Former Yankees Reliever Says Padres Are Better in Key Aspect

The New York Yankees have no shortage of quality homegrown starting pitchers.

Will Warren and Cam Schlittler are currently in the rotation. Clarke Schmidt is biding his time on the injured list, while 2024 American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil is stuck in the minors.

The San Diego Padres, somewhat remarkably, do not have a single pitcher on their 26-man roster who was drafted into the organization.

Adrian Morejon and Bradgley Rodriguez signed as international amateurs, while David Morgan was passed over in the 2022 MLB Draft before signing a minor league deal with the Padres.

Everyone else started with another professional organization.

That includes Ron Marinaccio, who was drafted by the Yankees in 2017. He came up through the same system that produced Warren, Schlittler, Gil and Schmidt. And he thinks the Padres are a better pitching development team in one critical area.

"Ruben [Niebla, the Padres' pitching coach] and [bullpen coach Ben] Fritz have been great," Marinaccio told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "Trying to get the best out of me, which I think is not always — it wasn’t always the case, at least in New York for me.

"[It was,] 'This is what you got, if you’re not doing it right now, we can get you out of here' — where there’s been outings I’ve struggled here, and outings that have been good, where Fritz is like, 'I know it was good, but let’s try this a little bit, let’s try to get a little bit better.'"

Marinaccio, 30, made 40 appearances in 2022 and another 45 in 2023. He's on pace to exceed both of those with the Padres in 2026, going 1-0 with a 3.94 ERA through his first 21 games. His 32 innings out of the bullpen also have him on pace for a career high.

Marinaccio has lost a tick off his fastball since his rookie season, but he's averaged 95 mph or more in a handful of outings this year. That's enough to make the rest of his four-pitch mix (slider, changeup, and a cutter he introduced with the Padres) work.

The back end of the Padres' bullpen is set, but Marinaccio has established himself as a trustworthy pitcher in the middle innings. Last season he made all but seven of his 48 appearances at Triple-A.

This year, he's spent the entire season on the big league roster.

"We have such a great bullpen here," he told the Union-Tribune. "The endless amount of leverage guys, it’s hard to really work yourself into one of those roles. So, the way I look at it is just trying to help the team in any way. Give those guys a day off, cover two innings or whatever that might be.

"Just taking pride in those situations where, you know, not necessarily winning the game that day, but leading to help for the next day or whatever that might be."

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