Familiar Faces on MLB Pipeline’s 2024 Top 30 Prospects List 

16 Former Missions on Initial Top 30 List

SAN ANTONIO – This is an exciting time of the year for baseball fans. Spring Training is in full swing, the inaugural Spring Breakout Games debut this month, and the regular season is closely approaching. With the 2024 season on the horizon, MLB Pipeline has announced their initial Top 30 Prospects lists.

It is no secret that the San Diego Padres have revamped their farm system to include some of the biggest prospects in baseball. Missions fans can recognize 16 former players on this years’ list.

Ethan Salas, C

17-year-old Ethan Salas enters this season as MLB.com’s #1 Padres prospect. Salas spent the 2023 season with Single-A Lake Elsinore and High-A Fort Wayne before appearing in nine games for the Missions in August. In 66 combined games, he batted .248 while slugging nine homers, 13 doubles and driving in 41 runs.

Jackson Merrill, SS

20-year-old Jackson Merrill enters this season as MLB.com’s #2 Padres prospect. Merrill played 46 games for the Missions in 2023 after beginning the year with High-A Fort Wayne. The former first round pick batted .277 last season between the two levels while hitting 15 home runs and 25 doubles. Merrill also swiped 15 bases while playing four different positions.

Robby Snelling, LHP

20-year-old Robby Snelling enters the 2024 season as MLB.com’s #3 Padres prospect. Snelling spent the 2023 season with Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne before making four starts for the Missions at the end of the year. In 22 combined starts, the southpaw went 11-3 with a 1.82 ERA. The former 39th overall pick punched out 118 batters in 103.2 innings of work last season.

Jairo Iriarte, RHP

22-year-old Jairo Iriarte enters this season as MLB.com’s #8 prospect in the Padres farm system. The right-hander began the 2023 campaign with Fort Wayne before being transferred to San Antonio on July 14th. In 27 combined outings (21 starts), Iriarte went 3-4 with a 3.49 ERA. He struck out 128 batters across 90.1 innings of work last season.

Adam Mazur, RHP

22-year-old Adam Mazur enters the 2024 season as MLB Pipeline’s #10 Padres prospect. The right-hander began the 2023 season with Fort Wayne before being transferred to San Antonio on July 14th. In 24 combined games (18 starts), he went 6-4 with a 2.81 ERA. The former second round pick out of Iowa struck out 90 batters in 96.0 innings of work last season.

Graham Pauley, 3B/2B

23-year-old Graham Pauley enters the 2024 season as MLB.com’s #11 Padres prospect. Pauley spent last season with Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne before playing 20 games for the Missions at the end of the year. In 127 combined games, he batted .308 with 23 homers, 32 doubles and 94 runs batted in. The former 13th round pick out of Duke also swiped 22 bases while playing four different positions.

Jakob Marsee, OF

22-year-old Jakob Marsee enters this season as MLB.com’s #12 Padres prospect. Marsee spent most of the 2023 season with Fort Wayne before joining the Missions on August 22nd. In 129 combined games (16 with the Missions), he batted .274 while clubbing 16 homers, 16 doubles and driving in 46 runs. The former sixth round pick out of Central Michigan swiped 46 bases in 2023 and recorded a .413 on-base percentage.

Ryan Bergert, RHP

23-year-old Ryan Bergert enters the 2024 season as the #13 Padres prospect according to MLB Pipeline. The right-hander began the 2023 season with Fort Wayne before being transferred to San Antonio on July 14th. In 23 combined outings (20 starts), Bergert went 6-4 with a 2.73 ERA. The former sixth round pick out of West Virginia struck out 126 batters across 105.2 innings of work last year.

Homer Bush Jr., OF

22-year-old Homer Bush Jr. enters this season as the #14 Padres prospect according to MLB.com. After being selected in the fourth round of the 2023 Draft out of Grand Canyon, Bush Jr. played 44 games last year. He began the year with ACL Padres and Lake Elsinore before joining the Missions in September. He batted .325 with 12 extra-base hits and 17 RBI in his first professional season. Bush Jr. also stole 22 bases during that time.

Eguy Rosario, INF

24-year-old Eguy Rosario enters the 2024 campaign as MLB.com’s #16 Padres prospect. Rosario played for the Missions during the 2018 and 2021 seasons. He made his MLB debut in 2022 and has played 18 games for the Padres across the last two seasons. Due to injury, he was limited to 45 combined games in 2023 between San Diego and Triple-A El Paso. In the Pacific Coast League, Rosario batted .265 with five homers, nine doubles and 28 runs batted in.

