San Diego Padres Are Sending Eight Prospects To Arizona Fall League

In their 58-year history, the San Diego Padres have been fortunate to employ a number of productive and reliable catchers.

The run began with Fred Kendall's five seasons starting in 1972 and continued through the golden age of Padres' catching from 1981-1992 when Terry Kennedy and Benito Santiago manned the position for 12 consecutive seasons, six apiece. In recent times, Ramon Hernandez, Nick Hundley, Austin Hedges and even Mike Piazza (22 homers and 3.0 WAR in his age-37 season in 2006) have had productive stints while donning the so-called "tools of ignorance."

San Diego is also hoping that a new golden age is about to dawn as 20-year-old catcher Ethan Salas was called up in early September. Already, he has made some noteworthy contributions to the team, including becoming the youngest catcher in MLB history to catch a postseason game, which he did in Game Two of the Padres' Wild Card series sweep of the Chicago Cubs.

Salas may soon have some talented young company behind the plate as catcher Ty Harvey, the Padres' No. 4 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was named San Diego's prospect to watch in the Arizona Fall League (AFL), which begins play on Oct. 3, by MLB.com staffers Jim Callis, Sam Dykstra and Jonathan Mayo.

"Ethan Salas is the shining star of the Padres’ catching contingent, but Harvey - a 2025 fifth-rounder with serious power potential - is a solid No. 2 option in the San Diego system," the trio wrote. "The right-handed slugger was limited to only 46 games with Single-A Lake Elsinore this season due to a hamstring injury and a broken left hand, and the latter may have affected his performance down the stretch in the California League. More distance from the break could help him show off that pop more consistently in the desert, and exposure to a multitude of arms on the Peoria roster could be beneficial for his defensive work, too."

Seven other San Diego prospects will join Harvey on the Peoria roster, three of whom are listed as Top 30 prospects in the system: right-handed pitcher Kannon Kemp (No. 13), right-handed pitcher Winyer Chourio (No. 15), outfielder Alex McCoy (No. 26), infielder Justin DeCriscio, left-handed pitcher Igor Gil, right-handed pitcher Francis Pena and right-handed pitcher Jordan Valenzuela.

Joining the Padres' prospects on the Peoria roster will be their peers from the St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds organizations.

Among the Padres' participants, DeCriscio, who advanced all the way from Single-A Lake Elsinore and High-A Ft. Wayne to finish the year with Double-A San Antonio in his first full professional season, was singled out by Mayo and Dykstra as San Diego's "sleeper" prospect to watch in the AFL.

The duo wrote: "The 2025 10th-rounder out of N.C. State focused primarily on shortstop between Single-A, High-A and Double-A in his first full season but also saw time at five different positions, giving him the utility label at an early juncture in his career. Batting from the right side, DeCriscio posted solid contact rates at every stop to fuel his rise and finished with a .270/.358/.425 [.783 OPS] line, 13 homers and 22 steals over 121 games. He may project best as a hit-tool-forward player who can fill multiple roles off the bench, and that’d be a solid outcome for a former senior sign who joined the organization for just $15,000."

Joining DeCriscio at San Antonio this year were Gil, McCoy and Pena, with Chourio and Kemp playing at Ft. Wayne, and Harvey and Valenzuela contributing to a Lake Elsinore team that won the California League championship.

This could be the start of a new age for San Diego, setting up the future of the organization. When players like outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr., third baseman Manny Machado and shortstop Xander Bogaerts are at the tail end of their playing careers, we could very well see these youngsters taking over the organization.