Justice for Luis Campusano

The San Diego Padres might have a future star catcher in their system, ready for the MLB level, and they also might not care. What the heck is going on with Luis Campusano?

I’m starting to get concerned about Luis Campusano, but not for anything he’s doing. I’m starting to get concerned that the Padres don’t view him as a part of their long-term plans.

Let’s take a look at how we got here…

COVID-19 ruins everything

Campusano, like MacKenzie Gore and most prospects that are around 23 years old right now, had his development interrupted when there was no minor league season in 2020. Luis played in rookie ball in 2017, low-A ball in 2018 and high-A ball in 2019. He got better every season, improving his batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging in each of those years while going up a level each time.

2020 should’ve started with Campusano in double-A, and 2022 should’ve been when the Padres were planning for him to either take over as the starting MLB catcher, or when they should’ve planned for him to take over as the backup MLB catcher with a chance to get more work the better he performed with the Padres.

Instead, Campusano’s 2020 consisted of one MLB game. He went 1-4 with a 2-run HR in Oakland, against Bob Melvin’s A’s. And apparently sprained his wrist in the process, because they next time we saw him was in 2021.

Following the 2020 season, Campusano was arrested in Georgia for marijuana possession. After threatening him with prison time, the charges were dropped right before the start of the 2021 season.

Too early to call/Promising results

Forced into MLB action early due to yet another Austin Nola injury, Campusano played in 11 games last year for the Padres and was obviously not ready. He slashed .088/.184/.088 and was eventually replaced by Webster Rivas. That shouldn’t have been enough for the Padres to give up on Campusano, a player who had never really played about high-A ball before being thrown into the fire, but I’m worried it might’ve been.

(Perhaps I’m having flashbacks of the team giving up on Luis Urias early, as well.)

Campusano didn’t make it back to the Padres last season after being demoted in late April. What he did do was tear up triple-A. In 81 games with the El Paso Chihuahuas, Campy’s slash was .295/.365/.541.

If you’re looking for some comparison, Fernando Tatis Jr.’s last minor league season included a slash of .286/.355/.507. In double-A, a full level down from where Campusano put up his numbers. I’m not trying to argue that Campusano will be better than Tatis, but there’s plenty of evidence now that he’s a special hitter at a position where those are difficult to find.

So the Padres have what A.J. Preller has always been in search of: A good defensive catcher who is also an offensive weapon. He’s also young (and under team control for a number of years) and appeared to be something of a leader for the Chihuahuas last year.

I’m not saying Preller should be rolling out the red carpet for Luis Campusano, but I’m a little surprised that he hasn’t. He’s done the opposite, actually. He’s blocked him at every chance he could.

Austin Nola is still the team’s starting catcher, for reasons that are beyond me, and Preller used the offseason to add more backups in between Nola and Campusano. Victor Caratini stays, Jorge Alfaro is at-risk to make the team, and Campusano’s role is now reduced to “fourth catcher and maybe occasional DH”. My guess is that the team is smart enough to not get Campy’s clock ticking for such a small role.

What now?

Earlier in the offseason, there were rumors that A.J. Preller wanted to trade one of the catchers on his roster. That chatter has died down, I’m assuming because he’s realized that Austin Nola and Victor Caratini have zero value in the trade market, and now we’re stuck in a situation where the team is worse while Campusano is set to spend time on the bench or in the minor leagues to make it all happen.

I won’t be surprised if the Padres end up trading Campusano away sometime soon, but I’ll be disappointed. If the team can start opening doors to the young talent of MacKenzie Gore and C.J. Abrams, why is Luis being left out in the cold? Why should his next opportunity rest on him waiting for another inevitable Austin Nola injury?

In spring training, Campusano has gotten less ABs than…

Austin Nola
Victor Caratini
Jorge Alfaro
Luke Voit

Those are just the guys at C/DH that got ABs that could’ve been Campy’s. If you want to expand it broader, here are some of the “prospects” that got more ABs than the Padres’ very good prospect catcher:

C.J. Abrams
Ha-Seong Kim
Nomar Mazara
Jose Azocar
Luis Liberato
Trayce Thompson
C.J. Hinojosa
Eguy Rosario

So, again, why are the Padres purposefully building road-blocks in front of one of their top 5 prospects? Especially when he showed last year that he’s already successful at the triple-A level and is ready for his MLB shot?

Why are they more excited to give playing time to Victor Caratini, or a roster spot to Jorge Alfaro, than they are to clear the lane to someone that could be the long-time catching option that A.J. Preller has been searching for since trading for Derek Norris in 2015?

I don’t know. I don’t get it. I want more talented young players on this team, to bridge the gap between today’s successful team and tomorrow’s very successful teams, but Luis Campusano seems like the odd man out at every turn.