Nathan Martorella, 1B/OF

23-year-old Nathan Martorella enters this season as MLB Pipeline’s #17 Padres prospect. Martorella spent most of the 2023 season with Fort Wayne before joining the Missions on August 22nd. In 135 combined games (23 with the Missions), he batted .255 with 19 homers and 30 doubles. The former fifth round pick out of California also drove in 88 runs last season between both levels.

Austin Krob, LHP

24-year-old Austin Krob enters this season as MLB Pipeline’s #18 Padres prospect. The southpaw spent the 2023 season with Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne before joining the Missions for the Texas League Postseason. The former 12th round pick out of TCU went 50-4 with a 2.72 ERA in 22 combined outings last season. With the Missions, he allowed one run on two hits in his lone outing with the club.

Brandon Valenzuela, C

23-year-old Brandon Valenzuela enters the 2024 season as the #20 Padres prospect according to MLB.com. The switch-hitting catcher began the 2023 season with Fort Wayne before joining the Missions on June 27th. Valenzuela played 27 games for the Missions before an injury ended his season. In 66 combined games, he batted .239 with five homers, 14 doubles and 21 runs batted in.

Marcos Castanon, 3B/2B

24-year-old Marcos Castanon enters this season as MLB.com’s #22 Padres prospect. Castanon began the 2023 season with Fort Wayne before being transferred to San Antonio on July 14th. The former 12th round pick out of UC Santa Barbara batted .284 with 17 homers, 39 doubles and 84 RBI in 131 combined games last season.

Alek Jacob, RHP

25-year-old Alek Jacob enters this season as MLB.com’s #23 Padres prospect. The right-hander played for the Missions during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Last year, he made his MLB debut and pitched in three games for the Padres. Before making his debut, Jacob went 1-0 with a 1.32 ERA in 18 games for the Missions. The former 16th round pick out of Gonzaga had his season ended in July due to a shoulder injury.

Cole Paplham, RHP

23-year-old Cole Paplham enters this season as MLB.com’s #27 Padres prospect. The right-hander spent the 2023 season with Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne before joining the Missions in September. In his first professional season, Paplham went 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in 31 combined relief appearances. He punched out 36 batters across 30.0 innings of work while converting 11 saves.

Below is the complete list of MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Prospects for the Padres:

1. Ethan Salas, C
2. Jackson Merrill, SS
3. Robby Snelling, LHP
4. Dylan Lesko, RHP
5. Drew Thorpe, RHP
6. Leodalis De Vries, SS
7. Samuel Zavala, OF
8. Jairo Iriarte, RHP
9. Dillon Head, OF
10. Adam Mazur, RHP
11. Graham Pauley, 3B/2B
12. Jakob Marsee, OF
13. Ryan Bergert, RHP
14. Homer Bush Jr., OF
15. Randy Vasquez, RHP
16. Eguy Rosario, INF
17. Nathan Martorella, 1B/OF
18. Austin Krob, LHP
19. Victor Lizarraga, RHP
20. Brandon Valenzuela, C
21. J.D. Gonzalez, C
22. Marcos Castanon, 3B/2B
23. Alek Jacob, RHP
24. Stephen Kolek, RHP
25. Braden Nett, RHP
26. Blake Dickerson, LHP
27. Cole Paplham, RHP
28. Jagger Haynes, LHP
29. Isaiah Lowe, RHP
30. Lamar King Jr., C

The break-camp rosters will be announced later this month.

The Missions 2024 season gets underway on Friday, April 5th on the road against the Amarillo Sod Poodles. The home opener is scheduled for Tuesday, April 9th against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The club will play two exhibition games against Saltillo (Mexican League) on March 29th and 30th.

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The San Antonio Missions are the Double-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The 2024 season will be the 122nd professional season for the San Antonio Missions. Season seat memberships, as well as group tickets, for the 2024 season are available now. Call 210-675-PARK to discuss pricing for season tickets, group tickets and hospitality. Single-game tickets will go on sale on March 11th. The Missions Box Office is cashless, and fans can purchase tickets using credit cards. For more information, call 210-675-PARK (7275) or visit samissions.com.