debuted in the majors last year and averaged 98.5 mph on his fastball, continuing to limit hard contact as he had in Triple A. He has a changeup and cutter that are functional but nothing more than average, with a concerning platoon split last year across multiple levels. His profile is straight one-inning relief, and he’s ready now.
13. Deivid Coronil, 3B/SSHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 162 | Bats: B | Throws: R | Age: 18
Signed for $900,000 in January 2025, Coronil debuted in the Dominican Summer League and hit .186/.327/.214 around some minor injuries, which eventually forced him to miss the playoffs. He’s a tall, rangy infielder with above-average speed and a chance to stick at shortstop, showing soft hands and plenty of arm. He’s a switch hitter who has a good swing path for power but is probably 25 pounds away from being able to impact the ball like that. The debut wasn’t great, but he also may not have been 100 percent healthy.
14. Jhoan De La Cruz, SS/2BHeight: 5-9 | Weight: 165 | Bats: B | Throws: R | Age: 18
De La Cruz is about 5-11, although he’s listed at 5-9, and he had a strong debut in the DSL, showing good feel for the strike zone and bat speed from the left side, at least. He’s at shortstop now with a fringy arm that probably pushes him to second base. He walked more than he struck out last year, with a .477 OBP, but there’s not exactly a lot of strike-throwing in the DSL, and I’d like to see him replicate that in Arizona this year before buying into the on-base skills.
15. Lamar King Jr., C/1BHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 215 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 22
King has turned into a decent hitter for average with on-base skills, which will work if he sticks at catcher, as he lacks the power to play first or a corner outfield spot. He makes a lot of medium contact, enough to believe he can keep his batting average up, but the raw power he showed as an amateur hasn’t appeared in games yet, not even in the batted-ball data. He’s passable behind the plate but not an above-average defender in any part of the game.
16. Truitt Madonna, C/1BHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 215 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 19
Fosse, Fosse, Fosse … Madonna was the Padres’ 11th-round pick last year but received their third-highest bonus after Schoolcraft and Harvey, even getting a cup of coffee in Low A after he signed. He’s a big kid already, 6-3 and listed at 215, with a power-over-hit approach and a huge swing that he’ll have to cut down a little until he can at least pick up spin. He has the arm to catch, but that is a big body for the position without much athleticism, with a much higher likelihood he ends up at first base.
17. Kannon Kemp, RHPHeight: 6-6 | Weight: 225 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 21
Kemp returned from shoulder surgery last year and ended up hitting 99 in the Arizona Fall League, working mostly fastball/cutter with some ride on the former pitch. He worked as a starter last season, going 5+ innings nine times (five times as a starter), but this looks like a power two-pitch reliever all the way.
18. Bryan Balzer, RHPHeight: 6-1 | Weight: 190 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 21
Signed for $10,000 in 2023 as he needed Tommy John surgery, Balzer pitched briefly in 2024, but his 2025 season was his real debut, and it went … poorly. He threw 50 innings in Low A with a 7.92 ERA, allowing a .397 BABIP that was some bad luck but also a lack of command, and lefties tagged him for a .402/.500/.471 line. He throws a sinker up to 98 and can spin an above-average slider, with good extension out front, but he couldn’t sync up his delivery for much of the year and was worse with runners on … and he had runners on a lot of the time. He’s only 21 and has thrown 57 pro innings, too little to give up on, but this wasn’t what I expected him to do against Low-A hitters given that kind of stuff.
19. Jagger Haynes, LHPHeight: 6-3 | Weight: 170 | Bats: L | Throws: L | Age: 23
Haynes is a three-pitch pitcher with a low-90s fastball that doesn’t miss bats and 40 control, walking 14 percent of batters in each of the last two years. He’s worked as a starter but should go to the bullpen, where the slider will probably be at least plus and his strike-throwing issues will be a little less of a problem.
20. Michael Salina, RHPHeight: 6-1 | Weight: 215 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 22
The Padres’ fourth-round pick out of St. Bonaventure, Salina hit 100 mph in the spring with a 55-60 slider but blew out his elbow and had Tommy John surgery. He’s probably a reliever in the long run given the effort in the delivery.
2026 impact
Hawkins should spend most of the year in the major-league bullpen. Mendez might get some starts at some point.
The fallen
The best candidates for this are all now with other teams — Dylan Lesko, Dillon Head, Robert Hassell III, etc. Infielder Rosman Verdugo and right-hander Isaiah Lowe both had really disappointing years, with Verdugo (signed to a $700,000 bonus in January 2022) hitting .205/.339/.354 in High A after he’d spent a month there in 2024, while Lowe (signed to $400,000 in the 11th round in 2022) got crushed pitching for the same High-A club while his velocity backed up a little.
Sleeper
Schoolcraft could be next year’s Cam Caminiti, going from outside the top 100 to the top 50 if his breaking ball continues to develop.