The Padres announced this evening that they’ve selected left-hander Omar Cruz as well as right-handers Henry Baez and Ryan Bergert to their 40-man roster ahead of today’s Rule 5 Draft protection deadline. No corresponding moves were necessary, and San Diego’s 40-man currently stands at 37 players.
Cruz, 25, signed with the Padres out of Mexico prior to the 2018 season and was actually traded to the Padres as part of the Joe Musgrove trade in January of 2021. He returned to the Padres organization last winter, however, when the club selected him in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft. Now, he’s been added to the club’s roster to protect him from this year’s draft on the heels of a solid season split between the Double- and Triple-A levels. Cruz was used primarily out of the bullpen in 2024 and looked good at AA with a 3.59 ERA and an eye-popping 35.4% strikeout rate in 47 2/3 innings. That earned him a promotion to Triple-A partway through the season, and while his ERA crept up to 4.42 in the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League he still struck out a solid 28.7% of opponents, though that was hampered by a 13.8% walk rate.
Baez, 22, signed with San Diego out of the Dominican Republic and made his pro debut in 2021. Baez has primarily pitched out of the rotation during his career and returned to High-A to open the 2024 season after struggling badly in four late-season starts at the level last year. Things turned around in a big way this year, however, as he pitched to an excellent 2.95 ERA in 17 starts with the club’s Fort Wayne affiliate while striking out 24.8% of opponents. That success continued even following a promotion to Double-A midseason, as the right-hander posted a 3.06 ERA in nine starts down the stretch in his first taste of the upper minors. With that being said, that stretch of starts did come with a concerning drop in strikeout rate as he punched out just 15.1% of opponents in 50 innings against a 7.4% walk rate.
Bergert, 24, is perhaps the club’s most surprising addition as his most impressive season actually came in 2023 rather than this year. Last season, the right-hander pitched to an excellent 2.73 ERA in 105 2/3 innings of work split between the High-A and Double-A levels, including a 2.86 ERA and a 28.8% strikeout rate with the club’s San Antonio affiliate. That impressive debut did not translate over to 2024, however, as Bergert surrendered a 4.78 ERA in 98 innings across 23 starts in a repeat of the level this year as his strikeout rate dipped to just 20.9%. He struggled in the Arizona Fall League this year as well, surrendering 16 runs (12 earned) in 14 2/3 innings of work across five starts.
