The Padres are set to promote top pitching prospect Luis Patino. It appears the ADN Barranquilla Twitter account first posted the news, which has since been confirmed by other outlets.
Patino is just 20 years of age, but he’s widely considered one of the most electric young arms in baseball. He’s expected to work out of the bullpen to begin his tenure, MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell tweets.
Though he lacks extensive experience in the upper minors, Patino did reach Double-A last year after an impressive run at the High-A level. He’s still ironing out his full secondary arsenal, but possesses the kind of elite stuff that ought to play right out of the gates, especially in a relief role.
The 2020 season sprint creates opportunity for the Friars, who have started out with a nice 7-4 stretch. The up-and-coming club is hoping to hit on a variety of talented but fairly inexperienced players. Patino now joins that mix.
The timing of the promotion is such that Patino cannot accrue enough service time to reach a full year. Accordingly, the San Diego club can control his rights through at least 2026. He will, however, likely qualify for arbitration after the 2022 campaign as a Super Two player — if he can grasp a hold of a permanent roster spot from this point forward.
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