https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/08/12/padres-daily-ready-freddy-jacksons-action-sheets-shows-up-mannys-tag/

Freddy Fermin does not deny the challenge.

“It’s been very difficult,” the Padres’ new close-to-full-time catcher said last night. “But I’m very happy with how I’ve been able to (acclimate) to this team, learning from staff, learning from my teammates. I’m just very happy that I’m here. It’s difficult, but I’m happy.”

It was Fermin who punctuated a three-run seventh inning with a two-run homer last night, as the Padres beat the Giants 4-1 in the opener of their three-game series.

Fermin has caught seven of the 10 games since the trade deadline and is batting .370 (10-for-27) with a double, a home run and five RBIs.

And, remember, defense and handling the pitching staff is the priority for a catcher.

Fermin, who did not play in the game after the deadline, has now caught six different starting pitchers in the past 10 days.

“The catcher is the … primary position where you have a really direct result in other people’s careers,” manager Mike Shildt said last night. “… The catcher has a responsibility to shepherd his 13 pitchers and work in concert with our pitching department and myself. And getting on board with how that works is not as easy as he’s made it look. He’s got a really high baseball IQ. He’s really smart, he’s really intentional about the conversations, about the relationships, and he gets in the game. He’s got a good feel and a good IQ for the game as well.”

Last night was perhaps the biggest step Fermin has taken with the Padres, as he caught Yu Darvish for the first time.

That, Darvish acknowledged, is a challenge “just because of the fact that I have a lot of pitches.”

Fermin had not even caught Darvish in the bullpen before last night.

“He did a great job behind the plate,” Darvish said.

Fermin is under team control for four more seasons after this one. So there is a while to go to evaluate him.

But what he has done is provide immediate validation for the Padres, who traded starting pitchers Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek to the Royals to get Fermin because their catchers were hitting a combined .203 with a .575 OPS.

Fermin had been Salvador Perez’s backup, though that still meant catching several times a week. Padres people said right away they expected Fermin would be better with even more playing time, and several personnel people called him a “glue guy.”

It is working out so far.

Said A.J. Preller: “We’ve never traded for a player that we’ve gotten more positive reports after the trade than Freddy Fermin. People were coming out of the woodwork talking about when they played with him, coached him, managed him.”

21 comments

  1. When KC fans flooded our subreddit after the trade telling us how great he is, what a dawg he is and how much they’ll miss him, I knew we were going to enjoy watching him play.

  4. This trade made me realize that freddie is the royals version of HSK but at the catcher position. Great defense, works hard, and plays with his heart on his sleeve.

    I was indifferent with the trade and thought we overpaid for a avg catcher with 4 years of control. It was a trade you dont like to do but had to do to make your team better.

    Now, I am fully on board with the ferminator. It gives ethan salas time in the minors and a mentor to learn from. Also, I agree with some of the coaches/personnel thinking he will only get better with more playing time. He can easily be a .275 hitter with 10-15 HRs. The fact that fermin can get on base via a bunt makes him way better than our older catchers and shows off his baseball IQ

  6. Good for Freddie. Hope he continues to crush for you guys. Honestly when he came up I thought for sure this no name old prospect would inevitably be a scrub but he was pleasantly surprising from the get go and the sample size kept getting bigger and bigger. I’m not exactly sure why he has become a meme with Kc fans lol he always has the sad turtle look to me but he’s a dog

    I kept trying to think of a baseball player who looked the exact same and just realized I’m thinking of Gabriel Jesus the soccer player. They got the same facial expressions

  8. It’s kind of crazy KC didn’t trade him earlier in his career. Obviously, he wasn’t going to play everyday when there’s a goddamned Hall of Famer starting ahead of him. Anyway, he’s perfect for this team. He plays defense, he can hit a bit, and he’s just old enough to move aside if and when Ethan Salas comes up.

  9. Yeah that’s why I was kinda getting annoyed with baseball media crapping on this trade for Fermin. Just look at the surface stats I didn’t see the value but then I thought Preller’s scouting and research identified qualities that weren’t readily apparent. The Ferminator’s been huge for this team already.

  10. Fermin is basically who we hope Salas would be some day lol. I will miss Bergert and Kolek, but we needed a catcher badly and Fermin will be around awhile.

  11. The Padres had two very good young Catchers in the farm system and drafted another one high in the draft this year, but none of them are going to be in MLB for at least two more years. Fermin is a much-needed infusion where the Catching position had been a gaping hole in the offensive lineup.

  14. It appeared that Fermin was calling the pitches for Yu. Prior to this, didn’t Yu always call his own game?

  16. I have this excited about a Padres catcher since Benito Santiago. Well, maybe when Ben Davis bunted to break up a no-hitter.

  18. I think Fermin is good and it’s not the worst trade ever and yes all of our deadline trades need to be considered as a package. But we lost two young starting pitchers, one who looks like he’ll be great and another who can gobble up a lot of innings. Unless Fermin turns into an elite offensive and defensive catcher, which he has not attained by age 30, then this trade was not a good one re value. Bergert and Kolek are worth more than Fermin.

  21. He and Laureano are just perfect fits on this team and have instantly made the lineup deep. Second half Padres, engage.

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