Another young, electric player is making his way to the San Diego Padres’ new-look roster.
The Padres called up Luis Patiño, MLB Pipeline’s No. 27 overall prospect, to the 30-man roster before Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The 20-year-old right-handed pitcher will come out of the bullpen for the Padres, replacing David Bednar on the 30-man roster. Bednar was optioned to the minor leagues after posting a 3.86 ERA in 2.1 innings pitched.
Patiño is the No. 3 prospect in the Padres’ farm system behind fellow pitcher Mackenzie Gore and 2019 first-round pick CJ Abrams.
The addition of Patiño helps the bullpen, which has been atrocious in 2020. They rank 25th in MLB with a 5.94 ERA.
Patiño is expected to frontline the rotation in the future, along with Gore, Chris Paddack, and Dinelson Lamet. His stuff should play well out of the bullpen in the short-term.
In extended summer camp, Padres scouts and executives fell in love with the consistency that Patiño showcased day in and day out.
Gore is the higher-rated prospect, but the club doesn’t want to rush and use him in the bullpen.
Patiño has only pitched in relief twice in the minors, but he worked in one to two inning bursts out of the bullpen during intersquad games with the big league club.
In three seasons in the minors, Patiño posted a 2.35 ERA and averaged 10.7 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.
The Padres are 7-4 this season. There is no timetable set for Patiño’s first MLB appearance yet.
