Attended Cross Creek High School in Augusta, Ga...Was committed to the University of South Carolina prior to being the first catcher taken in the 2018 MLB Draft...Ranked by Perfect Game as the No. 4 overall prep player (No. 1 catcher) in Georgia...His favorite player growing up was Salvador Perez.
In his fourth Major League campaign, captured career highs in games (49), runs (27), hits (52), 2B (7), HR (7), RBI (30), BB (7) and TB (80)...Defensively, appeared in a career-high 42 games behind the plate, including 37 starts across 325.1 innings…posted a .991 fielding percentage (3 E/334 TC) with a three percent CS rate (1 CCS/29 SB)…also appeared in five games (four GS) at DH...In 41 games as a starter, hit .329 (51-155) with seven 2B, seven HR and 29 RBI (37 GS at C)…appeared in eight games off the bench, in which he hit .125 (1-for-8) with one RBI...After making his second career Opening Day roster (other: 2021), was placed on the 10-day IL on April 17 with a left thumb sprain before being transferred to the 60-day IL on June 2…was later activated on July 18 after eight rehab games between ACL Padres (3 G) and Triple-A El Paso (5 G), where he combined to hit .280 with a trio of 2Bs, one HR and five RBI for a .400 OBP...On July 22 @ DET, collected a career-high four hits (1 HR)...it marked the first 4+hit game by a Padres’ catcher since Austin Nola on Aug. 3, 2021 @ OAK and was just the third game of the kind by an SD catcher in the previous eight seasons (since 2016)...On Aug. 7 vs. LAD, collected his first career multi-homer game, while his four hits and four RBI matched his single-game highs from July 22 @ DET...Prior to landing on the 10-day IL on Sept. 30 with a right ankle sprain for the remainder of the season, collected a career-best six-game hitting streak from Sept. 17-24…hit .478 with a 2B, HR and five RBI during the span...Collected a hit in 11 of his final 13 games (.346 BA) and in 15 of his final 20 games (.366 BA with 3 2B, 3 HR and 17 RBI)...Additionally, in his final 15 contests of the year (Sept. 5-24), collected multi-hit efforts in six of the 12 games in which he hit safely, turning in a .351 average (20-for-57) with two 2B, two HR and 15 RBI.
2022
Appeared in 16 games across two stints with the Padres, slashing .250/.260/.333 with one 2B, one HR and five RBI....Was the starting catcher in nine of his 10 appearances behind the plate, totaling a .988 fielding percentage (1 E/84 TC)over 78.0 innings....Made three starts in five total appearances as the designated hitter, going 1-for-13 (.077) with one run and one RBI....Began the season with El Paso (AAA) before being recalled on April 24...optioned back to ELP on May 1 and remained with the Chihuahuas before being recalled on Aug. 26, and spent the remainder of the season at the big-league level...logged a hit in six of his final nine starts at a .313 clip (10-for-32)with one home run and three RBI....Over his final six games of the regular season, hit .318 (7-for-22) and collected a hit in four of those games, including a career-long, 3-consecutive multi-hit efforts from Sept. 17-22....With ELP, turned in a .298 AVG (95-for-319) with 15 doubles ,a triple, 14 homers and 60 RBI across 81 games....Ranked among the top Chihuahua bats in hits (fifth, 95), RBI(fifth, 60), home runs (sixth, 14), total bases (sixth, 154), games(seventh, 81), runs (seventh, 62), doubles (ninth, 15) and walks (ninth, 33)....Logged 529.2 innings behind the plate at ELP, which trail just his 2019 mark of 675.1 innings at Single-A Lake Elsinore....Entered 2022 rated as the No. 44 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline, No. 53 by Baseball America, and No. 67 by ESPN and The Athletic....Also entered 2022 as the seventh-best catching prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline.
POSTSEASON: Made SD's roster in their three rounds of the Postseason, but did not make an appearance.
