Luis Campusano

Campusano entered 2023 with 92 big-league plate appearances over the previous three years, but he finally received a decent stretch of playing time last season. He made the Opening Day roster as San Diego's backup catcher but went down with a thumb injury in mid-April and was sidelined until after the All-Star break. Gary Sanchez had settled in behind the plate for the Padres, but Campusano saw regular action the rest of the way before a sprained ankle kept him out for the final week of the campaign. The 25-year-old didn't provide much defensive value but excelled offensively with seven homers, 27 runs, 30 RBI and a .319/.356/.491 slash line in 174 plate appearances. Campusano hit similarly in the minors and doesn't have much else to prove at Triple-A, and he should be the favorite to open 2024 as the Friars' starting backstop. Even if that's the case, his outlook is likely to be limited by volume since he's played over 100 games in a season just once in his professional career. Additionally, he hasn't proved he can produce at the major-league level for even a half season, let alone a full one, so there's plenty of risk that comes with his massive upside.

Campusano doesn't have much more to prove with his bat in the minors, as he impressed again for Triple-A El Paso last season, posting a .298/.363/.483 slash line with 14 homers and 60 RBI over 358 plate appearances. His 17.3% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate further shone light on his readiness to hit in the majors, though he was just okay with a .250/.260/.333 slash line and a 1:11 BB:K over 50 big-league plate appearances with San Diego. That small sample isn't likely to divert the Padres' view of Campusano as their catcher of the future, and it's telling that in November they chose to non-tender veteran backstop Jorge Alfaro, who worked in a timeshare with Austin Nola last season. Nola will still be around in 2023, but Campusano is going to get an expanded opportunity and could emerge as the team's primary catcher if his bat plays up as expected and his glove is at least passable. The position is no longer the wasteland we've grown accustomed to in fantasy, but it's nonetheless a good idea to keep an eye on Campusano in redraft to see how his playing time shakes out.

Despite strong offensive statistical showings in the upper levels of the minors, Campusano still appears to be third on the Padres' depth chart at catcher. Austin Nola and Victor Caratini may not be better hitters than Campusano, but they are significantly better defenders and they work better with pitchers. Campusano logged a 122 wRC+ as a 22-year-old catcher at Triple-A, which is pretty excellent. He hit 15 home runs while batting .295 with a 20.2 K% and an 8.3 BB% in 81 games. His defense is supposedly trending up, but that might be damning with faint praise. If it ever seems like Campusano is poised for regular work, he's a talented enough hitter to add value in two-catcher leagues. The Padres traded for Jorge Alfaro in November, adding another competitor for playing time to the mix.

Despite entering 2020 having never played above High-A ball, Campusano parlayed a co-MVP campaign in the California League in 2019 and an impressive showing at the team's alternate training site last season into a big-league callup. The 22-year-old logged only four plate appearances before a sprained wrist shut him down for the remainder of the regular season, but he made the most of the brief opportunity, drilling a solo home run in his debut. He also struck out twice, providing a reminder that young catching prospects usually take time to develop. Still, Campusano has shown the ability to hit for contact in the minors -- he registered a superb 11.7 K% and 86.5 Contact% in his breakthrough 2019 season -- and he projects to be an above-average hitter in the big leagues. Unfortunately, offseason legal troubles have cast a cloud over his immediate future and scrambled his outlook moving forward.

Campusano, a second-round pick in 2017, had a breakout season at High-A, and while he clearly has a good command of the strike zone (10.7 BB%, 11.7 K%), his numbers are slightly less impressive when we look a little deeper. He hit .292 with nine home runs in 107 games away from Lancaster, one of the most hitter-friendly parks in pro baseball (he hit .423 with six HR in 15 games in Lancaster). His numbers in primarily neutral hitting environments are a better gauge of his present abilities -- a potentially above-average to plus hitter with average power. He has the tools to be a quality defensive catcher, thus profiling as the Padres' long-term starter at that position. We can recognize the noise in his California League numbers and still conclude that he is a top-10 catching prospect, just not a top-five one. He will spend his age-21 season at Double-A, which by itself is an accomplishment for any catcher.