3 players on the San Diego Padres Opening Day roster who won't finish on it

2. Domingo Tapia will not finish the 2023 season on the Padres roster

The Padres have a ton of pitching on the IL and with them only having three relievers with options, Domingo Tapia feels like an obvious one to go down when the team is healthy. The only other bullpen arms who can be sent down without being DFA'd are Steven Wilson and Tim Hill. I don't see either happening.

The Padres signed Tapia to a minor league deal this offseason. He made the Opening Day roster thanks to the bevy of injuries the team has sustained. He is a hard thrower whose average fastball velocity is at 96.8 mph this season which ranks in the 92nd percentile according to Baseball Savant, but he doesn't have much else going for him. He's made just 55 MLB appearances across his four years of experience and has a career ERA of 4.40. Not awful, but San Diego can do better.

This season, Tapia has struck out nine batters in 6.1 innings pitched which is a good number, but he's walked three and has allowed three runs. He's arguably the lowest leverage arm they have right now, and again, with him having an option left it makes him easy to send down.

Tapia will likely be one of those relievers that gets shuttled back and forth between AAA and the bigs as much as possible. He'll make his appearances, but once the Padres get their arms back, he won't be needed.