The Padres signed right-hander Jose Espada to a minor league deal earlier this month, as indicated by Espada’s MLB.com profile web page. It’s a reunion between the 2 sides, because the 27-year-old Espada pitched for San Diego through the 2022-23 seasons earlier than becoming a member of the Yakult Swallows final offseason.
The transfer to Japan wasn’t as a lot of a showcase as Espada had hoped, as he posted a 5.00 ERA over 27 aid innings for the Swallows. His strikeout charge plummeted to simply 13.56%, in a moderately stark dropoff from the 26.59K% he posted over 374 profession innings within the minor leagues. Whereas his numbers with the Swallows’ minor league crew have been a lot better, Espada had already displayed loads of high quality within the affiliated minors, together with a 2.79 ERA in 19 1/3 innings with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in 2023.
Spectacular numbers at each the Double-A and Triple-A ranges allowed Espada to make his MLB debut in 2023, within the type of a single cup-of-coffee outing. Espada recorded two strikeouts and two walks in a scoreless inning of mop-up work within the Padres’ 12-2 rout of the Cardinals on September 24, 2023. That temporary outing was the excessive level of a professional profession that started as a fifth-round choose for the Blue Jays within the 2015 draft, and Espada additionally had stints within the Crimson Sox farm system and in impartial ball in addition to his time with the Padres and Swallows.
Espada has had points together with his management however has lengthy been in a position to miss bats, making his diminished strikeout numbers in NPB all of the extra puzzling. A return to the acquainted setting of Triple-A El Paso would possibly assist him get again on monitor, whereas from the Padres’ perspective, they’ll add a identified amount to their checklist of bullpen depth arms.