2021
Made his first career Opening Day roster and made 11 appearances with San Diego in 2021 after playing just one game for the Padres in the 2020 regular season...Went 3-for-34 (.088) with four walks in his 11 app. in 2021... All three of his hits came off right-handed pitching, and he went 0-for-3 vs. left-handers...Made his first career app. in the field at the ML level, starting nine games at catcher...didn't make an error in 86 total chances and 75.0 innings...allowed four SB without catching a runner stealing with a 3.24 catcher's ERA...Was optioned to the Padres' Alternate Training Site on April 28 and assigned to Triple-A El Paso on May 3...In 81 games played for the Chihuahuas, he hit .295 (86- for-292) with 21 2B, three 3B, 15 HR, 45 RBI, 47 runs scored, 27 walks, a .365 OBP, a .541 SLG and a .906 OPS...his .906 OPS was second highest on the team behind Brian O'Grady's .913 OPS...Made 62 app. behind the plate for ELP (all starts)...caught 511.2 innings with eight errors in 541 total chances (.985 fielding % behind the plate)...On July 11, represented the Padres along with CJ Abrams in the 2021 SiriusXM All-Stars Futures game for the NL team @ Coors Field...went 0-for-1 with a RBI...Voted as the best defensive catcher in the Padres farm system by Baseball America in their Best Tools survey for the Padres farm system, voted on by MLB executives, scouts and managers.
2020
Selected to the ML roster on Sept. 4 from the Alternate Training Site and made his MLB debut that night, batting 7th as the DH against the A's in Oakland...hit an opposite-field HR in the 8th for his 1st hit, becoming the 15th Padre in team history to have his 1st-career hit go for a HR (1st since Patrick Kivlehan in 2016)...Jorge Oña did it 6 days later on Sept. 10 vs. SF... Was the 5th Padre in 2020 to make his MLB debut (joining Edward Olivares, Jake Cronenworth, Luis Patiño and Jorge Mateo)...was an MLB-leading 6th Padre who is 21-or-younger to make his MLB debut since the start of 2019 (joining Fernando Tatis Jr., Josh Naylor, Andres Muñoz, Adrian Morejon, and Luis Patiño)...His highest level of play prior to his sole MLB game was Single-A Lake Elsinore, where he won the California League batting crown in 2019... Scratched from the lineup on Sept. 5 due to left hand soreness...was placed on the 10-Day IL on Sept. 6 (retro to Sept. 5) with a left wrist sprain.
POSTSEASON: Made both the Wild Card Series and National League Division Series rosters for the Padres... made just 1 playoff appearance, pinch-hitting for DH Jurickson Profar in Game 3 of the NLDS vs. LAD in the bottom of the 8th inning (struck out)...in 2020, appeared in as many playoff games as he did regular season games.
2019
Spent the whole season with Lake Elsinore (A), setting career highs in nearly every offensive category while winning the California League batting crown by hitting .325 (137-for-422) with 31 2B, 1 3B, 15 HR, 81 RBI and 52 BB in 110 games played…also named the California League co-MVP, along with Lancaster's Luis Castro, and earned his 1st-career MiLB.com Organizational All-Star honors...Opened the season with a 10-game hitting streak (.474) before being placed on the 7-day IL on April 16…reinstated on April 23 for his sole stint on the IL in 2019...Entered the season having hit just 7 HR in 107 games…in 2019, he hit 15 home runs in 110 games, finishing 2nd on the Storm behind Gabriel Arias' 17 HR...His walk rate (10.7%) nearly equated his SO rate (11.7%)...Earned CAL Mid-Season All-Star honors, hitting .317 (63for-199) prior to the break...Led all qualifying Storm players in AVG (.325), OBP (.396), SLG (.509) and OPS (.906)...Caught a career-high 675.1 innings in 77 games (all starts) behind the plate, committing 9 errors and allowing 4 passed balls for a .989 fielding %...caught 22 runners stealing (T-8th in CAL) in 97 stolen base attempts...Named a CAL Post-Season All-Star after hitting .242 with 2 2B, 1 3B and 5 RBI in 8 games for the Storm in their postseason run...Following the season, played for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League, appearing in just 4 games and going 1-for-13.
2018
Spent the entire campaign with Fort Wayne (A) in his 1st action at the Single-A level, slashing .288/.345/.365 in 70 games for the TinCaps...In the 1st half of the season, hit .293 (48-for-164) en route to being named a Midwest League Mid-Season All-Star, the 1st such accolade of his career...Placed on the 7-day disabled list (retro: July 29) and was reinstated on September 26...Finished the season ranking 4th on the club in RBI (40) and 6th in hits (75).
2017
Divided his 1st professional season between AZL Padres 1 (R) and AZL Padres 2 (R), hitting .269 (36-for-134) with 4 2B, 4 HR, 25 RBI and 16 BB between the clubs...Made 27 appearances behind the plate (26 starts) and caught 213.2 innings with 7 errors committed.
