*Multiple interviews for this story were conducted in Spanish and translated to English*

As a child in La Guaira, Venezuela, Jairo Iriarte remembers liking two things: school and baseball. However, he had to wait a bit longer than most to start playing his nation’s beloved sport.

“In Venezuela, most kids begin playing baseball at five years old, but my dad worked a lot and my mom didn’t have a ton of time to take me to practice,” Iriarte said. “My mom always made a big effort though, so I got to start playing baseball at seven years old.”

Once his days on the diamond got going, he eventually landed at one of Venezuela’s top baseball academies. In 2018, the academy hosted a showcase where Major League Baseball teams came to scout kids mostly younger than him. Iriarte, not considered that young anymore despite being just 16 years old, outshined everyone.

“That day I threw 21 pitches, and 19 were strikes. I can imagine that is what they liked,” Iriarte said.

The San Diego Padres apparently did like that, as they signed him on the spot. Five years later, the now No. 6 prospect in the Padres system according to MLB Pipeline made his latest leap through the minors with a call-up to Double-A San Antonio. Whether it's as a starter or reliever, the 21-year old is intent on making up for his late entry to baseball by reaching the game's highest level, perhaps as soon as this year.

Early Obstacles

Iriarte began his professional career in 2019—one year after signing with the Padres—in MLB’s Dominican Summer League. There he recorded a 3.31 ERA and walked only 14 batters in 35.1 innings. After COVID-19 prevented him and so many others from playing in 2020, he moved to the United States in 2021 to pitch in the Arizona Complex League.

“It was different moving to a new country, but it was actually cool,” Iriarte said. “The biggest thing was just getting comfortable with everything.”

Iriarte proved to be comfortable enough to put up a solid showing in Arizona, earning him a promotion to Single-A Lake Elsinore. Although Lake Elsinore is the closest affiliate geographically to San Diego, it is where Iriarte felt the farthest from the majors. In nine innings on the mound, Iriarte gave up a whopping 27 runs, leading to an easy-to-calculate ERA of 27.00.

“Like any person, I didn’t like failing,” Iriarte said. “I spoke a lot to my parents, and they told me not to worry, that the past is in the past, so to concentrate on the future because something better is always waiting.”

Something better was immediately waiting, and that was the birth of Iriarte’s first child, Dereck.

“Dereck was born after the season, and it forced me to change my mentality. I told myself something had to change, and thankfully, it did,” Iriarte said.

Now a father, Iriarte returned to Lake Elsinore for a full season in 2022. While a 4-7 record with a 5.12 ERA may not jump out to a casual observer as a great season, it marked a drastic improvement for the tall right-hander. Plus, underlying numbers such as 109 strikeouts across 91.1 innings and a .236 batting average against suggested talent clearly existed.

“I set a goal to return specifically to Lake Elsinore and said to myself, ‘I am going to go back there and give it my all so that [the Padres] can see that I can do it, see that they didn’t just call me up for me to fail and have that be the end of it.’ And that’s exactly what I did,” Iriarte said.

Teammates, Roommates, Battery Mates

After better results throughout an extended period in Single-A, Iriarte began the 2023 campaign in High-A Fort Wayne. As a TinCap, Iriarte reunited with catcher Brandon Valenzuela. The battery mates first met in Lake Elsinore at the end of 2021, which was when Iriarte dealt with his most difficult period as a pitcher.

Valenzuela got the call up to Fort Wayne in 2022 while Iriarte remained in Southern California, so the pair remained apart for an entire season. Once Iriarte caught up to Valenzuela, the two quickly rekindled their relationship because of how closely they worked together both on and off the field.

“This year we started in Fort Wayne and I caught nearly all of his outings,” Valenzuela said. “Plus, we were roommates on road trips, so whether we liked it or not, we had to get along.”

As they spent more time together, Valenzuela and Iriarte became inseparable. Just a year apart in age, they identify with each other’s experiences as young baseball players.

