Minors: Relievers to watch in the Padres’ farm system

The Padres didn’t just let Josh Hader enter free agency, they traded away Scott Barlow for a much cheaper Enyel De Los Santos as part of their efforts to trim payroll.

That presumably leaves Robert Suarez as the favorite to close games and plenty of opportunity for homegrown products to seize jobs alongside the incumbents and whatever projects are signed this offseason.

1 | LHP Ray Kerr

Opening day age: 29

How acquired: Trade with the Seattle Mariners in November 2021

Height / Weight: 6-foot-3 / 185 pounds

Bats / Throws: Left / Left

2023 team(s): El Paso (AAA)

2023 stats: 6-0, 2.25 ERA, 10 saves, 42 strikeouts, 17 walks, 1.14 WHIP, .189 opponent avg., 36 IP (36 games)

Need to know: A late-bloomer who signed for $5,000 as an undrafted free agent, Kerr moved from the rotation to the bullpen while with the Mariners and was traded to the Padres in the Adam Frazier dump-off. He cut his ERA in half after struggling his initial season in El Paso (5.08 ERA) and was mostly solid in his first significant action in the majors, posting a 4.33 ERA while striking out 35 batters against nine walks over 27 innings. One of the harder-throwing left-handers in the minors, Kerr can hit 100 mph out of a low arm slot and the balls gets on hitters quicker than they expect. He has a deep arsenal as a former starting pitching prospect, but he relied exclusively on a four-seamer (51.1 percent), a low-80s curve (43.3 percent) and a low 90s change-up (5.6 percent) during his time in the majors in 2023.

2 | RHP Alek Jacob

Opening day age: 25
How acquired: 16^th round in 2021 (Gonzaga)
Height / Weight: 6-foot-3 / 190 pounds
Bats / Throws: Left / Right
2023 team(s): San Antonio (AA)
2023 stats: 1-0, 1.32 ERA, 5 saves, 32 strikeouts, 8 walks, 0.99 WHIP, .192 opponent avg., 27 1/3 IP (18 games)
Need to know: Jacob’s four-seamer and sinker sit 85-86 mph, but it’s his bravado and deception that carried him to San Diego in 2023. Put quite simply: He attacks the zone with the confidence of someone who throws much harder, the change-up is a plus-plus pitch and a whip-like stroke out of a side slot hides the ball well. Jacob also commands a sweeper. Jacob signed for $75,000 as a favorite of the Padres’ research and development department and he’s made them look good, striking out 104 over 104 innings (1.82 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, .214 opponent avg.) in two-plus years before reaching the majors over the summer. Jacob went on to strike out five over three no-hit innings with the Padres before a minor flexor strain and a minor UCL sprain ended his season. Neither injury was expected to require surgery.

3 | RHP Kevin Kopps

Opening day age: 27
How acquired: 3^rd round in 2021 (Arkansas)
Height / Weight: 6-foot / 200 pounds
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2023 team(s): San Antonio (AA), El Paso (AAA)
2023 stats: 4-4, 3.58 ERA, 7 saves, 81 strikeouts, 36 walks, 1.58 WHIP, .266 opponent avg., 70 1/3 IP (46 games)
Need to know: The Golden Spikes winner as a fifth-year senior, Kopps appeared poised to move quickly as a multi-inning reliever only to see pro hitters spit on the gyro-like slider that made him so unhittable at Arkansas. He sits in the low 90s on good days, so he needed to learn to land that slider for strikes and he made strides in that department in 2023, shaving his ERA from 4.14 in 54 1/3 innings at San Antonio in 2022 to 2.63 in 54 2/3 innings this year. Kopps was hit hard and was wild in a brief stint in El Paso to end the year (15 2/3 IP, 6.89 ERA, 2.04 WHIP), but that’s not uncommon as pitchers get acclimated to extreme conditions in the Pacific Coast League.

Padres prospect Cole Paplham at low Single-A Lake Elsinore.

4 | RHP Cole Paplham

Opening day age: 24
How acquired: Undrafted free agent in August 2022 (New Orleans)
Height / Weight: 6-foot-3 / 215 pounds
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2023 team(s): Lake Elsinore (A), Fort Wayne (A+), San Antonio (AA)
2023 stats: 1-0, 3.60 ERA, 11 saves, 36 strikeouts, 13 walks, 1.20 WHIP, .211 opponent avg., 30 IP (31 games)
Need to know: He threw only 9 2/3 innings at the University of New Orleans in 2022 but showed enough stuff despite a rocky showing in an MLB draft league 7 ER, 4 IP) to get $50,000 as an undrafted free agent. He was built up slowly following arm issues in school and even missed six weeks with shoulder trouble. He still pitched well enough for two promotions and an invitation to the Arizona Fall League, where he allowed nine runs in 6 2/3 innings. Paplham sits 95-99 mph with a mid-80s sweeper.

5 | RHP Sean Reynolds

Opening day age: 25
How acquired: Trade with Miami Marlins in August 2023
Height / Weight: 6-foot-8 / 250 pounds
Bats / Throws: Left / Right
2023 team(s): Pensacola (AA), Jacksonville (AAA), El Paso (AAA)
2023 stats: 3-2, 5.43 ERA, 12 saves, 73 strikeouts, 50 walks, 1.72 WHIP, .246 opponent avg., 64 2/3 IP (55 games)
Need to know: A converted first baseman/outfielder, Reynolds moved to the mound in 2021 and had a 2.77 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings to start the year in the Marlins system before he was included in the Ryan Weathers/Garrett Cooper swap. Life, however, proved rough at Triple-A El Paso, as it does for a lot of pitchers. Reynolds allowed 24 earned runs in 16 innings (13.50 ERA), walked (27) more than he struck out (19) and gave up 14.6 hits per nine innings, double his career rate. But he’s big, can touch 100 mph and is on the 40-man roster, so he’ll have a clean slate in big-league camp.

Others to know: RHP Drew Carlton (AAA), RHP Moises Lugo (AAA), LHP Jason Blanchard (AA), RHP Bobby Milacki (AA), LHP Gabriel Morales (AA), RHP Keegan Collett (A+), RHP Carter Loewen (A+), RHP Ruben Galindo (A+), LHP Ryan Och (A+), RHP Francis Pena (A+), RHP Enmanuel Pinales (A), RHP Miguel Mendez (A), LHP Fernando Sanchez (A), LHP Zack Qin (R).