FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – The San Diego Padres have announced the 2022 Opening Day roster for their High-A affiliate, the Fort Wayne TinCaps.
Outfielder Robert Hassell III is one of five prospects assigned to Fort Wayne who are rated by MLB.com among the top 30 in San Diego’s farm system. The 20-year-old from Tennessee is ranked as the second-best Padres prospect and the 37th best prospect overall in baseball.
In 2021, Hassell was promoted to the TinCaps from Single-A Lake Elsinore on Aug. 28 for the final three weeks of the season. The left-handed batter quickly put his name in the Fort Wayne record book as he hit three home runs in the team’s win at Great Lakes on Sept. 1, tying a franchise high for homers in a game and becoming the first to do so in more than 11 years. The center fielder also added a three-run homer at Parkview Field on Sept. 11 against Lansing.
On the 30-player roster, Hassell is one of 16 who’s previously appeared with the ’Caps. That includes infielder Euribiel Angeles (No. 12 Padres prospect) and catcher Brandon Valenzuela (No. 21 Padres prospect), both of whom were also called up at the same time as Hassell last year.
Meanwhile, left-handed starter Robert Gasser (No. 9 Padres prospect) is the most highly touted pitcher on the squad. The 22-year old was drafted last July out of the University of Houston. Outfielder Joshua Mears (No. 10 Padres prospect) is San Diego’s top-graded power-hitting prospect. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound, 21-year-old slugger from the state of Washington was committed to play collegiately at Purdue University, but instead signed with the Padres after being selected in the second round of the 2019 MLB Draft.
Fort Wayne’s pitching staff will also feature right-hander Nick Thwaits, who graduated from Fort Recovery High School in Ohio—just a little more than an hour away from Parkview Field—in 2018.
The TinCaps will be managed this season by Brian Esposito, a former big league catcher who most recently skippered the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Click here to learn more about Fort Wayne’s coaching staff.
The team is scheduled to travel from Padres spring training in Peoria, Ariz., to the Hoosier State on Sunday. The ’Caps are set to start their Midwest League season at Dayton on Friday, April 8. Opening Day at Parkview Field is on tap for Tuesday, April 12 (6:35 p.m.) against the South Bend Cubs. That begins a six-game homestand concluding on Easter Sunday.
Tickets for the 2022 season are available at TinCapsTickets.com, by calling 260-482-6400, and at the Parkview Field Ticket Office.
Since Fort Wayne’s franchise was founded in 1993, 199 players have gone through the organization to reach Major League Baseball.
