San Diego Padres: Three Pitchers Signed To Minor League Deals

The San Diego Padres have added three minor league arms to the organization.

Good Friday afternoon, San Diego Padres fans. There hasn’t been much going on as far as major league offseason moves are concerned, outside of the additions of Garrett Richards and Ian Kinsler, but the team has been active in filling out their upper-minor league rosters this winter.

Before calling it a weekend, the Padres have signed three pitchers to minor league deals, including RHP Grant Sides, LHP Eric Stout, and RHP Ryan Colegate. **Since publication, Ryan Colegate will not end up signing with the Padres **

Sides is a 29-year-old reliever who has pitched in the Cleveland Indians and Arizona Diamondbacks’ systems since Cleveland used a 12th-round selection on him back in 2011. Across 224 career minor league appearances (all relief appearances) Sides has recorded a 14-12 record with a 3.40 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. In 323 innings, he has allowed just 14 home runs and has a K/BB ratio of 342/176, while converting 31 of 41 save opportunities.

The 6’4″ Alabama-native spent the 2018 season in the Atlantic League, an independent baseball league. He made 30 appearances, going 4-0 with a 1.44 ERA and striking out 48 across 31 innings. Sides has continued his high strikeout/low walk numbers in the Mexican winter league, where he has given up just two earned runs in 15 innings.

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Stout, a 25-year-old left-handed pitcher is another relief arm, making 158 appearances over the past five seasons in the Kansas City Royals organization. He made his MLB debut in 2018, giving up six earned runs on seven hits in 2.1 innings. Despite his rough intro into the bigs, Stout has a career 3.68 ERA in the minors and a 1.29 WHIP. Stout uses three pitches, including a fastball, slider, and changeup, with his fastball averaging in 91-92 mph, per Fangraphs.

Finally, Ryan Colegate was a 36th-round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians back in 2015 and was used mainly as a reliever in each of his three seasons in the system. He advanced a level in each season, reaching full-season ball with the Lake County Captains in 2017. He is 8-5 with a 5.12 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 60 career outings.

Following his release from Cleveland, Colegate pitched in the independent Frontier League in 2018, giving up three runs on nine hits across 10.2 innings.

All three will likely begin 2019 with either the AA Amarillo Sod Poodles or the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas.