San Diego Padres News: Tingler on Olivares “very impressive early”

Edward Olivares has the makings of an everyday outfielder for the San Diego Padres, and manager Jayce Tingler has been impressed with him in spring.

At 23-years-old, Edward Olivares is such an intriguing prospect, given how much raw power he has. The former international free agent was signed in July 2014 by the Toronto Blue Jays but came over to the San Diego Padres in the Yangervis Solarte deal back in January 2018. In the season before he traded, Olivares slashed .269/.327/.468 with 17 home runs and 72 RBI between the Blue Jays’ Single-A and High-A outfits.

He smacked 12 home runs in his first year as a member of the San Diego Padres’ organization in 2018 and followed that with 18 last year, which was arguably his best year to date. With a .283/.349/.453 line, Olivares posted the highest OPS and RBI totals of his career. Throughout the minors, he’s also shown the ability to hit the ball to all parts of the field, registering 25 doubles and ten triples during the 2018 season.

On Wednesday, he had a towering solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, in which the Cleveland Indians left fielder didn’t bother to move. Jayce Tingler spoke highly of him after the game: Per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com, Tingler noted that Olivares “has been very impressive early.”

https://twitter.com/FOXSportsSD/status/1232790157943803905?s=20

Given how well he performed last season, it’s reasonable to assume that Olivares will begin the season at Triple-A El Paso. But with an already crowded outfield at the big-league level, it’s challenging to understand where he would plugin, especially as a potential September call up.

I suppose if Wil Myers were to be traded, that would free up some playing time, but it remains unclear if Trent Grisham, Franchy Cordero, or Josh Naylor will be long-term starters in the outfield. This season should provide some clarity to that, but there’s also the consideration that Taylor Trammell is coming.

It’s amazing how talented the Padres farm system is. I understand it’s highly-regarded by scouts across the league, but you truly understand the gravity of it once you are looking at numbers posted by the 16th best prospect in the organization in Olivares.