Eguy Rosario: Padres 2022 Minor League Player Of The Year

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Eguy Rosario lacks the name recognition of the Padres’ top prospects such as Luis Campusano or Jackson Merrill, but all the 23-year-old shortstop has done the past two seasons is hit.

That consistency paid off with a callup to San Diego on Aug. 26. He spent about two weeks in MLB before going back down.

Rosario hit .288/.368/.508 with 22 home runs, 21 stolen bases, 59 walks and 109 strikeouts in 124 games for Triple-A El Paso.

With Triple-A El Paso this season, Rosario hit .293/.374/.520 with 21 home runs, 20 stolen bases, 55 walks and 103 strikeouts in 113 games.

“I think the kid has grown a ton,” Padres farm director Ryley Westman said. “. . . He has been pretty young at every level, and I think he’s just maturing and becoming more professional and understanding his craft.”

Signed for $300,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2015, Rosario hit his way out of the Dominican Summer League in 2016 and reached Low-A as a 17-year-old in 2017.

When the coronavirus pandemic canceled the 2020 minor league season, Rosario was sent home to train on his own instead of joining more advanced prospects at the Padres’ alternate training site. He turned 20 late that summer.

Rosario used the time to hone his strike-zone discipline as well as his conditioning during daily runs on the beach. Getting everyday at-bats that winter in the Venezuelan League was a “turning point.”

Rosario carried that momentum to Double-A San Antonio in 2021, when he hit .281/.360/.455 with 12 homers and 30 steals on his way to the Arizona Fall League and a place on the 40-man roster.

After a slow start at El Paso this season that included a .618 OPS in April, Rosario doubled down on his all-fields approach to author his finest season. The versatile infielder even upped his shortstop game by improving his first-step quickness and accuracy of his throws.

“In the past, he was inconsistent with his level of preparation and how he’d go about his business,” Westman said, “so his play was inconsistent.

“Now, I think he’s in a place both mentally and professionally where he’s showing up, and I think he knows what’s required of him to be an impact-type player”

FATHER FIGURES

— A leg injury held 18-year-old outfielder Samuel Zavala out of action early in the Arizona Complex League season. He recovered to hit his way to the California League. Zavala hit .254/.355/.508 with seven home runs in 33 games for Low-A Lake Elsinore.

— First baseman Griffin Doersching, an eighth-round senior sign this summer out of Oklahoma State, hit eight home runs in 25 games for Low-A Lake Elsinore.