Tirso Ornelas DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

The San Diego Padres have optioned outfield prospect Tirso Ornelas to Triple-A El Paso. Ornelas was in contention to make the Opening Day roster. During camp, he performed quite well, tallying 15 hits across 23 contests with a .294/.368/.451 slash line. He tallied five doubles with a home run and a 6:6 BB:K. Last summer, Ornelas spent the entire campaign at the Triple-A level. Across 128 contests, the 25-year-old posted a strong .297/.367/.497 slash line with 24 doubles and 23 home runs. He swiped seven bags and held a 53:88 BB:K. This was a steady increase from the .285/.358/.425 line he held across 53 contests at Triple-A in 2023. Fantasy managers in deeper formats should continue to monitor Ornelas, as he could be on the verge of his MLB debut. With Ornelas opening the season at Triple-A, Connor Joe and Jason Heyward will split time in left field while Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. cover center and right field, respectively.

San Diego Padres outfield prospect Tirso Ornelas was added to the team's 40-man roster in July of last season, prompting speculation that there was a chance fans could see him inside Petco Park before the conclusion of 2024. That did not come to fruition, but Ornelas had a solid season at Triple-A nonetheless, slashing .297/.367/.497 with 23 home runs and a below-average strikeout rate of 16.1%. The 24-year-old has carried over that success into the Mexican Winter League while playing for the Charros de Jalisco. San Diego's 17th-ranked prospect is slashing .314/.419/.524 with five home runs and seven stolen bases in 30 games (124 PA). The Padres are likely set in the outfield at the moment with Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, and assuming they bring back free agent Jurickson Profar, but at the very least, Ornelas looks like a potential bench bat for 2025. If the Padres lose out on Profar, Ornelas could become fantasy-relevant, so it's a situation worth monitoring.