'Comfort and confidence': Campusano ready for starting catcher role

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Luis Campusano, at long last, is the Padres’ starting catcher. The road to this point has been so long and so winding, it’s easy to forget he’s only 25 years old.

Promoted as a top prospect in 2020, Campusano dealt with his share of injuries in his first four seasons. When healthy, he was relegated mostly to back-up duty, tasked with learning on the fly as he handled veteran pitching staffs on teams with postseason ambitions.

Without consistent playing time, questions persisted about whether Campusano would ever develop into the No. 1 catcher the Padres felt he could be. Then came the second half of the 2023 season. With Gary Sánchez injured, Campusano took the reins behind the plate and posted a gaudy .331/.375/.500 slash line in the second half, after he’d been sidelined due to thumb surgery for most of the first.

More importantly, Campusano drew rave reviews for his work behind the plate. Not merely blocking balls in the dirt or stealing strikes at the knees. Before their very eyes, Padres pitchers say Campusano began to grow into his role as a game-caller, as a collaborator, as a batterymate.

“A lot of that is him making an effort to get out there and learn the guys, involve himself more,” said Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove. “He's done a lot of work on himself, the way he shows up, ready to engage.”

The bat? The Padres always figured Campusano would hit. But it was his work behind the plate last season that made them content to hand him the starting role entering 2024.

“There's comfort and confidence,” Campusano said. “That's always big in this game. The more you have it, the more free you can play and just worry about helping the team win.”

Comfort and confidence. Suffice it to say, those were not strengths of Campusano during his first few seasons. That’s changed this year, according to those who work with him regularly. Musgrove offered this example:

“His conversations now in the bullpens are more him being honest with you. Before, it just felt like he was maybe just trying to please you, tell you what you wanted to hear to boost you up. Now you're getting good feedback -- 'I don't like the shape of that, I want to see more of this or I want to see more of that.' It's just been really good.”

The personality type of a big league catcher typically bends toward loud, affable and extroverted. Campusano -- soft-spoken and quieter -- doesn’t fit that description.

He doesn’t need to, the Padres say. They want their catcher to be a leader, but there are different types of leaders and different ways to lead. Quiet in group settings, Campusano prefers one-on-one relationship-building with his pitchers. He spent the offseason in San Diego building rapport with several of them. He took part in January’s pitchers camp, learning the new guys on an overhauled pitching staff.

Campusano says his newfound confidence is a direct result of his preparation. He lifts more, and he studies more. And then…

“Making sure my routine is checked off before I start anything, that'll put me in a good state of mind,” Campusano said. “OK, just go play. I got my hard stuff out of the way, now I can just have fun. … It's always about preparation. The more I prepare and the better I prepare, the more freely I can just play the game.”

Campusano will share time this season with former Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka, who arrived in the Juan Soto deal. Higashioka is a defense-first backstop and a stabilizing presence as a backup, expected to ease the burden on Campusano.

But if Campusano’s late-2023 success continues, his share of the playing time will continue to grow. The Padres, in no uncertain terms, need a big season from him. As things stand, he’ll slot somewhere into the middle of their order, probably sixth, maybe even fifth against lefties.

Really, this is what the Padres envisioned way back in 2020 when Campusano was a top prospect who’d just earned his callup. Did it take longer than they anticipated? Maybe, maybe not. Adley Rutschman and William Contreras might be considered the game’s two best young catchers, and Campusano is younger than both.

“Campy's earned what he's getting,” manager Mike Shildt said. “He did a nice job last year. He's really taken multiple next steps, not only at the position but the leadership, the collaboration with the pitchers, just the whole shootin' match.”