Reggie

Lawson

The 25-year-old hurler was a second round pick by the Padres in the 2016 draft. He battled several injuries throughout his minor league career and underwent Tommy John surgery in March of 2020. He had a few dominant stretches at Double-A San Antonio this season, but overall posted a 5.63 ERA, 1.70 WHIP and 55/50 K/BB ratio over 62 1/3. Best of luck to Lawson in whatever he decides to do next.

Lawson tied his career-high with the nine strikeouts. The right-hander has been around for a while -- the Padres made him the 71st pick of the 2016 draft -- and was limited to just 6 2/3 innings in 2021 after he underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020. When healthy, Lawson shows two plus pitches in his fastball and curve, with a change that can keep left-handed hitters honest. Command has been an issue for the 24-year-old, and it’s been readily apparent with 27 walks in just 30 2/3 innings. Still, Lawson is an intriguing arm, and one that could make starts for the Padres before the end of 2023.

Lawson got caught up in a roster crunch as the Padres opened up several 40-man spots to protect a few of their highly-regarded prospects from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. The 24-year-old righty, who underwent Tommy John elbow reconstructive surgery back in 2020, was limited to just four starts at Double-A San Antonio this past season due to injury.

Lawson had Tommy John surgery in March and will get a late start to 2021, but the Padres didn’t want to expose him to the Rule 5 Draft. He’s ranked by MLB.com as the club’s No. 10 prospect.

The 22-year-old hurler made just six starts at the Double-A level in 2019 before he was shut down with an elbow injury and was forced to miss the remainder of the season. He was able to return for the Arizona Fall League season though, leading many to believe that his UCL was intact that he was progressing nicely. He’ll miss the 2020 season and a large chunk of 2021 as well.

Lawson started for the Peoria Javelinas and made it look easy. He surrendered just one hit and one walk in the dominant outing. He has allowed only one run through seven innings of work in the AFL. Lawson began the minor league season at the Double-A level with the Amarillo Sod Poodles. He made just six starts before going down with an elbow injury and missed the rest of the season. He did not require Tommy John surgery and was able to return for the AFL season. Lawson is a 22-year-old right-hander and was a Competitive Balance B pick in the 2016 draft (71st player taken overall). He has posted big strikeout rates in the minors but that success has not translated into good ERAs. In his career he has 249 strikeouts in 226 1/3 innings with a 5.09 ERA across four levels.