San Diego Padres: The Hottest Prospect Down On The Farm

Have you seen what’s been going on down on the farm in Lake Elsinore? If not, you’re missing one of the hottest prospects in the entire San Diego Padres farm system.

Before you continue reading, I must legally place a NSFW warning on this piece. What San Diego Padres RHP prospect Chris Paddack is doing to hitters is almost unfair.

Paddack is down in High-A ball with the Lake Elsinore Storm and is wasting no time establishing his dominance over California League hitters.

On Saturday night against the Modesto Nuts, Paddack tossed six shutout innings, allowing just two hits and striking out 10 hitters. He did not allow a single free pass.

Both of the hits Paddack allowed on Saturday night were infield hits as he showed amazing command and placement of all of his pitches. His fastball touched 95 mph on multiple occasions and his curveball showed legitimate plus-potential throughout the evening.

The Padres acquired Chris Paddack from the Miami Marlins in 2016, giving up 39-year-old reliever Fernando Rodney for the then 20-year-old top prospect. Tommy John surgery forced Paddack to miss all of 2017, however, MLB Pipeline kept Paddack in their Top 30 Padres Prospects list this season, coming in at number 22.

Back in February, we highlighted Paddack as a prospect to keep an eye on in 2018. Fans, evaluators, and minor league aficionados all believed Paddack would return to the mound and flash his dominant repertoire again, however, did any honestly believe he was going to be this explosive?

In his three starts, Paddack has recorded 26 strikeouts and just one walk in 16 innings. He’s given up only eight hits and has yet to allow a run to score. Paddack is putting up more commanding numbers than he did in 2016 before surgery.

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When he came over from Miami, Paddack worked three starts in Fort Wayne before going under the knife. In 14 innings he allowed one run, 11 hits, and three walks while striking out 23.

Fans in Lake Elsinore won’t see Paddack for too much longer, should he continue to blow past High-A hitters. Not only can he reach back for a 95 mph fastball in the fifth inning but it has so much life and tail that hitters can’t pick it up. It’s such a dangerous pitch that Modesto hitters, on a few occasions, were actually way ahead of the pitch!

The curveball is quickly making Paddack a complete pitcher with three plus-pitches that will play well against more advanced hitting. He dropped a massively looping 12-6 curveball into a batter last night that made this writer laugh uncontrollably because of how filthy it was. It was so disgusting I couldn’t do anything but laugh and re-watch it over and over.

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Paddack will be on a strict pitch count this season seeing as it’s his first action since returning from Tommy John, however, he’s better now than he was pre-surgery. Yes, small sample size, but watching him locate his pitches, work in his curveball at the perfect time, and generate a high percentage of whiffs are all signs that Paddack is set to take the next step in his development.