Credit: (Blake Hunt) EVT Edits
The San Diego Padres announced 28 non-roster invitees to Major League spring training on February 4.
With the team having 68 players in camp when the first games get going, there are plenty of names to keep track of.
Veterans, prospects, minor league free agents, and more are included in the non-roster invite list. With a plethora of pathways to this point converging, here are five names to keep a close eye on in camp.
Jackson Wolf, left-handed pitcher
For longtime followers of the Padres’ farm system, the name Jackson Wolf is familiar. Wolf has been with the Padres since being drafted in 2021 and made his MLB debut back in 2023. The lefty has one lone Major League outing on his resume (July 22, 2023, at Detroit), not having reached the Majors with the Pirates or Padres in the ensuing seasons.
The 2025 season saw Wolf rebuild his stock at the minor league level.
Starting the season at Double-A San Antonio, Wolf pitched in six games and posted a 3.24 ERA (2.89 FIP) with a 32.6% strikeout rate. This earned him a promotion back to Triple-A El Paso, where he spent the rest of the season. While he pitched to a 5.47 ERA in 103.2 innings with El Paso, his 4.96 FIP was 12% better than the PCL league average. Wolf’s campaign was quite a journey to follow, as when his swing-and-miss stuff was on display, it led him to quality outings.
In games where Wolf fanned five or more batters, he pitched to a 2.62 ERA, 33.9% strikeout rate, and 6.9% walk rate in 65 innings. Wolf approaches hitters from an unconventional arm slot, and his vertical approach angles range from -5.1 to -9.2, which gives his pitches an unorthodox rising effect. For Wolf, he may be a name to keep on the bingo card as a dark horse starting rotation candidate.
HOWLIN’ WOLF ?
Jackson Wolf takes home @trulynolen Player of the Week AND @milb Pitcher of the Week after a career-best 7.2 innings.
The stat line:
7.2 IP
2 H
1 ER
8 K
1 BB pic.twitter.com/EstUrhgch8
— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) August 25, 2025
Francisco Acuna, infielder
Acuna is a newer name on the NRI list, but merits consideration after a strong campaign. Signing as a minor league free agent before the 2025 season, Acuna went on to become the San Antonio Missions’ starting shortstop. Acuna spent 109 games at Double-A, slashing .251/.350/.356 for a .706 OPS and 112 wRC+ while playing home games in the sizable Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium.
The right-handed hitter slugged eight homers and drove in 42 runs at San Antonio, serving as a consistent lineup presence being the leadoff man. His production was in line with his last fully healthy season (2023), and earned him a September call-up to Triple-A. It could be the environment, but Acuna posted a 1.119 OPS in 33 at-bats to close out the season. His 116 wRC+ was his highest in a full season since 2021.
Defensively, Acuna spent most of the season at shortstop, only playing in three games outside of the position. His .9698 fielding percentage at shortstop was above the league average at both the minor and major league levels. While Acuna may not be the most threatening or imposing batter in the box, he can be the sort of “sparkplug with a plus glove” that is an essential role to any contending team. Keep an eye out for form battling Mason McCoy for a backup infield spot.
Francisco Acuña belts a lead-off homer making him tonight’s @FrostBank Player of the Game in a tight 2-1 win! ? pic.twitter.com/rAxEsVXJcT
— San Antonio Missions Baseball (@missionsmilb) May 23, 2025
Credit: Padres
Marcos Castanon, infielder
Now for the opposite. Marcos Castanon has been in the Padres system as another member of the publicized 2021 Padres draft class for a while now. However, he appeared to hit a wall at Double-A in 2024. Part of his dip in production was due to a downturn in results on balls in play (career-low .269 BABIP), and 2025 saw regression to his career averages.
Castanon saw time at multiple positions this season at Double-A San Antonio and was arguably the team’s most consistent hitter. Castanon homered five times in May and drove in 16 runs in both May and August. While his walk rate saw a small decrease, Castanon was making the most of the contact he got on balls in play.
The right-handed hitter also earned a late-season call-up to Triple-A, and in 16 games, he went berserk. Slashing .300/.386/.550 was a huge uptick in production, albeit in a small sample size. Defensively, the right-handed hitting Castanon was a solid glove, posting a .983 fielding percentage across 703.1 innings between first, second, and third base. Castanon’s performance last season also earned him EVT’s MVP & Hitter of the Year awards for the 2025 Missions, and in that piece, Castanon was labeled as a potential non-roster invite due to his strong production at the plate across two levels and positional versatility. And alas, here we are.
ICYMI: Marcos Castañon slugged a two-run homer for @missionsmilb.
Castañon has posted an .896 OPS since May 1, with 6 HR and 18 RBI in that span!#Padres @EVT_News pic.twitter.com/gROwiW3vZW
— Diego Garcia (@StatNerd_Base) June 2, 2025
Rodolfo Duran & Blake Hunt, catchers
The Padres’ backup catcher situation will be a key storyline this spring, as the team has three deserving candidates in Luis Campusano, Rodolfo Duran, and Blake Hunt.
Starting with Duran, the longtime Phillies farmhand signed on with San Diego last offseason. Duran’s season was a tale of two halves, as his April saw him post a .097 batting average and .276 OPS (yes, that says OPS). However, his results progressively got better, and from June 1 to season’s end, he hit .340 with 14 home runs. This included hitting for the cycle on September 13. His splits were not too drastic either:
.281/.340/.489 against right-handed pitchers
.306/.355/.541 against left-handed pitchers
This production ultimately netted him a 98 wRC+, but even so, that production was above the league average for catchers. He also posted a 41.4% hard-hit rate with the Chihuahuas, one of the highest on the team. Defensively, he posted a .982 fielding percentage behind the dish, and his 28.1% caught-stealing percentage was around the MLB average of 29%.
RODOLFO DURAN COMPLETES THE CYCLE!
Single. Double. Triple. And a GRAND SLAM to finish it off.
Only the 6th cycle in Chihuahuas history pic.twitter.com/Y3DVxSFRXG
— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) September 14, 2025
Not to be forgotten in the catching battle is Blake Hunt.
The former Padres draftee spent the 2025 campaign as part of the Mariners organization, seeing his playing time at Triple-A Tacoma. In 280 at-bats, he launched eight homers and drove in 35 runs. He slashed .272/.368/.452 for a 108 wRC+ in the launching pad that is the PCL. Hunt’s production was strong in a part-time role, and that extended to his defense.
While his management of the running game was below-average statistically in 2025, his fielding percentage of .986 was strong. He also allowed only two passed balls all season, so his receiving and framing were rock-solid. Despite a long way back to the Padres organization, Hunt has undoubtedly thrust himself into the conversation for the backup catcher spot, and if his offense can translate over to MLB, he could be the 1B to Freddy Fermin’s 1A at the very least.
HIS NAME IS BLAKE HUNT. 108.8 MPH off the bat, and it’s 9-3 Norfolk!!!#RisingTide pic.twitter.com/CqnyZKJ7tP
— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) June 7, 2024
A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.
A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.
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