Four games into the season, the Padres are so far alternating their starts at catcher as Luis Campusano is behind the plate for the second time this season for Monday’s 6:40 p.m. first pitch against the San Francisco Giants.

Campusano struck out all three times in his plate appearances on Friday but was 2-for-3 in ABS challenges and instrumental in calling a successful gameplan for Michael King.

Campusano has used ABS the last two years at Triple-A El Paso.

“Yeah, he’s pretty good at it,” Padres manager Craig Stammen said. “He’s self-proclaimed pretty good at it. So, you know, he’s definitely a weapon behind the plate in the ABS challenging and he used them very appropriately. You know, got Michael out of that one inning. … It was a 3-1 pitch, got it 3-2 and then struck him out on the 3-2 fastball. So, yeah, if you use it effectively, it can change the game a little bit.”

The idea is that Campusano’s bat becomes the game-changer it was last year at El Paso, where he paired 25 homers with a 1.036 OPS.

Campusano, however, hasn’t had a hit in the majors since Aug. 31, 2024 after going 0-for-21 with six walks and 11 strikeouts across 27 plate appearances spread out various disjointed stints as a DH last year.

Freddy Fermin is 1-for-6 with a walk and two strikeouts in his two starts at catcher.

Campusano will bat ninth as he did on Friday night.

Meantime, the rest of the lineup is the same as Saturday’s, the only other time the Padres have faced a right-hander through four games.

New series starts today. pic.twitter.com/JXND98Y2A2

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) March 30, 2026

Gavin Sheets (0-for-8), Campusano (0-for-3), Ty France (0-for-3) and Bryce Johnson (no plate appearances) are all still looking for their first hits.

The Giants are in town to start a three-game series, the Padres’ first NL West games of the year.

This story will be updated when the Giants post their lineup. 

 

 

Monday’s pitching matchup

Giants RHP Landen Roupp (2026 debut)

The third-year starter has a 3.73 ERA in 157 innings since making his debut in 2024, striking out 149 batters while fashioning a 1.45 WHIP. He has a 3.86 ERA in 21 innings against the Padres, but allowed nine runs in 13 innings across three starts last year. Nick Castellanos, Gavin Sheets and Manny Machado accounted for three of the 13 homers that Roupp allowed last year.

Here is how Roupp has fared against current Padres:

Padres RHP Walker Buehler (2026 debut)

The longtime Dodger had a 4.93 ERA over 126 innings last year while with the Red Sox and Phillies. Buehler is 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 14 games (12 starts) against the Giants in the regular season, but he has not faced them since 2022. Buehler has a 2.18 ERA in six starts at Petco Park.

Only three Giants hitters have history with Buehler:

2B Luis Arraez (3-for-8, 2B, RBI)
OF Harrison Bader (1-for-6, RBI, BB, K, HBP)
SS Willy Adames (0-for-5, 3 Ks)