The San Diego Padres have a starting spot in their rotation that they’ll give one of their recent acquisitions a chance to earn next season.
Padres would start Rule 5 draft pick Juan Nunez in 2025
Padres president A.J. Preller declared that San Diego will give 2024 Rule 5 draftee Juan Nunez a chance to compete for a featured role in the team’s rotation for the upcoming campaign in spring training (h/t Valentina Martinez of San Diego Padres on SI):
“I think he’ll get an opportunity to stretch out and start and see what that looks like,” Preller said, via Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune. “… We didn’t take him saying, ‘All right, we’re going to flip him to the ‘pen and he’s going to be a one-inning guy.’ We took him just looking at a guy that is talented and has performed. We think he has pitches and actions and delivery to start. So we’ll probably give him an opportunity to do that in spring training, and then be able to go either direction depending on how he’s showing early in camp.”
Nunez’s efficient game could translate to Padres rotation
Nunez is a talented pitcher whose game could translate to the big leagues in his upcoming rookie campaign. The 24-year-old owns a career 3.32 ERA and 288 strikeouts across 58 minor league games played. In 2024, the Dominican talent earned a 2.45 ERA and 1.09 WHIP along with 38 Ks in seven games on the hill.
The Padres took him with the No. 12 pick in the Rule 5 draft. Having a rotation led by a pair of All-MLB Second-Team honorees in Dylan Cease and Michael King, and fortified with star talents the likes of Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove, Nunez will get his chance to earn a spot in the back of the Padres’ rotation alongside them next season.