PEORIA, Ariz. – Kruz Schoolcraft is hard to miss on the Peoria backfields. For starters, he’s 6-foot-8, a full head and shoulder above many of the other Padres prospects in camp. And then there’s the grunt. Every pitch is delivered with a tennis-style audio effect.
The 2025 25th overall pick can draw a crowd, as he did Monday during a three-inning appearance in an intrasquad game at Peoria Sports Complex with coaches, front-office members and fellow players all gathering behind home plate for a look at San Diego’s top prospect and the No. 88 overall talent on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100.
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Schoolcraft sat 94-96 mph with his fastball in the outing – a pitch that plays up with seven feet of extension from his large frame and solid overall command -- while getting increased in-game use of his slider, the only one of his three offerings not to earn plus grades yet. He struck out four of the 13 batters he faced, giving the aforementioned crowd a taste of why he’s already so well-regarded before his first full season.
“His body moves well,” said San Diego assistant director of player development Mike Daly. “He repeats his delivery. It's very consistent. His head’s on the target. There are a number of positives that Kruz had worked on for many, many years before he got drafted, and we are fortunate to have him in the system.”
What might be most intriguing about Schoolcraft’s profile in his first Spring Training is that he’s fully focused on the mound now as a pro. As an Oregon high-schooler, the massive left-hander got two-way looks as a pitcher and a first baseman, and he held on to the belief that he could do both at a high level right up through his senior year. As the Draft process was ramping up, it became clear that his highest potential was on the mound, and from the sounds of it, the two-way dream wasn’t a difficult one to give up.
“I get that focus of just pitching and really trying to maximize that and not having a bunch of different things moving me in a bunch of different directions,” Schoolcraft said. “It gives me a lot more time to recover. I think that's one thing that I really needed, was time to recover from playing three games a week -- pitching in the first one and then hitting in the next two. Using that time and rest gives me more time to learn about the other hitters I'm facing. I think it was a really good decision, and I know eventually it's going to pay off.”
The upper echelon of the Top 100 prospects list is full of former two-way players. Nolan McLean (No. 6) and Bubba Chandler (No. 11) both got at-bats in the Minor Leagues, but took off when they moved to the bump full-time, while Carson Benge (No. 16) was a John Olerud Two-Way Player Award finalist at Oklahoma State, but has been outfielder-only since he signed.
Moving to a singular focus unlocks another level of already supremely talented players, and as Schoolcraft noted, gives them proper recovery time needed to stay healthy. In his specific case, a full offseason of honing the slider could help him take off in the California League, where he made one start for Single-A Lake Elsinore after the Draft. Of the 38 pitches tracked in that outing by Synergy, only one was a breaking ball. Schoolcraft noted he’s trying to throw something “not sweepy” and with a more consistent shape he can command better. It’s an experiment that will carry beyond Peoria and into the regular season.
“The good part is he throws a lot of strikes on his fastball,” Daly said. “He has feel for his changeup. He should be in a lot of positive counts to be able to throw his slider, be able to get it in zone, get it out of zone. … We will have a much better idea of what that best version looks like towards the end of the year than we do here.”
So instead of horizontal movement or velocity or vertical drop, Schoolcraft heads into his first elongated look at Lake Elsinore and the Minor Leagues in general with a different number in mind.
“The expectation is hopefully to make 22 starts this year,” he said.
That’s music to the Padres’ ears.
Something to prove: Ethan Salas (No. 2)
Formerly considered one of the top catching prospects in all of baseball, Salas fell out of the Top 100 this offseason after posting just a .599 OPS over 111 games at High-A Fort Wayne in 2024 and playing only 10 games with Double-A San Antonio last season due to a stress reaction in his back.
On the positive front, he’s had a relatively normal camp as a Major League non-roster invitee and went 2-for-9 (.222) with three walks and a strikeout in eight appearances before being sent back to Minor League camp on Monday. And even when the teenage catcher wasn’t hitting when healthy, he still looked like a potential plus-plus defensive backstop. That hasn’t gone away after all the missed time, turning the focus more on finding results at the plate.
“His hands work exceptionally well with blocks, throwing, accuracy,” Daly said. “He continues to build up on the swings and work on the bat -- tighter moves, more consistency on the barrel accuracy aspect, staying in the middle of the field. The most important thing is he's been able to get his work in every single day.”
Camp standout: Kannon Kemp (No. 19)
The 2023 eighth-rounder didn’t make his professional debut until last May after shoulder injuries, including surgery to address a labrum tear, waylaid the start to his career. The 6-foot-6 right-hander split his 2025 between the Arizona Complex League and Single-A before being pushed to the Arizona Fall League a month after his 21st birthday. He touched 99.5 mph with his fastball in the desert and only allowed one run across six appearances (seven innings).
A healthy spring would have been enough to get him started on the right foot in 2026, but Daly notes that folks around the player-development staff are paying more attention to Kemp’s stuff.
“Going into the Fall League, it was probably viewed as a little aggressive in terms of putting him out there, but he pitched very well,” he said. “He's taken that into camp here. Six-foot-six Texan, big righty, sinking fastball, hard [upper-80s] slider. He's definitely opened a number of eyes out here.”
Something new: Kale Fountain (No. 10)
A $1.5 million signing out of the fifth round in 2024, Fountain is still trying to find his foundation in pro ball. He underwent Tommy John surgery in the fall after joining the San Diego organization and dealt with hamstring and knee injuries that limited him to 65 games between the ACL and Lake Elsinore last summer. Known for his power potential from the right side, he slugged just .309 over 230 at-bats in ’25, all while moving from third base to first to protect his elbow.
Fountain is a better runner than might be expected for someone with his 6-foot-4 frame, and the Padres are hopeful they’ve found something that can help his bat flourish and keep him on the field – a move to the outfield, right specifically.
“If he's hitting 30 homers in a year or two, we can always bring him back to first base,” Daly said. “He’s big and athletic. Put him out there in the outfield, let his athleticism play out there, let his bat play. He'll go to [Lake Elsinore] and, if he gets going, we would love to send him to Fort Wayne.”