The Padres selected Campusano in the 2^nd round of the 2017 draft, signing him for $1.3 million. Despite being older for the 2017 high school class, he’s still young relative to his competition at Low-A Ft. Wayne of the Midwest League. Campusano is holding his own through his first full pro season, slashing .286/.358/.374 through his first 165 plate appearances.

Campusano’s loudest tool is his 60 raw power with plenty of juice in the barrel to take balls out to all fields. He generates his power with strong wrists and plus batspeed, allowing him to do damage without a huge cut. In games, he was aggressively looking to pull, and he stung several early count fastballs in my May look, including a deep homer. His hit tool projects to major league average; he has good command of the strikezone and showed ability to pick up spin. He stayed back on soft stuff well and showed an advanced feel to take it the other way. The future could be a 50-grade hit tool with above-average power, with enough batspeed and contact ability to not strikeout much by today’s standards.

Considering the offensive upside, if Campusano can stay at catcher, the bat a premium position gives him a valuable ceiling at the highest level. His arm is plus—consistently showing sub-1.90 pop times—but he will need to improve his lateral agility and blocking. Campusano receives well and shows defensive instincts, and I think he will be able to make enough adjustments to remain behind the plate. There’s always risk with young catching prospects, but the ingredients are here for a solid-regular backstop.