On Wednesday, the San Diego Padres will treat their fans to a glimpse at the future.
In their latest (and probably last) wave of September call-ups, the team will promote six players including multiple top prospects.
Full list of promotions:
- Manuel Margot, OF
- Hunter Renfroe, OF
- Austin Hedges, C
- Carlos Asuaje, 2B
- Buddy Baumann, P
- Jose Torres, P
It will be the first time appearing on a Major League roster for all of them except Hedges and Baumann.
Of the group, Margot and Renfroe have the most prospect hype at the moment. The pair current rank second and third on MLB.com’s list of Padres prospects, respectively (only the recently-acquired Anderson Espinoza is ahead of them).
Both have high ceilings and project to be key pieces of the next competitive Padres team.
Margot, acquired from the Boston Red Sox in the Craig Kimbrel trade, is a rangy speedster with gap power and good contact skills who is destined for center field.
Renfroe, San Diego’s first round draft pick in 2013, is an aggressive slugger who should be able to hit for both average and power, and whose elite arm will likely end up in right field.
Those two aren’t the only veterans of top prospect lists. As recently as 2014 Hedges rated (per MLB.com) as the best prospect in the San Diego system and the best catching prospect in all of baseball. Though he exhausted his rookie status in 2015, the once-heralded backstop just turned 24 last month.
While his first taste of the majors was a disaster (.168/.215/.248 line over 152 PA), he is still considered an exceptional defensive catcher and destroyed Triple-A pitching this season (.326/.353/.597 against what is still age-appropriate competition).
Asuaje, also acquired in the Kimbrel trade, currently ranks 20th on MLB.com’s list of Padres prospects. Though he lacks the high-profile of his fellow call-ups, he has shown an ability to hit for average (career .292 average in the minors, .321 in 2016) and has more power than one would expect given his size (5-foot-9, 160 pounds).
The two pitchers, Baumann and Torres, have even less prospect pedigree than Asuaje (Torres appeared 23rd on MLB.com’s 2015 Padres list; nothing for Baumann). Still, both have pitched well at times.
Baumann, now 28, spent seven seasons in the Kansas City Royals’ system before signing with San Diego. Torres, still just 23, was acquired from the Oakland Athletics as part of the Drew Pomeranz deal.
While the Padres have been a disaster in recent years, this crop of players can at least give fans something to look forward to. At the very least, it will be exciting to see Margot and Renfroe, both of whom have impressed in the minors this season.
Scott Ferris covers all things baseball as a Staff Writer for Outside Pitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter @ScottHFerris
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