The San Diego Padres are a team to watch as the MLB Trade Deadline approaches. General manager A.J. Preller is notorious for making moves, and the team is in desperate need of another outfielder. However, it is unclear if the Padres are in a hurry to upgrade the position, and they could very well wait until the deadline. An in-house move the Padres need to make right now is to call up prospect Tirso Ornelas to be the everyday leftfielder until a major move is made. And who knows, if Ornelas hits and plays well, maybe he is a part of a big trade to not only upgrade the left field position this season, but for years to come.
Ornleas has not had a chance to get going in the majors. He has 14 career at-bats, and it came earlier this season. Ornelas is the Padres’ No. 11 prospect on MLB Pipeline. The left-handed hitter has dominated the minor leagues in Double-A San Antonio as well as Triple-A El Paso. Last season, Ornelas hit .297 with 23 homers, 89 RBIs, 53 walks, 76 runs scored, and an OPS of .864.
The Padres currently have a good amount of left-handed hitters, but he brings a ton more slug than Tyler Wade, who is platooning with Brandon Lockridge for the position.
This season, Ornelas is hitting .305 with an .818 OPS. He has three home runs and 30 RBIs and has walked a solid 24 times this season. The Mexican native should be providing his efforts at the major league level, and no longer in the minors.
The Padres are set at center field and right field for the next eight-plus years. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill are two rising superstars who can change the outcome of a game at any moment. The lineup is good, but it does need more. It doesn’t necessarily need another star at the position, but what it needs is a consistent hitter with a high ceiling. Ornelas gives the Friars that as a 25-year-old. He is just a year younger than Tatis Jr. and also gives the team a local product.
Ornelas is from Tijuana, Mexico, right on the other side of the border. The Padres have a very large Mexican fan base that competes with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Padres have just one Mexican player on the team right now, and that is Jeremiah Estrada, who is a fan favorite in only his second season with the team. Estrada broke the MLB record with 13 consecutive strikeouts, which he accomplished last season. Because of that, he has made a name for himself. Adding another potential Mexican star to the roster will give the fan base much more to appreciate.
San Diego is a community that embraces local talent. Joe Musgrove is a San Diego legend for throwing the team’s first no-hitter in Padres history. He grew up in El Cajon, just east of the city.
The Padres’ lineup is going to improve. They cannot expect to continue to compete at a high level with Lockridge and Wade at the bottom of the lineup, followed by Elias Diaz or Martin Maldonado. Those are two holes in the lineup. Wade has played decently with the Friars this season, and smashed his first-career three-run triple in the 8-7 loss to the Dodgers in Game 1 of their current three-game series. However, the team is not seeing any consistency, and concerns are growing.
Wade is hitting .244 with zero homers and nine RBIs. He has 20 hits in 82 ABs. A handful of his ABs come in a sacrifice situation. Lockridge is another quick bat who hits from the right side. Lockridge is hitting .218 with zero homers and four RBIs. His OPS is just .534, and he should not be anything more than a pinch runner at this point in the season if at the major league level. If sent back down to the minors, he can work on his hitting. However, at 28 years old, it doesn’t seem Lockridge has a high enough ceiling for what the team needs. Lockridge has had some moments, but the Padres have World Series aspirations and need a consistent every-day left fielder to help get them closer to that goal.
Ornelas can become that player with consistent at-bats. A few of his 14 career ABs have come as a pinch hitter, as he has played in only seven games. He is certainly a rising star who has proven his worth in the minors. Right now is the time for the Padres to add Ornelas to the lineup and let him prove that he is a star.
The post The next star prospect Padres must call up in 2025 MLB season appeared first on ClutchPoints.
