The Padres announced this afternoon that the club has selected the contract of catcher Chandler Seagle. In corresponding moves, catcher Luis Campusano was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right ankle sprain, while right-hander Joe Musgrove was transferred to the 60-day IL to open space on the 40-man roster.
Seagle, 27, was a 30th-round pick by the Padres in the 2017 draft. He’s never hit much throughout his career in the minors, with a career .204/.277/.287 slash line in 287 games as a professional. Still, Seagle has managed to climb through the minor leagues steadily throughout his career thanks to a strong glove behind the plate. That defensive prowess has now earned him his first big league opportunity, where he’ll provide insurance for the Padres behind Brett Sullivan. If Seagle gets into a game before the regular season comes to a close tomorrow, it will be his major league debut.
The opportunity for Seagle comes at the expense of Campusano, whose season has ended prematurely. The 24-year-old backstop dealt with injuries throughout much of the 2023 campaign, with a sprained thumb causing him to miss three months. Since returning from the injured list, however, Campusano has done nothing but hit with a .331/.375/.500 slash line in 152 trips to the plate. The offensive potential Campusano flashed through the season’s final months serves as a reminder of the young catcher’s former top prospect status; he was a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport as recently as the 2022 season. Looking ahead to 2024, Campusano figures to get every opportunity to seize an everyday role as the club’s catcher coming out of Spring Training.
Musgrove’s move to the 60-day IL comes as no surprise and is nothing more than procedural; the right-hander has been out since late July with shoulder inflammation and was announced as shut down for the season earlier this month. Musgrove was limited to just 97 1/3 innings across 17 starts this season due to injuries but was effective as always when healthy, with a 3.05 ERA and 3.52 FIP. Heading into next year, Musgrove figures to again be a front-of-the-rotation piece for the club during his age-31 season.