Padres' Michael King Has 3-Word Message for Luis Campusano: 'I Love Him'

The San Diego Padres dropped their second game of the season on Friday by a score of 5-2 to the Detroit Tigers. The year hasn't started the way that the team would have liked, but they know that they have better days ahead. A 3-0 win on Saturday was a promising start.

Within the loss, catcher Luis Campusano had a rough time at the plate, striking out all three times up. But behind the plate, Campusano showed his worth, helping out starter Michael King in the process.

Campusano had two challenges during the game, with each giving a second strike to King. Both led to inning-ending strikeouts, one of them overturning a walk.

After the game, King praised his teammate for his work behind the plate.

“I love him,” King said. “Communication-wise, we work together very well. … He had a rough day at the plate. And he came right to me after [his at-bats] and we started talking about hitters.”

Campusano seems to have a good eye when it comes to balls and strikes, and the Padres are going to keep letting him make judgment calls. It helped out his pitcher in different moments, even within the overall loss.

“As a catcher you’ve got the best view,” Campusano said after the game. “I think it just buys you a chance to help your pitcher.”

However, the catcher will need to get his bat going if he wants to keep having consistent appearances in games. Campusano understands this, but all he is doing is trying to put his best foot forward for the team.

“There is still ballgame left, regardless of what situation comes about,” he said. “Part of my job is to continue to guide these pitchers, keep us in the game and give the offense a chance. Sometimes you just can’t control everything. But what you can do is just stay with your boy, stay with your pitcher and just try to press the right buttons and help him by seeing what you’re seeing.”

Last season, Campusano appeared in 10 games for the Padres, going 0-for-21 across 27 plate appearances. His struggles at the plate have been evident for a while now, but at least he has the skill set behind the plate to help.

Overall, he has gotten much better at working with the pitchers — and the Padres are thankful for this — but there are two sides to the game for catchers. San Diego will keep working with Campusano on his hitting, but ultimately, it will be up to him to sink or swim with the club.