The Padres announced they’ve selected outfielder Bryce Johnson onto the big league roster. Catcher Luis Campusano has been optioned to Triple-A El Paso as the corresponding active roster move. Right-hander Yu Darvish has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.
Johnson gives the Friars some extra outfield depth after they lost Jackson Merrill to the concussion-related injured list over the weekend. Campusano hadn’t been playing much as a third catcher behind Elias Díaz and Martín Maldonado, so it made more sense to add another outfielder to the bench. Tyler Wade and Brandon Lockridge are likely to split the center field reps, but Johnson adds a switch-hitting bat to Mike Shildt’s outfield mix.
It’ll be the second Padres stint for the 29-year-old Johnson. He appeared in 47 games and tallied a career-high 73 plate appearances with the Friars a year ago. Johnson was non-tendered at season’s end and landed with the Pirates on a minor league deal. The Padres brought him back in April in a minor league swap for depth catcher Brett Sullivan. (Today has been less kind to Sullivan, who was designated for assignment by Pittsburgh this afternoon.) Johnson has spent the bulk of the season in El Paso, where he’s hitting .303/.407/.458 with three homers and 10 steals. He’s out of minor league options, though, so they’d need to run him back through waivers to take him off the active roster.
Darvish’s IL transfer is just a formality. It backdates to Opening Day, so it doesn’t affect his eligibility for reinstatement. It’s still not clear when he’ll be ready to return. According to the MLB.com injury tracker, he made it through a simulated game on Saturday.
Padres can’t seem to develop catchers. Salas going to be a bust too.
Usually respect your posts Dave, first time for everything though! Go Pads
haha…just trying to get under Padres’ fans skin.
19 and in AA is impressive, but hurt and hitting .188 with a career .221/.305/.345 slash isn’t. Plenty of time to turn things around of course, but some of his prospect shine has worn off.
Word
Broken back may have a little to do with his hitting. If defense was all he had to do, Salas would be in the majors today. Willing to bet even injured he could hit better than Maldonado.
I definitely wouldn’t write him off by any means, but they haven’t done him any favors with the aggressive assignments they’ve given him. Some guys can handle it and I’m admittedly more cautious when it comes to handling prospects, but it doesn’t seem like it’s been the best path for Salas specifically. He’s got plenty of time though.
Campusano probably just needs a change of scenery. I’m also a Guardians fan that remembers when Austin Hedges was a top prospect.
Yeah I think Campusano is probably done in SD. They used him exactly how I wanted, starting at DH a lot but good grief, the only value he provided was when he didn’t swing.
Campusano needs to play regularly. When he does, he rakes. Bringing him up for a month and giving him just 18 AB and never more than 2 in a game is not a recipe for success.
Salas is the best game general and defensive catcher at AA or below in the minor leagues. If that was all he had to do, he could have started 2025 in San Diego. Then a month into the season they find he has a stress fracture in his back. That explains a lot when it comes to his hitting. Lets see how he does when healthy.
Shildt sure doesn’t seem to trust him
The Padres bench is looking a lot weaker than last year. Why not give Eguy a shot and sign David Peralta?
I’ve been thinking the same thing…
Peralta – I’ve said this over and over. There are 30 teams and most could use 2024 Peralta. So, why is he not even a minor league signing with opt outs by mid-June.
He either doesn’t want to play or wants so much money that no one is calling.
Eguy was batting 180 with 35% strikeout rate in AAA .They sent him back to the Arizona facility to regroup.
In spring training Eguy was hitting lhp and rhp well. His first 11 hits with the Padres were all extra base hits last season including 3 home runs. The Padres need that more than anything in their lineup.
Rosario was ticked. He said that getting outrighted off the 40 man cost him $90k. When you are only making $160k that is significant. He felt that the Padres did him wrong to do that just to sign a 41 year old Gurriel, J-Hey, and Joe. Combined those guys hit .114 and Rosario could have done better while playing solid defense. I think he was right to be angry.
*Sigh* another light hitting outfielder.
It’s kind of strange that Tirso only managed to get 16 PA’S considering the alternatives. He only had 1 hit, but he had 2 bb’s and only 2 k’s.
Ignoring the catchers and the regulars they have given the rest 500-600 PA’S and with about a 60 OPS+, maybe not even that.
Way too many 26 man roster types on the team at once.
Can we table Darvish for the year, King too, at this point.
Be careful what you wish for, Eeyore!
LFGSD
Alright, Pollyanna.
How’d you know my name? Haxxor!
>.<
Cheers bub
It made no sense to not sign Peralta. lF would be at least league an average offensively and if that were the case Padres probably have 4-8 more wins.
This isn’t rotisserie league – player has a part in the signing process. See above.
Deeply profound.
Thank you. As opposed to suggesting the Padres have no sense because THEY didn’t sign HIM!
Surprised that they could option their former top catching prospect anymore to the minors since he’s been up and down every year since 2021.
He was hurt most of 2023 so technically never optioned that year. When he played for El Paso that year it was on a rehab assignment.
In 2024 they waited to option him until it wouldn’t count as an option year because they need to be down in the minors for at least 20 days for it to count.
Then this should be his final option year. 2021, 2022 and 2025.
Campy has more options remaining than hits this year. Waste of a roster spot for the last couple weeks
Only a waste because Shildt didn’t PLAY him.
They sure need a RH bat of the bench
This kid is a great defensive OF. He used to make acrobatic plays every night for Sacramento!
Glad to see he’s back in the bigs
So he’s signed with the A’s?
(West) Sacramento has another minor-league team, that’s the Giants’ AAA affiliate Sacramento River-Cats.
Right. The A’s
Much respect to Campusano he went up to the plate with all the makings of a hitter and pulled up an absolutely incredible showing 0-18 with 9K’s but walked 6 times.
His one plus skill was left behind in El Paso.
SD seem to have a knack for developing quality hitting catchers in minors, that cannot play the position enough to keep runners from getting to second base. Seems Salas is the next debacle (injury related). remember when they had Francisco Mejia – seems Campy is following his tracks
Talk about uninformed. Campusano only got into 9 games in 6 weeks since his call up and none at catcher. Hard to get down your timing down when you don’t get to play. Also, Shildt said that they had asked Campusano to focus on drawing more walks. He did that. In fact, he leads the league in BB%, 75 higher than Juan Soto. BTW, its 9 K in 24 PA, not AB. Still bad, but its super important to understand the distinction between PA and AB.
0-18 regardless he is paid to hit — its not like he is the first player to be used scattering across multiple games. he is a pro hitter not a baby that needs his bottle fed daily, so he has to adjust to what he is given