“More than anything, it is knowing somebody is going through the same thing as you. It truly helps having someone understand the rollercoaster that is baseball, the ups and downs, the frustrations and celebrations,” Valenzuela said. “We are now like brothers.”

Having a teammate become such a close friend is always nice. There’s an added bonus, though, when the teammates happen to throw the ball to each other.

“The best thing a pitcher can have is a catcher he considers a companion,” Iriarte said. “My relationship with Brandon is a very good one. He is always helping, and he is a real leader.”

According to Jeff Andrews, pitching coach for the San Antonio Missions, a pitcher and catcher knowing one another beyond the field is a powerful tool.

“You can’t say enough when [a pitcher and catcher] have that history,” Andrews said. “It’s not only history of stuff in the game but history in the clubhouse, history of talking, history of preparation, knowing moods, and that goes both ways.”

It makes perfect sense, then, that Valenzuela and Iriarte were promoted from Fort Wayne to San Antonio just 17 days apart. Valenzuela arrived in the Alamo City on June 27 while Iriarte followed in mid-July. After needing over 100 innings at Single-A, it took just 61 stellar frames in High-A for Iriarte to take the next step.

So what changed from the early struggles in Lake Elsinore? Valenzuela argued every aspect of Iriarte’s repertoire improved, from his velocity to his movement, but the most important shift is a more confident approach.

“He now attacks batters instead of waiting to fall behind before entering the strike zone,” Valenzuela said. “He gets on the mound and tells the batter, ‘I am going to throw this pitch, let’s see if you can hit it.”

Confirming Andrews’ theory of them being on the same page, Iriarte agreed with his catcher who continues to be his roommate on Missions road trips.

“Before, I was very patient when I faced batters. Now I just want strikes. Either hit it or strike out, either you get yourself out or I’ll get you out,” Iriarte said.

A Step Closer to the Majors?

Since arriving in the Alamo City, Iriarte has taken on a bit of a new role. Rather than exclusively starting, which he’s done for a majority of his games since signing professionally, the righty is serving as both a starter and reliever. Iriarte pitched seven scoreless innings out of the bullpen to begin his tenure with the Missions.

“As a starting pitcher, there's not that immediacy that you have to have as a reliever,” Andrews said. “As a reliever, you're staying ready for four or five innings. You don't know if you're gonna pitch that day, and being able to control that concentration and then let the dogs loose when you hit the mound, he's done very well at that. It’s like he's done it his whole career.”

In August, Iriarte started in his last two appearances. He is still pitching in short bursts, going only 3.1 total innings despite allowing just two runs. It’s an intriguing balance because just last month, the Padres displayed willingness to promote a dominant Missions reliever straight to San Diego when Alek Jacob debuted in brown and gold.

“[Iriarte] already has the ability to start games, and now I think that [the Padres] are waiting for him to adjust to being a reliever,” Valenzuela said. “For me, it is a big step for him that I believe puts him closer to the majors…I could see him there by September.”

On top of testing new waters in the bullpen, Iriarte is also one of the youngest players on the field for the first time in his life. He claimed Jose Castillo, a fellow Venezuelan who used to pitch in the Padres system and is now with the Miami Marlins, gave him advice on how to deal with that issue.

“He told me, ‘You have to pitch and not see age, not see names, not see anything. You have to only think that this is the same game as always,’” Iriarte said.

Iriarte’s results this season suggest those were more than just words. It’s hard to tell from afar that Iriarte is the second youngest Mission at just 21 years old. It’s even harder to believe he took the field for the first time a couple years after his peers. Despite the extra attention as a fast-rising prospect, Iriarte, now the father to his second son, Jairel, treats baseball the same way he did as a kid in Venezuela.

“Everyone’s goal is to make the big leagues, but I don’t feel pressure. I just enjoy the game and try to always give the best I have,” Iriarte said. “It can happen at any moment, but I just have to keep working and giving my all.”