Tirso

Ornelas

Ornelas remains with San Diego after passing through waivers unclaimed following his removal from the club’s 40-man roster earlier this week. The 25-year-old slugging outfielder got into seven games for the Padres this past season, going 1-for-14 with an RBI during that span. He’ll stick around as emergency organizational depth on the doorstep of the big leagues.

The Padres needed to clear a spot on their 40-man roster for the official addition of Griffin Canning on Tuesday and unfortunately Ornelas drew the short straw this time around. The 25-year-old slashed a healthy .289/.384/.450 with 10 homers and 57 RBI in 371 plate appearances at Triple-A El Paso in 2025.

Ornelas wasn’t able to make the most of his first big league opportunity, but he continues to have a solid season at Triple-A, hitting .291 with three home runs, 26 RBI and a .784 OPS. The Padres are trotting Tyler Wade out in left field with Jason Heyward (oblique) on the IL, so they may decide to give Ornelas another chance at some point.

Ornelas is down with Brandon Lockridge (hamstring) off of the 10-day injured list. Ornelas has more upside in his profile than Lockridge, but San Diego likely wants the former to get more consistent playing time. He could/should be back before 2025 comes to a close.

It looks like anyone hoping Ornelas would get a real chance here is going to be disappointed. The Padres have Mason McCoy, Tyler Wade and Oscar Gonzalez in the lineup tonight, but there’s no room for Ornelas, who was hitting .281/.418/.359 in Triple-A before being promoted Saturday.

Ornelas is up with Jason Heyward on the injured list with knee inflammation. The 25-year-old outfielder will likely see time in the corner outfield while Heyward recovers, but it’s hard to picture him as great redraft option at this point.

Ornelas impressed in spring, hitting .294 with one home run in 57 plate appearances. He’s started off strong in Triple-A as well, going 5-for-12 with five runs scored and two RBI in three games. He figures to get the first crack at an outfield job if the Padres decide to move on from veterans like Jason Heyward or Gavin Sheets.

Ornelas was unable to win a spot on the Opening Day roster. The 25-year-old performed well in El Paso last year, and he’ll repeat the level — at least to begin the 2025 campaign — again.

The Padres could still really use J.D. Martinez or maybe David Peralta as a DH option, but since they’ve yet to go that route, Ornelas has a shot of making the team and getting a lot of time at the spot initially. The soon-to-be 25-year-old hit .297/.367/.497 in Triple-A last season. His exit velocity numbers aren’t very impressive, but he did have a rather nice 88/53 K/BB in 548 plate appearances last year.

The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports Gurriel will make $1.25 million if he’s in the majors. The 40-year-old veteran first baseman got into 18 contests last year for Kansas City and figures to have a decent shot at making San Diego’s season-opening lineup in a backup role behind Luis Arraez and Jake Cronenworth. He’ll compete in spring training with some combination of Jason Heyward, Connor Joe, Tirso Ornelas and Eguy Rosario for regular DH at-bats. There’s very little fantasy impact here, but his presence gives the Padres some insurance in case Ornelas isn’t ready for the big-league spotlight.