Padres Suddenly Release Former Astros Pitcher Amid Disappointing Season

The 26-year-old will head to free agency.

Feb 18, 2024; West Palm Beach, FL, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Misael Tamarez (73) plays catch at spring training. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

The San Diego Padres have released more than 20 players from the organization over the past couple weeks as they made room for the team's new crop of players from the draft that included a ton of undrafted free agents.

The latest roster casualty came at the Triple-A level.

Right-handed pitcher Misael Tamarez has been released from the organization, per the team's transaction log on MiLB.com. He was officially released by the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas.

Misael Tamarez Padres Tenure

The Padres signed Tamarez in July 2025 after he was released by the Houston Astros organization, where he was at the Triple-A level.

The right-hander started with the Padres at High-A Fort Wayne, where he had a 1.23 ERA across six appearances (7.1 innings). He was then promoted to Double-A San Antonio, where he was even better, compiling a 0.87 ERA over six appearances (10.1 innings)

Tamarez reached Triple-A El Paso before the end of 2025, but struggled, sporting a 9.00 ERA across seven appearances (14 innings).

This year, Tamarez has spent the entire season at El Paso, where he's again struggled over a much larger sample size. Across 31 appearances, the 26-year-old had a 6.14 ERA over 48.1 innings. He had more walks (40) than strikeouts (38), and allowed a total of 35 runs, 33 of them earned.

That was enough for the Padres to move on from him, sending him back to free agency where he'll look for his next home.

Misael Tamarez Career History

Tamarez initially signed with the Astros in March 2019 as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic.

He worked his way up the organizational ranks and was among the team's top 30 prospects from 2022-24, per MLB Pipeline. He ranked as high as the Astros' No. 13 prospect in 2023.

Despite his quick rise through the organization — he was in Triple-A by 2022 at the age of 22 — he hasn't been able to reach the big league level.

From 2023-25, Tamarez played exclusively at the Triple-A level with the Astros. He had a 5.08 ERA in 2023, a 6.46 ERA in 2024 and a 9.00 ERA in 2025 before being released.

Tamarez has spent the last year with the Padres organization, but still wasn't able to reach MLB. He'll now look for his next home, where he'll likely head to Triple-A and hope for better results.

Overall, across 129 career appearances at the Triple-A level, Tamarez owns a 6.17 ERA with 271 strikeouts and 193 walks over 293.1 innings pitched.

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