The San Diego Padres have built a strong reputation for finding impressive young talent in the international free agent market during the AJ Preller era, signing notable names such as Ethan Salas (SD No. 1 /MLB No. 23) , Leo De Vries (A's No. 1 / MLB No. 2) , Adrian Morejon and Bradgley Rodriguez.
Now it appears the organization has found another rising star from the international free agent pool in 19-year-old right-hander Lan-Hong Su. The Padres' No. 9 prospect has pitched on numerous big stages throughout his young baseball career, and has found his footing at Single-A at the culmination of the 2026 season.
“My take is I’m not surprised,” said Chris Kemp, the Padres' Vice President of Amateur & International Scouting. “You’ve taken a talented guy with our player development plan, and you're starting to see the hard work everyone has put in start to come to fruition.”
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, the right-hander turned heads for the Chinese Taipei team at the 18U World Cup in Japan last September where he struck out 14 batters and held opposing hitters to a .192 average in 7 1/3 innings across five appearance. San Diego then signed Su for $775,000 that October.
“Our area scout in Taiwan had alerted us about Su a year before the 18 and under tournament, so he had been a guy we had reports on. He was a guy we were sitting on,” Kemp said. “We made sure to follow the Taiwan team, and got to see Su throw two or three different times in the tournament, and at that point we realized this guy was a real Major League prospect and began the process to sign him.”
At 6-foot-1 and 150 pounds at the time of signing, Su was already throwing 89-94 mph with an advanced feel for his slider. The Padres felt the right-hander had only begun to scratch the surface of his potential.
“Seeing him in person was huge.” Kemp said, “Getting around him pregame, we could body him up, so to speak, and as soon as I walked up on him I realized he’s not 5-foot-8, he’s not 5-foot-9, this guy is definitely closer to 6-foot-2 with longer features that definitely gave room for more projection.”
That upside San Diego saw flashed just months later in the Padres' 2026 Spring Breakout game when the 19-year-old tallied a pair of punchouts and saw his fastball top out at 97 mph in a scoreless inning.
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After being sidelined in early April, Su made just six appearances in the Rookie-Level Arizona Complex League before being moved to Single-A Lake Elsinore.
After yielding 12 earned runs in his first 7 2/3 innings pitched with the Storm, Su adjusted quickly. Over his last eight starts, the right-hander posted a 2.96 ERA and a 36.5 percent strikeout rate against just a 5.2 percent walk rate. His 35 strikeouts rank tied for sixth in the Padres system in that span.
During that same stretch, Su’s fastball has continued to make strides, as his four-seamer topped out at 97.3 mph during his seven-strikeout performance in Lake Elsinore’s 3-2 loss to Rancho Cucamonga on August 27 at LoanMart Field.
“I think we’ve seen some guys at his age and with his arm speed, where I don’t really want to put a limit on the velocity,” Kemp said. “If you told me Su was throwing 95-97 mph next year, I wouldn’t be surprised. I think he’s got a chance to have an elite fastball.”
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In tandem with the 50-grade four-seamer and 55-grade slider, Su’s changeup has also continued to develop nicely.
Before signing, the right-hander had shown the ability to shape five-to-six different pitches. However, San Diego decided to condense the pitch mix to three offerings so Su could focus further on the low-80s changeup.
“I think condensing the mix into a more natural three, you’re gonna see that changeup play up,” said Kemp. “He definitely has a shot to have a Major League plus-changeup to back up the fastball and the slider.”