The San Diego Padres, whose patience has reached its limit, has made a powerful move to downgrade its main catcher Luis Campusano (26) to Triple-A of the Minor League. They waited and waited throughout the season, but failed to improve.
“San Diego made a noticeable roster move ahead of the game on the 12th,” the U.S. online media “Trade Rumors” reported on the 12th (Korea Standard Time), adding, “We sent Luis Campusano, a young offensive catcher who started the season as the main catcher this season, to the Minor League Triple-A team using options.”
The media added, “San Diego will fill the vacancy by calling up Brandon Lockridge (27), an outfield prospect acquired from the New York Yankees through a trade this year due to Campusano’s relegation.” Lockridge, who entered the professional league after being nominated by the New York Yankees in 2018, has no big league experience yet. He is expected to take on the role of pinch-runner or logistical in the big league, with 46 stolen bases in Triple A this season.
A native of Georgia, the U.S., Kampusano made his Major League debut in 2020. In the early days, however, he spent more time in the minors than in the majors. He played in a total of 49 games last year, posting a batting average of 0.319, eight homers and 40 RBIs, and posted career highs in all aspects. His OPS, which combined on-base plus slugging percentage, was also good at 0.847. 토토사이트
Encouraged by the team’s strong performance, the San Diego Padres selected Kampusano as their main catcher at the spring camp early this year. He is young and gave a big score to his slugging capability that he displayed at the end of last season. He also announced that veteran catcher Kyle Higashioka (34) who he acquired from the New York Yankees in a trade would be his backup catcher.
When the season started, however, San Diego’s plans did not go as planned. Before his downgrade to the minor league, Kampusano played in a total of 91 games this season, posting a batting average of 0.227 with eight homers and 40 RBIs. His OPS also stood at 0.642. “Attack is a problem, but Kampusano’s defense capability is being pointed out as a problem within the season, falling short of the average of the Major League,” the media reported.
On the other hand, Higashioka, who was supposed to support Kampusano, appeared in a total of 73 games as of the same day, posting a batting average of 0.223 with 16 homers and 43 RBIs this season. His OPS is not bad at 0.764. Higashioka, who is an eight-year veteran of the Major League this year, is spending his career high season with both home runs and RBIs.
Higashioka hit 10 homers every season for three consecutive years from 2021 to last year. However, he already hit 16 homers this year. In a recent interview with the San Diego Union-Turribune, Higashioka said, “Playing in games more often than in previous years seems to have something to do with hitting more homers.”
The San Diego Padres hired Elias Diaz, 34, a veteran All-Star catcher who was released by the Colorado Rockies late last month, through a minor contract after Kampusano was sluggish throughout the season. When the Major Roasters expanded from 26 to 28 players early this month, they called him up to the big leagues.
As of Tuesday, San Diego is ranking third among the five teams in the National League with 82-65 winning percentage of 0.558 this season. The team is lagging behind the leading Los Angeles Dodgers by 15 games, making it impossible to advance to the post season by winning the district championship. However, as the team ranks second after Arizona in the wild card race in the National League, its hope for fall baseball remains in effect.
Therefore, the move to the squad, which demoted Campusano to a minor, can be seen as a cornerstone of San Diego to prepare for the upcoming fall baseball, giving veteran catcher Diaz time to adapt to the team.
San Diego also advanced to the postseason through wild cards in 2022, but was eliminated after losing to Philadelphia in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) by 1-4.
