{"id":85284,"date":"2024-09-09T23:52:40","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T03:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=85284"},"modified":"2024-09-09T23:52:40","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T03:52:40","slug":"padres-should-move-on-luis-campusano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/09\/09\/padres-should-move-on-luis-campusano\/","title":{"rendered":"Padres Should Move On from Former Top Catching Prospect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The San Diego Padres are on the verge of their first 90-win season since 2010, thanks mainly to general manager A.J. Preller\u2019s bold moves. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, there is room for improvement; the team cannot afford to allow its weaknesses to fester. One major weakness the team must address is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/campulu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luis Campusano<\/a>, their underperforming backstop. Once a top prospect in the organization, Campusano has become a liability, and it may be time for San Diego to move on before it is too late.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Padres Should Move On From Luis Campusano<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Campusano entered the 2021 season as the Padres\u2019 number three overall prospect. He finally got his chance to be the starting catcher this season after a few years of sporadic major league action since making his debut in 2020. The fanbase and organization had high hopes for the 25-year-old Georgia native, and despite a promising start in 2024, he has failed to live up to his potential. This season, Campusano has slashed .227\/.281\/.361 with eight home runs and 40 RBI. Moreover, he is coming off a massively disappointing August in which he hit .191\/.277\/.262 with only one home run and three RBI. Campusano\u2019s rusty performance last month has carried over to the start of September, and he is running out of time to turn things around.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The qualities that once made him a top prospect &#8212; bat-to-ball skills, power potential, and defensive ability behind the plate &#8212; have yet to translate to the major league level. The Padres hoped that more consistent playing time would help Campusano become a better hitter, but such hopes have not materialized. Even <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/25\/padres-hitting-coach-impact\/\" target=\"_self\">Padres hitting coach<\/a> Victor Rodr\u00edguez has failed to crack the \u201cCampy\u201d code; Campusano adjusted his batting stance after returning from the injured list in June, but such change seemingly could not yield long-term improvement.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Luis Campusano defensive ranks:<\/p>\n<p>Blocks Above Average &#8211; 61st<br \/>\nCatcher Framing Runs &#8211; 54th<br \/>\nCaught Stealing Above Average &#8211; 57th<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Padres Data Daily (@PadresDataDaily) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PadresDataDaily\/status\/1830341306927009809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 1, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Furthermore, Campusano\u2019s lackluster defense fails to justify his deficiencies on offense. According to Baseball Savant, Campusano ranks near the bottom among qualified catchers in Blocks Above Average (-10) and Caught Stealing Above Average (-4). He also offers very little in terms of framing ability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As such, it is hard to find any reasons to keep giving Campusano playing time during the stretch run if he cannot maximize the opportunities he is given.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>San Diego\u2019s Options For Catching Trio<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the Padres called up former All-Star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/diazel01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Elias D\u00edaz<\/a> as part of their roster expansion moves, manager <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/shildmi99.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Shildt<\/a> must decide how to handle the catching situation going forward. Shildt has been unsurprisingly coy on the matter, other than hinting that there are several different ways the team could utilize its backstop trio. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/higasky01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Higashioka<\/a> will almost certainly continue to get most of the playing time behind the plate, and he has earned that right. Ironically, though, Higashioka\u2019s defense is not much better than Campusano\u2019s. He, too, is below average in both Blocks Above Average (-6) and Caught Stealing Above Average (-2). His offensive numbers are similar to Campusano&#8217;s, except for Higashioka\u2019s bat showing a little more power, as evidenced by his 16 home runs.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"tl\">Kyle Higashioka &#8211; San Diego Padres (15)<br \/>\n<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Scv1jP9Nmv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/Scv1jP9Nmv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLBHRVideos\/status\/1827168724777865320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 24, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having three catchers gives Shildt more versatility regarding late-game substitutions and pinch hitters. San Diego has an abundance of bench depth, and now the team has a chance to maximize those valuable bench pieces depending on different matchups and game situations. Even so, giving Campusano more starts down the stretch is a bad idea for a team caught in a tight Wild Card race.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>D\u00edaz In, Campusano Out<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Padres have an opportunity to vastly improve their production behind the dish, but it starts with replacing Campusano with D\u00edaz. The fact that San Diego was willing to take a flyer on D\u00edaz indicates the team\u2019s frail level of trust in Campusano. Now, the time has come for D\u00edaz to take his place as Higashioka\u2019s backup. D\u00edaz may not be an offensive upgrade over the other two catchers, but he possesses the best defense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Passed balls and stolen bases have been a big issue for the Padres. D\u00edaz offers an opportunity to improve in both areas. Also, his defensive ability plays very well in October, where every mistake or stolen base carries more weight. As such, there is a chance that Campusano may not be included on the Padres postseason roster. Even if he is, the team should keep him on the bench as much as possible. Whatever the case, the writing is on the wall for Campusano. With top prospect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=salas-000eth&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ethan Salas<\/a> as the crown jewel of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/21\/padres-prospects-include-incoming\/\" target=\"_self\">Padres farm system<\/a>, the \u201cbackstop of the future\u201d mantle has been earned elsewhere. It is time for the Padres to move on from Campusano, and they should do it sooner rather than later.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The San Diego Padres are on the verge of their first 90-win season since 2010, thanks mainly to general manager A.J. Preller\u2019s bold moves. However, there is room for improvement; the team cannot afford to allow its weaknesses to fester. One major weakness the team must address is Luis Campusano, their underperforming backstop. Once a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5263,"featured_media":85294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1071],"tags":[3068,3006,3318,2457],"class_list":["post-85284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-padres","category-mlb","tag-elias-diaz","tag-kyle-higashioka","tag-luis-campusano","tag-mike-shildt"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85284\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}