Padres take a big swing amid college-heavy Day 2 of draft

The Padres used the second day of the draft to fill out their minor-league system with college bats and arms.

Along the way, they took one big swing at an elite-level high school prospect with a seemingly strong college commitment.

Perhaps the Padres’ homework on first-rounder Coleman Borthwick will pay off in more ways than one. The team drafted 6-foot-7 right-hander Denton Lord — Borthwick’s teammate at South Walton High School in Florida, where they won a state title — with its 17th-round selection despite his ties to Mississippi State.

MLB.com ranked Lord, who had Tommy John surgery as a freshman and hasn’t looked back, as the 80th-best prospect in the entire class.

“You know, best team in Florida,” Chris Kemp, the Padres vice president of amateur and international scouting, said. “ … He’s 93 to 95 (mph). He’s got a ton of upside. We love the makeup, love everything about the kid. There’s just a spot in the draft, we just want to take a shot.”

Kemp added: “He’s just an extremely high-ceiling talent. SEC vs. MLB, and we’ll be in the mix with Denton next couple weeks and see what happens.”

The only other high schooler selected by the Padres on the second day of the draft was outfielder Ezekiel Zion, a Gilbert, Ariz., native who is committed to South Montana State and expected to sign.

The 18-year-old Lord will be a tougher endeavor, but perhaps the Padres saved enough money with a college-heavy route on Sunday.

All told, the Padres selected 17 collegians across the two-day draft, including three seniors inside the first 10 rounds who’ll likely go below slot recommendations: Arizona State shortstop Nu’u Contrades (sixth round, $350,100), Arizona State left-hander Sean Fitzpatrick (eighth round, $226,300) and Troy left-hander Benjamin Stubbs (ninth round, $205,000).

The class also includes a graduate student in Oregon State left-hander Albert Roblez.

The Padres have until July 27 to sign their draft class, with Borthwick expected to comprise nearly half of the Padres’ $9.48 million bonus pool if he accepts the slot recommendation of $4.22 million for the 21st overall pick.

The 21-player class includes nine college pitchers and three college catchers in fourth-rounder Robbie Lavey (George Washington University), 10th-rounder Augie Lopez (USC) and 18th-rounder Mark Quatrani (Notre Dame).

The left-handed-hitting Lavey hit eight homers in 52 games this past year and the left-handed Lopez hit 19 in 61 games. The right-handed-hitting Quatrani had 15 longballs in 53 games.

“Quatrani is one of the better hitters in the country, an ultra-offensive catcher,” Kemp said. “You know, Augie Lopez hit (19) bombs with USC, and we love the left-handed bat.”

Pushing productive catchers to the majors has been something of a hurdle in the A.J. Preller era.

Most recently, Luis Campusano has struggled to produce consistently while shuttling to and from the minors since 2020. Ethan Salas represented the team on Sunday in the All-Star Futures Game, but Freddy Fermin has hit poorly in his first year as a starting catcher and Rodolfo Durán is a minor league journeyman. The Padres team traded switch-hitter Brandon Valenzuela last year to the Blue Jays for Will Wagner.

The Padres drafted two high school catchers last year in Ty Harvey (No. 6), and Truitt Madonna (No. 22), both of whom have become top-30 prospects in the system alongside Salas (No. 1) and 2022 fourth-rounder Lamar King Jr. (No. 14).

Among the college arms selected on the second day of the draft, Miami left-hander Rob Evans stood out.

Drafted in the 12th round, the 22-year-old started his collegiate career at Georgia State (5.63 ERA, 48 IP), threw just 15⅓ innings the next year at Miami (4.70 ERA) and blossomed into the Hurricanes’ Friday starter as a senior, going 10-3 with a 3.29 ERA and a 98-to-31 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 87⅔ innings.

“He had been at multiple stops and really found himself this year and took it to another level,” Kemp said. “He was a completely different person. (He throws) 92-95. It looks like he could be in Double-A pretty quick.”

PADRES’ 2026 DRAFT CLASS

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