Starting pitching prospects don’t have a great track record of making it and/or sticking in San Diego.
MacKenzie Gore. Jarlin Susana. Robert Gasser. Ryan Weathers. Drew Thorpe. Jairo Iriarte. Robby Snelling. Dylan Lesko. Adam Mazur. Boston Bateman. Braden Nett. Henry Baez. Ryan Bergert. Stephen Kolek.
Those are just some of the arms that the Padres have moved since the Juan Soto trade in the summer of 2022, leaving quite a bit of room for A.J. Preller to backfill a system that he figures to be dipping into again this summer if his team is poised for a postseason run.
Here’s a look at the Padres’ top starting pitching prospects ahead of the 2026 season:
1 | LHP Kash Mayfield
- Opening-day age: 21
- How acquired: Drafted in the first round in 2024 (Elk City High, Okla.)
- Height/weight: 6-foot-4/Left 200 pounds
- Throws: Left
- 2025 team: Lake Elsinore (low A)
- 2025 stats: 1-5, 2.97 ERA, 88 strikeouts, 28 walks, 1.22 WHIP, .207 opponents average, 60⅔ innings (19 starts)
- Need to know: Mayfield won the Gatorade Oklahoma Player of the Year as a high school junior, took off the summer showcase circuit to improve his strength and won the award again ahead of the Padres giving him $3.44 million as the 25th overall pick. Mayfield pushed the top end of his fastball to 97 mph as a high school senior, but he largely sat 89-94 mph in his first year of pro ball, leading him to spend this offseason doubling down on arm care and improving his strength as he now has a better understanding of what it takes to be a professional pitcher. Mayfield also has a low-80s change-up and an upper-70s breaking ball.
2 | RHP Humberto Cruz
- Opening-day age: 19
- How acquired: Signed as an international free agent in February 2024
- Height/weight: 6-foot-1/170 pounds
- Throws: Right
- 2025 team(s): ACL Padres (Rookie), Lake Elsinore (low A)
- 2025 stats: 0-7, 7.58 ERA, 35 strikeouts, 17 walks, 1.53 WHIP, .277 opponent average, 38 innings (14 starts)
- Need to know: Cruz’s status as a prospect is all projection so far, and the Padres will have to wait a bit longer on their investment after he underwent a UCL repair via an internal brace in late August, likely wiping out all of 2026. The Padres signed Cruz for $750,000 as that year’s top pitching prospect out of Mexico and saw his velo jump from the high-80s to the mid-90s, topping out at 97. Cruz also throws a changeup and a gyro slider.
Padres pitching prospect Miguel Mendez with high Single-A Fort Wayne. (Jeffrey Nycz / Fort Wayne TinCaps)
3 | RHP Miguel Mendez
- Opening-day age: 23
- How acquired: Signed as an international free agent in February 2021
- Height/weight: 6-foot-2/165 pounds
- Throws: Right
- 2025 teams: Lake Elsinore (low A), Fort Wayne (high A), San Antonio (Double-A)
- 2025 stats: 8-7, 3.22 ERA, 118 strikeouts, 45 walks, 1.22 WHIP, .209 opponent average, 95 innings (21 starts)
- Need to know: The Padres added Mendez to the 40-man roster in November, his reward for jumping as much as anyone in the system in 2025. He was older (18) when he originally signed, saw his velocity jump to 94 to 95 mph in 2023 and was touching 100 mph this summer. He also features a tight, upper-80s slider and a developing changeup. Mendez made three starts in the California League (3.97 ERA) to start the year and really hit a groove during his 12-start stint in Fort Wayne (1.32 ERA). Mendez struggled in six starts in the Texas League (7.88 ERA), meaning he’ll likely returns to the Texas League to start 2026.
4 | LHP Kruz Schoolcraft
- Opening-day age: 18
- How acquired: Drafted in the first round in 2025 (Sunset High, Ore.)
- Height/weight: 6-foot-8/229 pounds
- Throws: Left
- 2025 team: Lake Elsinore (low A)
- 2025 stats: 0-0, 10.80 ERA, 4 strikeouts, 3 walks, 2.40 WHIP, .167 opponent average, 1 ⅔ innings (1 start)
- Need to know: The 25th overall pick last summer, Schoolcraft signed for $3.61 million to forgo a commitment to Tennessee, where he was set to both pitch and hit. The Padres, however, will only use Schoolcraft as a pitcher. He features high-90s heat with good extension. He pairs that with low-80s slider and a changeup. The Padres typically wait to unveil their newly-drafted arms until the following spring, but Schoolcraft started a game for the Storm over the final weekend of 2025, striking out four while allowing two runs over 1⅔ innings.
Padres pitching prospect Jagger Haynes began the 2024 season at high Single-A Fort Wayne.
5 | LHP Jagger Haynes
- Opening day age: 23
- How acquired: Drafted in the fifth round in 2020 (West Columbus High, N.C.)
- Height/weight: 6-foot-3 / 170 pounds
- Throws: Left
- 2025 team: San Antonio (Double-A)
- 2025 stats: 3-4, 4.11 ERA, 101 strikeouts, 62 walks, 1.41 WHIP, .223 opponent average, 103 innings (26 games, 25 starts)
- Need to know: The only prospect from the five-round COVID draft class still in the Padres system, Haynes dealt with a litany of injuries (Tommy John surgery, blister, shoulder) before topping 20 starts in back-to-back seasons in 2024 and 2025. He reached the Double-A Texas League for the first time this year in spite of command issues that has seen him average 5.27 walks per nine innings as a pro. He also has held hitters to a .225 average, proof that his stuff — a mid-90s fastball, a gyro slider and a low-80s changeup — plays in the minors. Haynes has been left unprotected from the Rule 5 draft for a second straight season.
Others to know: LHP Luis Gutierrez (Triple-A), LHP Jackson Wolf (Triple-A), RHP Victor Lizarraga (Triple-A), LHP Miguel Cienfuegos (Triple-A), RHP Eric Yost (Double-A), RHP Isaiah Lowe (high A), RHP Bryan Balzer (low A), RHP Michael Salina (DNP), RHP Maikel Miralles (high A), RHP Ian Koenig (high A), RHP Lan-Hong Su (DNP), RHP Sam Whiting (high A), RHP Clark Candiotti (high A), RHP Carson Montgomery (DNP), RHP Kannon Kemp (low A)