Padres News: Luis Campusano’s Excellent Play has Earned Him More Starts

Padres young catcher is earning himself some time behind the plate

The San Diego Padres have a very stacked team. They're one of the deepest teams in the league and are poised to make a deep run this season. They have a superstar at almost every position, but one position they're slacking in is the catcher's position. 

Frairs catcher Austin Nola is ahead on many depth charts, but it's Luis Campusano that is making noise for the gold and brown. So much so that Padres manager Bob Melvin is making room for him in the lineup and could be seeing a lot more time behind the plate. 

Padres manager Bob Melvin talks about Luis Campusano and says he will split this 4-game series against the Brewers with Austin Nola: pic.twitter.com/qBHfaKSP6V

— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) April 13, 2023

The 24-year-old catcher is playing the best between himself and Nola. Campusano is slashing .235/.222/.294 with a .516 OPS in six games. I know those numbers aren't impressive, but they are better than Nola's by a mile. 

He's been playing better than Nola but has yet to have the repetition like Nola. This is his fourth season in the majors, and in those four seasons, he's played in only 35 games as of Friday. The number of games will definitely rise in 2023 if he keeps up his excellent play. 

Melvin expressed how he feels about his recent play, and it sounds like he will get some split time throughout the season. We'll see how he handles the grind of a grueling season.