Padres To Select Lake Bachar

The Padres are going to select right-hander Lake Bachar to their 40-man roster and option him to Triple-A El Paso, reports Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune on X. The righty triggered an opt-out in his contract but the Friars will stop him from getting away by adding him to their roster. They have an open 40-man spot after designating Austin Davis for assignment earlier this week.

Bachar, 29, gets a major league roster spot for the first time. The Padres drafted him with a fifth-round pick back in 2016 and had climbed as high as Double-A by the end of 2019. But then the pandemic wiped out the minor leagues in 2020 and he missed all of 2021 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

He was able to return to a mound in 2022 but struggled initially. He tossed 45 1/3 Double-A innings that year with a 6.15 earned run average. In a piece at Baseball America earlier this year, Sanders relays that a splitter camp run by Hideo Nomo in the spring of 2023 seemed to help Bachar unlock something. The righty posted a 2.69 ERA at Double-A last year, striking out 27.5% of batters faced while giving out walks at a 10% clip.

Per Bachar’s transactions tracker at MLB.com, he reached free agency at the end of 2023 but re-signed with the Friars on a minor league deal. It seems there was an opt-out in that minors pact, which has allowed Bachar to get himself a 40-man roster spot. He has thrown 57 2/3 Triple-A innings this year with a 4.06 ERA, 27.8% strikeout rate and 11.3% walk rate.