The Padres have released right-hander Luis Patino, according to the MadFriars website. Patino was playing on a minor league contract signed back in January, and he’d posted a 2.63 ERA over 27 1/3 combined innings at the A-ball and Double-A levels this season, without any big league playing time.
Patino last pitched in the majors in 2023, as elbow problems during the spring of 2024 resulted in a Tommy John surgery at the very end of April. The Padres non-tendered Patino last winter and then re-signed him to the minors deal, which cleared some space off San Diego’s 40-man roster and also saved the team some money in the form of Patino’s projected $800K arbitration salary.
The right-hander made it back to game action almost exactly one year to the day after his TJ procedure, as his first rehab game with A-level Lake Elsinore took place on May 4. Besides a somewhat elevated walk rate, Patino was posting decent numbers during his time in the minors before injury problems surfaced again, as he has been on the Double-A injured list since late June due to elbow soreness.
This latest setback was apparently enough for the Padres to move on from Patino entirely, and it remains to be seen if the 25-year-old could be facing another surgery. Whatever the situation, Patino is now facing yet another crossroads in a pro career that began as a top-100 prospect during his first stint in San Diego’s farm system.
Patino has a 5.02 ERA, 20.2% strikeout rate, and 11.4% walk rate over 136 1/3 innings in the majors, starting 23 of his 45 career games. After making his MLB debut in the form of 17 1/3 innings with the Padres in 2020, Patino was part of the four-player package sent to the Rays in the Blake Snell trade that offseason. Patino spent parts of the next three seasons with the Rays before being traded to the White Sox in August 2023, and the Padres brought him back to their organization via waiver claim in December 2023.
Really sad what injuries have done to his career his stuff was incredible in the minors
Yeah, he’s 25, just a kid. He’ll recover, let’s hope!
The Dodgers could use an extra bullpen arm if he’s able to contribute now.
Happy trails Luis! All the best, and who knows what the future holds. Hope you turn the rest of your career into something special, Padre or not! 🤙🏽
Following Espinosa to Japan for a year?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hope he re-sign him to a MiLB deal again!!! Idk
I really thought the Padres rotation was going to be a great 1-2 punch of Gore and Patino. It’s unfortunate that his career has been derailed by injuries.
Best wishes to Luis. I’m hoping he can stay healthy and be a productive player, whether it’s in the majors or overseas.
And Gore has been nothing close to a 1 of that 1-2 punch
@longtimecoming. That’s why prospect hogging doesn’t always work. It’s weird that certain teams only trade the ones that bust out constantly like they knew they were overvalued.
True. But the bullpen needs an extra arm if just for a few weeks.
Yates and Scott will be active by next weekend.
I hope they are closer to last years version. They haven’t been impressive this season.
But even if they can just fill some innings competently, it would be a bonus.
Big Question is when will Padres and AJ Preller will let
the best hitter not on their current major league team out of the team doghouse and onto the major league team:
Catcher and 1st round draft pick Luis Campusano who leads
the Padres farm system with 21 home runs @ AAA
and leads all Padres farm system hitters in multiple offensive categories.
The Padres could have used Campusano’s bat for the Dodgers series and could have used him @ C, DH, 1B and pinch hitting.
Padres needed a spark against the Dodgers since
their #1-4 hitters WERE COLD AS ICE DID NOT PRODUCE.
Meanwhile, Campusano is white hot and torching the ball @ AAA.
sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/08/17/padres-minors-…
sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/08/15/padres-minors-…
It was the later part of their lineup that even kept them in the series.
Padres, like the Dodgers, can play with any team when they are hot and, like the Dodgers, lose to any team when they are ice cold.
SF – 9/1 he likely gets a call for some DH ABs.
I see nothing incorrect in your post other than the comparison of AAA stats in the PCL to MLB against CK, BS and TG when they were at their best.
I’d bet Luis would not have done well either this weekend. It is a shame that 1-4 are as bad as a group as they are right now.
Basically, 1 bad inning by a SP for each game (or failure to get a key hit by a 1-4 guy in games 1 and 3) was the difference but an L is an L no matter how is comes and need to sweep next week to get back.
Campusano needs some time to get re acclimated to major league pitching.
It is very tough to get just 1 AB a week and to get your offensive mojo going @ the major league level.
Agree with you that MLB pitching is higher level than AAA.
Padres need to give Campusano some starts @ 1B and DH
to make him eligible for the playoffs and
to see if he could be their DH and/or 1B for the playoffs and for 2026when a number of free agent players will be leaving at the end of this year.
He has good major league hitting stats in previous stints
with the Padres in last year and in prior years…
I hope Campy hits and carries it over to spring training. He has to be the backup C and DH if hitting. Possibly even 1b comes into play but that’s a stretch.
Padres really only head to off-season needing a TOR (King or Gallen or similar) and the 1b / DH guy so, if Campy can fill that then money for King shouldn’t be an issue. Basically, Cease and King total $$ should cover it (maybe 5 or a 6th year to lower AAV).
He will be called up when rosters expand in 2 weeks, but I don’t think it will be sooner unless injuries force it. Merrill?
I do hope Merrill is ok. I noticed him having an issue with his leg a while before he was pulled. Even before the weird thing at the plate.
He seems like a good kid and I enjoy watching him play.
It happens in baseball.
The Dodgers hitters were ice cold for 2-3 weeks and are on the top 5 list for most blown leads and games this season.
The Dodgers always play tough against their rivals the Padres.
Padres were red hot and made up 9+ games in the standings in a month.
Then, the Padres go ice cold for the Dodgers series?!
That is baseball and what makes the game so unpredictable and interesting!
I knew this would be a close series. I’m just glad the Dodgers came out on top. The next set they play should be interesting.
I think the upcoming Series will be much more competitive in a week or 10 days when the Padres are at home@ Petco Park in San Diego v the Dodgers!
It didn’t feel like a close series to me, even though two games were close. I’m interested in whether the Pads can put it behind quickly and win a series against the Giants, maybe regain the momentum they had.
As a Dodgers fan, I can say I wasn’t completely confident in the bullpen keeping the leads.
Apparently, Shakira’s magic (5-0 after she showed up at Petco) does not extend to the Dodgers.
Disappointing series from the Friars. Like you said, they made up a lot of ground and can hopefully keep the division race much more interesting than it’s been in awhile.
The Dodgers can take 7 out of 9 so far this season against a good team like the Padres but can’t beat the Angels.
Padres will play better at Petco Park in front of their sellout crowd home fans in the 3 game Series against the visiting Dodgers coming up soon!.
The Angels always play the Dodgers better than anyone else.
Which proves their talent is good enough to win more than they do. Which means it’s an organizational issue.
Needs to get healthy first. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in Korea or Japan in the near future.
His dad got caught in a weak moment in an Italian restaurant