Daniel

Camarena

There are no major surprises among the first large batch of cuts for the Padres, as anticipated. With these moves they are now down to 50 players remaining in big league camp. Salas, the 17-year-old phenom, went 2-for-7 with a double and an RBI in his limited Cactus League action this spring. It’s highly unlikely that we’ll see him in the big leagues during the 2024 season, but his time will be coming soon.

Camarena hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since he made six relief appearances for the Padres during the 2021 campaign, when he also clobbered a memorable grand slam off Max Scherzer at the plate. The 31-year-old southpaw made 25 appearances (17 starts) this past season for Double-A San Antonio in San Diego’s system and will continue to function as emergency pitching depth.

Camarena was released by the Padres earlier this month, but has opted to re-sign with the organization on a new minor-league pact. The 29-year-old left-hander has been placed on the minor-league injured list at Triple-A El Paso and will function as organizational relief depth moving forward.

Camarena was jettisoned from the Padres’ 40-man roster last October, but wound up re-signing on a minor league deal during the offseason. The 29-year-old lefty reliever surrendered 12 runs -- 10 earned -- over 9 1/3 innings last season at the major league level. He also launched an improbable grand slam off Max Scherzer during that span. He should be able to land a minor league deal somewhere else this season.

Camarena was outrighted off the Padres’ 40-man roster at the end of October, but he’ll be back with the organization leading into the 2022 campaign. The 29-year-old lefty reliever allowed 12 runs -- 10 earned -- over his first 9 1/3 major league innings last season.

Camarena delivered one of the most memorable moments of the entire 2021 campaign, launching a grand slam off Max Scherzer on July 8, becoming the first relief pitcher to accomplish the feat since 1985. The 28-year-old left hander allowed 12 runs (10 earned) on 16 hits with a 7/3 K/BB ratio across 9 1/3 innings over six appearances at the big-league level. He’s now off the Padres’ 40-man roster.

San Diego activated Yu Darvish from the 10-day injured list on Thursday and Camarena was the odd man out. The left-hander made five appearances for the Padres allowing nine earned runs over nine frames.

Camarena has surrendered five earned runs over just 5 2/3 innings this season at the MLB level.

The Padres needed to clear a roster spot for veteran righty Craig Stammen to return from paternity leave on Friday evening, so Camarena was jettisoned to Triple-A El Paso. He should be back at some point soon.

Camarena gobbled up two innings in relief for the Padres after an early exit from ace Yu Darvish, but the 28-year-old rookie southpaw’s most significant contribution came at the plate when he delivered a truly miraculous moment, drilling a grand slam to right field off Nationals ace Max Scherzer in the fourth inning for his first major-league hit. Unreal.