Padres' Urias to start season in Triple-A

When the Padres revealed top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. was starting the year with the Major League club, fans were excited. But what about Luis Urías?
Many believed Urias would get the nod in The Show over Tatis, but the club assigned him to Triple-A El Paso on Wednesday. MLB.com's No. 23 overall prospect struggled in the spring, stringing together a slash line of .217/.308/.370 in 52 trips to the plate. Urias is only a few months removed from a hamstring injury that ended his 2018 season. He played in 12 games with the Padres last year.

But Urias is considered one of the best pure hitters in all of the Minors with a career .306 average across five seasons, including a .330 clip in 2016 that netted him the California League batting title and MVP honors. San Diego's third-ranked prospect possesses a compact and level swing, and is patient enough to draw walks consistently.
Defensively, Urias is a solid second baseman, possessing a strong glove and above-average arm. His speed is nothing to write home about, but he has enough range that it doesn't tend to hinder his defense or hold him back on the bases.
All of this would seem to make him an eventual perfect match in the middle of the infield with the game's No. 2 overall prospect in the not-too-distant future. But to start the year, Urias will be in the Pacific Coast League.