Padres option struggling catcher

The Padres made a few moves before Wednesday's matchup with the Mariners. Most notably, San Diego optioned catcher Luis Campusano to Triple-A El Paso. The Friars also placed Martín Pérez on the paternity list while recalling outfielder Brandon Lockridge and lefty reliever Tom Cosgrove.

It’s the first optional assignment for Campusano in two years. He has played briefly in the minors on injury rehab assignments but hasn’t been demoted since 2022. It looked last season as if Campusano had broken out as San Diego’s answer behind the dish. While a thumb injury cost him the bulk of the year, he raked at a .319/.356/.491 clip over 49 games. The Friars felt comfortable letting Gary Sánchez walk and turning to Campusano as their season-opening starter.

The 25-year-old has appeared in a career-high 91 games. He hasn’t produced on either side of the ball, leading both FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference to rate his play as slightly below replacement level. Campusano has stumbled to a .227/.281/.361 batting line through 299 plate appearances. While that might be tolerable if he were playing well behind the plate, his defensive grades have been very poor.

Campusano has logged 670 2/3 innings behind the dish. Defensive Runs Saved has him 15 runs below average, the worst mark among catchers. Statcast has graded him harshly for each of his pitch framing, blocking and throwing. Campusano is tied for the fifth-most passed balls (six) and has been behind the plate for 36 wild pitches.

Only Shea Langeliers, Will Smith and Logan O’Hoppe have been behind the plate for more wild pitches — and they’ve all logged upwards of 900 innings. That’s not entirely on Campusano, of course, but it doesn’t reflect especially well on his work blocking pitches in the dirt. Campusano has also thrown out just eight of 49 attempted base stealers, a 16.3% clip that is about five points below league average.

Those struggles have naturally opened up playing time for backup catcher Kyle Higashioka. Acquired from the Yankees as the fifth piece in the Juan Soto blockbuster, Higashioka has had the best season of his career. The veteran has drilled 16 homers in only 228 plate appearances. Despite a .225 average and a dismal .269 on-base mark, the power has made him a productive hitter. Higashioka has a league average caught stealing rate, although he’s also had a rough time as a receiver. He’s tied for the MLB lead with nine passed balls in only 575 2/3 innings.

San Diego had rolled with a Campusano-Higashioka pairing for most of the season. They added 2023 All-Star MVP Elias Díaz late last month after he was released by the Rockies. Díaz will back up Higashioka for the time being. That seems like skipper Mike Shildt’s preferred duo as the Friars try to secure a Wild Card berth.

Higashioka and Díaz are both impending free agents. Aside from Campusano, the only other catcher on the 40-man roster is Brett Sullivan, who projects as a depth player. While the Friars surely hope for top prospect Ethan Salas to eventually seize the position, they can’t count on the 18-year-old for at least a few seasons. That points towards Campusano competing with an outside acquisition — potentially a re-signed Higashioka or Díaz — for the job next year.

The timing of the demotion, presumably not coincidentally, provides the Padres with some flexibility in that regard. Campusano has one minor league option remaining. A player uses an option year when he spends 20 days on an optional assignment during a season. Rehab stints do not count towards that time. There are 19 days left in the regular season, so Campusano will still have an option remaining going into 2025. That means the Padres would be able to keep him in El Paso for another year without exposing him to waivers.

Campusano is on track to reach arbitration for the first time in his career. He entered the season with one year and 144 days of service. He’ll earn a full service year this season despite being sent down. Evan Drellich of the Athletic reported in 2022 that players who are optioned more than three days after Labor Day continue to receive service time during that assignment. That easily positions Campusano to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player, although his salary will be modest enough that he shouldn’t be in danger of getting non-tendered. He’s controllable for another four seasons after this one.

As for Lockridge, he gets his first big-league opportunity. San Diego added him to the 40-man roster at the start of September but had kept him on optional assignment with El Paso. Acquired from the Yankees at the deadline in the Enyel De Los Santos deal, Lockridge has hit .306/.410/.397 over 402 plate appearances at the top minor league level. The speedster has stolen 46 bases and been thrown out just six times. He’ll likely work as a pinch-runner and defensive specialist in his first MLB action.