Padres draft perfect third-round project for their pitching lab

The Padres started their draft with a predictable swing on high school pitching upside, selecting right-hander Coleman Borthwick from South Walton High School in Florida. That shouldn’t be a surprise to Padres fans. However, two rounds later it got really interesting. 

San Diego selected UNC right-hander Ryan Lynch with the No. 97 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, adding another power arm with enough versatility to keep us on our toes. Lynch has started and relieved. He’s thrown meaningful innings during the College World Series. And now he enters an organization that should be perfectly comfortable letting the answer reveal itself.

The Friars could try him as a starter and see whether the command gains are real. And if that doesn’t work? Introduce him to the bullpen. That wouldn’t be a disastrous fallback plan for a team known for building ridiculous bullpens. If anything, it’s the safest floor for any pitcher in the draft.

Padres scouting director Chris Kemp described him as a “bulldog” with the ability to become either a power starter or a reliever. If you’re already labeled a guy with that mentality, your chances of donning a major league uniform at some point in your career are probably high.

The starter-or-reliever uncertainty would be concerning for some organizations. For the Padres, it fits the program like a glove. 

Padres can let Ryan Lynch prove which role fits him

We have already watched San Diego make this work. Michael King arrived in the Juan Soto trade after spending most of his career with the Yankees as a bridge reliever bouncing between the rotation and bullpen. The Padres gave him a full-time starting job in 2024, and he responded with a 2.95 ERA and 201 strikeouts over 173 2/3 innings. 

Seth Lugo had a similar road one year earlier. He had spent years working mostly in relief for the Mets before the Padres gave him an opportunity to start in 2023. He made a career-high 26 starts, threw 146 1/3 innings and posted a 3.57 ERA before turning that season into a multiyear deal with the Royals.

Stephen Kolek is an honorable mention as well. Still, that doesn't guarantee Lynch becomes the next King or Lugo. But the Padres are exactly the right team to explore the possibility.

They have consistently found ways to build productive bullpens without depending entirely on expensive free agents. Ruben Niebla has been central to that success, helping the organization maximize pitchers through individualized plans, improved sequencing and clearer attack plans. 

There are draft picks that require everything to break correctly. Lynch doesn’t feel like that. He looks like an easy drop in the bucket. The Padres can aim high and develop him as a power starter. If that fails, they can lean into something they already do extremely well and build another bullpen weapon.

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