San Diego’s Catcher Quagmire! Padres Struggles to Find Consistent Offense from Backstops

The San Diego Padres are a team in waiting. They are waiting for their catcher of the future, Ethan Salas, to get the experience and show the growth that will allow San Diego to add him to the big league roster. The Padres are left to plug in placeholders and hope for the best until that happens. To this point in the spring, San Diego has not seen the best from its catching candidates.

The four catchers remaining in big league camp after Salas was reassigned to minor league camp have struggled to get anything going. As of their loss to the Texas Rangers on Thursday, Elias Diaz, Luis Campusano, Martin Maldonado and Brett Sullivan have combined for 46 at bats and only six hits total. They have also compiled 11 strikeouts.

Of course, it is Spring Training and the numbers do not count for much more than talking points, but they do raise some concern. Additionally, players are working on various parts of their game on offense and defense and that could have an effect on performance. Add to that, they are working with multiple pitchers on a daily basis, some of which they have little to no experience with, taking their attention away from the offense.

Diaz was the presumed starter at catcher when the Padres opened the spring after signing a one-year, $3.5 million free agent deal in the offseason. Campusano was supposed to solidify the position for years to come when he was brought into the organization in 2017, but his offensive numbers have not been what they were expected to be and his struggles behind the plate have not improved.

Maldonado was brought in this offseason on a minor league deal after being released by the Chicago White Sox in July and has not done much to endear himself to Padres fans. Sullivan has been a long-time minor leaguer and spent some time on the major league roster with the Padres in 2023 and 2024, but he was not thought of as a potential roster addition coming into the spring.

The concern at this point is that the catching position is not going to improve. If the Padres enter the season with two of the four catchers still in camp, it would be expected that Diaz and Campusano will be the two. Diaz was once an MLB All-Star Game MVP, so there is potential that his offense will improve. Campusano ditched the new batting stance he implemented in 2024 and has shown flashes of power in his young career, but has not been consistent. If neither player can get anything going at the plate there will be a hole in the lineup that could hinder run production and limit the San Diego offense.

Baring a trade, there is no catching help available. GM A.J. Preller has shown an ability to find catchers who put together successful and surprising seasons. Jorge Alfaro, Gary Sanchez and most recently Kyle Higashioka have all come to the Padres with little to no fanfare and have made the most of their opportunities. It appears a similar result is the hope in San Diego as the regular season draws near, but there is no evidence at this point in Cactus League play that will be the case.