The Padres have chosen outfielder Tirso Ornelas to their 40-man roster, MLBTR has confirmed. The transfer was beforehand listed on the membership’s transactions tracker at MLB.com. The Padres have had an open spot on their 40-man roster since Yu Darvish was positioned on the restricted record earlier this month, so no corresponding transfer will likely be required right now.
Ornelas, 24, was a global signing out of Mexico, with the Padres giving him a $1.5MM signing bonus again in 2016. He put up a powerful exhibiting in Rookie ball in 2017, hitting .276/.399/.408 and getting himself some consideration from prospect evaluators.
Baseball America listed him because the #31 prospect within the membership’s system going into 2018 and he was on that outlet’s prime 30 record for 3 years after that. FanGraphs ranked him because the #116 prospect in all of baseball going into 2019, highlighting his pure talents on the plate.
Ornelas had a dismal yr in 2019, slashing .217/.303/.279 throughout Rookie ball and Excessive-A. Going into 2020, Eric Longenhagen at FanGraphs talked about some swing adjustments that had damaging outcomes, however he nonetheless gave Ornelas reward and ranked him nineteenth within the system.
Extra not too long ago, Ornelas appears to have gotten issues again on observe. After the minors had been canceled in 2020, Ornelas put up some satisfactory numbers in 2021 and 2022. Final yr, he had an ideal exhibiting in Double-A, with 11 house runs in 72 video games. He additionally walked at a 14.1% clip and was solely struck out in 18.9% of his plate appearances. His .284/.381/.473 line at that degree translated to a wRC+ of 126.
He additionally bought into 55 Triple-A video games final yr with much less success, as his .285/.358/.425 line at that degree led to a 96 wRC+ within the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. However he’s been much better at that degree right here in 2024, with 12 house runs via 74 contests, a ten.3% stroll charge and 17.1% strikeout charge. His .316/.390/.515 batting line is 24% higher than league common, per wRC+.
It hasn’t been a straight line however Ornelas has discovered a winding highway to the majors since being signed by the Padres nearly a decade in the past. Only a few days again, Longenhagen and Travis Ice launched their record of prime Padres’ prospects for this yr at FanGraphs with Ornelas within the #12 slot. The report suggests the Statcast knowledge isn’t as spectacular because the uncooked numbers with Ornelas, however nonetheless he’s nonetheless seen as a viable large leaguer.
Ornelas has performed a little bit of heart area and first base however has largely been within the outfield corners in his profession. The Padres have Fernando Tatis Jr. on the injured record attributable to a proper femoral stress response. Per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune on X, Tatis has begun taking part in catch and swinging a bat however he nonetheless has some hurdles to clear earlier than he can rejoin the membership.
With out Tatis, the Friars have a nook outfield combine consisting of Jurickson Profar, David Peralta and Bryce Johnson. Profar is having a shocking profession yr on the age of 31 and is firmly implanted in left area. Peralta was just under league common on the plate over the 2021-23 interval and is hitting .250/.313/.330 in 2024 for a wRC+ of 90. Johnson has largely been in a bench position, with only one begin since July 2.
Maybe Ornelas can carve out some taking part in time in there in the course of the last few months of 2024 or in the long run. Peralta and Profar are each impending free brokers, so there’s plenty of room subsequent to Tatis and Jackson Merrill sooner or later outfield plans.
