One hot arm in the Padres' farm system could be gone on Thursday.
The San Diego Padres pitching has been the hottest topic of conversation surrounding the team so far this season.
Injuries, production decline, you name it.
But despite the team's health issues on the mound, the team still finds themselves easily in the race for the NL Wild Card as they sit four games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, likely putting them in more of a buy situation at this year's trade deadline, giving them a chance to trade away some of their average or slightly above average talent to help better their chances of "Beating L.A."
And according to The Athletic, one of those trades could involve starting pitcher Miguel Mendez for Single-A Lake Elsinore, who signed with the Friars as a member of their 2021 international signing class.
In his 2025 minor league season, Mendez is 8-2 with 81 strikeouts and a 1.89 earned run average in 66.2 innings pitched.
"As a starter, he’s touching 100 mph and demonstrating improved control. He’s an exciting prospect, but there’s plenty of relief risk here, and the strength of the Padres’ system is the depth of their lower-level arms," wrote The Athletic's Dennis Lin about Mendez possibly being traded.
The team could use Mendez's potential as leverage in a deal, and possibly get an arm with postseason experience and that doesn't struggle with frequent injury problems like much of the San Diego team does.
Category: Baseball
