Padres To Recall Luis Urias

The Padres are bringing young infielder Luis Urias back onto the active roster, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). He had been at Triple-A since a brief, early-season stint. The corresponding roster move isn’t yet known.

Many fans would’ve preferred to see Urias spending more time in the majors at an earlier point. Indeed, it came as no small surprise that he did not open the year on the active roster. An offseason call to sign Ian Kinsler combined with the undeniable rise of Fernando Tatis Jr. conspired to force Urias back to the upper minors.

While he scuffled in a brief MLB showing and during his even shorter stint this year, Urias remains a highly touted prospect. Indeed, the 22-year-old has raised his stock with a strong output this year with El Paso. Over 339 plate appearances, he carries a .315/.398/.600 batting line with 19 home runs. Even in the offensively favorable context he’s playing in, that’s a notable power breakout.

Better still, Urias hasn’t been forced to sacrifice other aspects of his game to generate the pop. That .398 OBP? Remarkably, it’s precisely the same mark he posted in each of his two prior minor-league campaigns. The difference is that he has steadily increased his slugging output from .380 to .447 to this year’s eyebrow-raising .600 level.

Entering the season, Urias had accrued 34 days of MLB service. He spent another 13 days up in 2019 before the forthcoming promotion. If he stays up with the San Diego club after joining it tomorrow, Urias can tack on another 72 days down the stretch. In total, then, he cannot finish the present season with no more than 119 total days of service — a number that will almost certainly not be enough to allow him to qualify for an extra season of arbitration eligibility as a Super Two player.