Infield prospect Graham Pauley made the Padres’ Opening Day roster, stories Dennis Lin of the Athletic (X hyperlink). San Diego might want to formally choose his contract. They’ve a number of vacancies on the 40-man roster to take action.
Pauley will be a part of Jackson Merrill in making his main league debut, maybe as quickly as tomorrow morning. Like Merrill, he’ll make the bounce instantly from Double-A. Pauley is in his second full season as an expert. The Padres chosen him within the thirteenth spherical of the 2022 draft. That appears like a wonderful discover, because the Duke product rapidly hit his solution to the majors.
A left-handed batter, Pauley raked throughout three minor league ranges a 12 months in the past. He began with a .309/.422/.465 slash with as many walks as strikeouts over 62 video games in Low-A. Whereas he didn’t keep that pristine strikeout and stroll profile upon a bump to Excessive-A, his energy numbers exploded after his transfer to the Midwest League. He popped 16 house runs in simply 45 video games to earn one other promotion to Double-A. Pauley continued to impress, closing the season with a .321/.375/.556 slash in 20 contests.
Total, Pauley completed his first full minor league schedule with a wonderful .308/.393/.539 line in 551 plate appearances. He ripped 32 doubles, 5 triples and 23 homers. As a school draftee, he ought to acquit himself nicely towards low minors pitching, however his manufacturing was so robust that it put him firmly on the prospect radar. Baseball America and The Athletic’s Keith Regulation every ranked him eleventh amongst San Diego prospects this winter, praising his superior offensive skill. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs slotted Pauley sixth within the system in January — he’d be as much as fourth after the inclusion of Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte within the Dylan Stop commerce — and equally praised his general offensive aptitude.
The 23-year-old picked up the place he’d left off this spring, hitting .314/.400/.486 with 5 walks and 9 strikeouts in 40 journeys to the dish. He satisfied the entrance workplace of his readiness to tackle main league pitching. Prospect evaluators are much less enamored of Pauley’s protection, with evaluations on his glove starting from common to nicely under. Pauley is primarily a 3rd baseman however has restricted expertise at second base and within the nook outfield.
He ought to get run early within the season on the scorching nook. Manny Machado is anticipated to work as a chosen hitter early within the 12 months as he continues to construct again after present process elbow surgical procedure final October. Pauley ought to step in as the first third baseman, with Eguy Rosario and Tyler Wade available as probably superior defensive choices late in video games.