Padres roster review: Daison Acosta – San Diego Union-Tribune
DAISON ACOSTA
Position(s): Right-handed pitcher
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2026 opening day age: 27
Height / Weight: 6-foot-2 / 196 pounds
How acquired: Signed as a free agent in December 2025
Contract status: Will not be arbitration-eligible until 2029
fWAR in 2025: 0
Key 2025 stats (minors): 5-1, 2.42 ERA, 5 saves, 4 holds, 72 strikeouts, 27 walks, 1.21 WHIP, .195 opponent average, 52 IP (46 games)
STAT TO NOTE
6.4 — Acosta’s walks per nine innings across parts of two seasons (26 ⅔ IP) at Triple-A. He also averaged 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings at the highest minor league level, but command issues (4.6 walks per nine innings across 365 ⅔ minor league innings)has ticked up as he got closer to the majors.
TRENDING
Idle — Acosta was nearly 18 years old when he signed with the Mets for $70,000 as an international amateur. It took him three years to get out of rookie ball and bouts of wildness (see stat to note) certainly had something to do with Acosta not reaching Triple-A until 2024, after the Washington Nationals selected him in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft the previous December. Acosta received a non-roster invitee to spring training the following year. He opened the season at Triple-A Rochester (7.59 ERA, 10⅔ IP), lost roughly a month to an injury and spent most of the year at Double-A Harrisburg, where he struck out 46 over 30 innings (0.90 ERA). Acosta returned to Rochester in late August and was much better down the stretch (10⅓ IP, 1.74 ERA, 14 strikeouts), although not good enough for the Nationals to put him on the 40-man roster. Acosta elected free agency in November and signed a big-league deal with the Padres a month later.
2026 OUTLOOK
Both the Padres’ scouts and research and development group have had eyes on Acosta for a couple of years. He was especially tough on right-handed hitters last year (.154/.250/.209) and is viewed by the team as a bit of a late bloomer and a depth reliever with three options. Acosta sits 93-96 mph with both his two- and four-seamers, has a slider and splitter that had a 52% whiff rate last year.
Padres pitcher Daison Acosta in 2025 with Rochester Red Wings. (Rochester Red Wings)
ROSTER RANKINGS
33. RHP Daison Acosta
34. RHP Ty Adcock
35. RHP Alek Jacob
36. INF Mason McCoy
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