Padres roster review: Freddy Fermin

Position(s): Catcher
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2026 opening day age: 30
Height / Weight: 5-foot-10 / 200 pounds
How acquired: Via trade with the Kansas City Royals in July 2025
Contract status: Will make $2.1 million in 2026 after agreeing to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration; will not be a free agent until 2030.
fWAR in 2025: 1.0
Key 2025 stats: .251 AVG, .297 OBP, .339 SLG, 5 HRs, 26 RBIs, 32 runs, 19 walks, 65 strikeouts, 1 steal (109 games, 347 plate appearances)

14 — The catching runs that Fermin has accumulated, according to Statcast, since his MLB debut in 2022. That includes 5 catching runs in 2023, 7 in 2024 and 2 in 2025 while splitting time with the Royals and Padres. Fermin ranked in the 92nd percentile or better in 2024 in blocks above average (9), caught stealing above average (7) and pop time (1.88 seconds). That pop time was a shade off in 2025 (1.90 seconds, 88th percentile), while the blocks above average (4, 72nd percentile) and caught stealing above average (2, 76 percentile) dropped considerably.

Idle — Fermin signed with the Royals as a 20-year-old for less than $10,000 in 2015, didn’t play more than 80 games in a season until 2019 and didn’t reach the majors until 2022. That was a three-game cup-of-coffee ahead of becoming Salvador Pérez’s primary backup the next year. Fermin paired a career-high nine homers with a career-high .781 OPS, his most successful stint to date in the majors. Fermin had a .785 OPS that year as a starter, numbers that have dipped each of the following years (.669 OPS in 2024 and .638 OPS in 2025). That includes hitting .244/.278/.339 with two homers in 42 games after the Padres gave up two young starting pitchers (Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek) to make him their starting catcher. The need for a trade arrived after years of trying to make Luis Campusano the catcher of the future and after watching Elias Díaz and Martín Maldonado consistently underwhelm as offensive producers. Fermin hit .364/.400/.485 with a homer and five RBIs in his first 10 games after the trade, but hit .202/.235/.287 in 32 games after that. Fermin, however, was one of the team’s few bright spots in the NL Wild Card Series, going 4-for-11 with two doubles before the Padres were eliminated in three games.

The Padres have a new catcher of the future, but 19-year-old Ethan Salas hasn’t had much time or success at Double-A San Antonio. That makes Fermin a placeholder with four years of control, ample time to find out if some of the juice he showed early as Pérez’s backup in Kansas City can make him a worthy starter on a playoff-hopeful team.

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Andre Hobbs

San Diego Broker | The Hobbs Valor Group | License ID: 01485241