Padres roster review: Miguel Mendez – San Diego Union-Tribune
MIGUEL MENDEZ
Position(s): Right-handed pitcher
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2026 opening day age: 23
Height / Weight: 6-foot-2 / 165 pounds
How acquired: Signed as an international amateur in February 2021
Contract status: Added to the 40-man roster in November 2025; will not be arbitration-eligible until 2029 at the earliest
fWAR in 2025: 0
Key 2025 stats (minors): 8-7, 3.22 ERA, 118 strikeouts, 45 walks, 1.21 WHIP, .209 opponent average, 95 IP (21 starts)
STAT TO NOTE
8.06 — Mendez’s ERA over six starts to end the year at Double-A San Antonio, a bit of a damper after he posted a 3.97 ERA in three starts at low Single-A Lake Elsinore to start the year and a 1.32 ERA in 12 starts at high Single-A Fort Wayne.
TRENDING
Up — While two of the Padres’ top three additions from the 2021 international amateur class have been traded away — Victor Lizarraga remains but Victor Acosta and Samuel Zavala were traded to the Reds and White Sox, respectively — it is an afterthought from that window that has emerged with the biggest ceiling. Indeed, Mendez signed for just $10,000 out of the Dominican Republic in his Age 18 season. Consider him another late bloomer as Mendez had a 7.89 ERA over 21⅔ innings in 2022, a 5.96 ERA in 54⅓ innings at low Single-A Lake Elsinore in 2023 and a 3.86 ERA in 81⅔ innings in his return to the California League in 2024. Mendez even began the 2025 season at Lake Elsinore (3.86 ERA, 11⅓ innings) before he jumped to high Single-A Fort Wayne, where he posted a 1.32 ERA over 12 starts and struck out 70 against 24 walks (61⅓ innings). He did so by shaving his walk rate from 14.9% in 2024 to 9.8% during his time in the Midwest League, while also seeing his stuff tick upward. Mendez was touching 91 mph when he signed, sitting 94-95 mph in 2023 and was touching 100 mph this summer. He pairs that heat with a tight, upper-80s slider and a developing changeup. Mendez allowed only two unearned runs in 24 innings as the Midwest League’s pitcher of the month for July and was named to the postseason all-star team. While he appeared to hit a wall after a late-season promotion to Double-A San Antonio (see stat to note), Mendez showed the Padres enough to be added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
2026 OUTLOOK
Because he struggled after his Double-A promotion, Mendez could be ticketed for a return to the Texas League to start the year. Even at San Antonio, he’ll be a phone call away from making his big-league debut should the Padres need to call upon their depth as they did throughout 2025.
Padres pitching prospect Miguel Mendez with high Single-A Fort Wayne. (Jeffrey Nycz / Fort Wayne TinCaps)
ROSTER RANKINGS
32. RHP Miguel Mendez
33. RHP Daison Acosta
34. RHP Ty Adcock
35. RHP Alek Jacob
36. INF Mason McCoy
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