TIRSO ORNELAS

• Position(s): Outfield, first base
• Bats / Throws: Left / Right
• 2024 opening day age: 25
• Height / Weight: 6-foot-3 / 200 pounds
• How acquired: Signed as an international amateur in July 2019 (Mexico)
• Contract status: Has yet to make MLB debut
• fWAR in 2024: N/A
• Key 2024 stats (minors): .297 avg., .367 OBP, .497 SLG, 23 HRs, 89 RBIs, 76 runs, 53 walks, 88 strikeouts, 7 steals (128 games, 548 plate appearances)

 

STAT TO NOTE

• 19.5 — Ornelas’ home run to flyball rate, a career-high. He’d never reached a double-digit rate before 17.2 percent of his flyballs went for homers in 2022. He regressed to 10.5 percent in 2023 before setting a career-high with 23 homers in 2024, albeit in the hitter-friendly Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

 

TRENDING

• Up — A $1.5 million investment from the 2016-17 international amateur class, Ornelas had always looked the part of a power hitter and has demonstrated above-average plate discipline  throughout his career (.352 on-base percentage), but he’d never really actually hit for power until recently. In fact, the eight home runs he hit in low Single-A in 2018 were a career-high until hitting 15 across stops at Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A El Paso in 2023. That was not enough to warrant a spot on the 40-man roster, let alone a look from another team as a Rule 5 pick, but efforts to lift the ball and his history with the organization led to a quick re-signing upon hitting minor league free agency last winter. The ensuing career year in El Paso led the organization to add Ornelas to the 40-man roster over the summer, although he was passed over for veteran David Peralta and speedster Bryce Johnson when the organization was looking for a stopgap while Fernando Tatis Jr. healed a stress reaction in his femur. Ornelas is currently in the Mexican winter league, where he has paired six homers with a .908 OPS.

 

2025 OUTLOOK

• Ornelas played all three outfield spots in 2024, but he saw most of his time in left field. He also started seven games at first base as he looked to improve his versatility to a team that has yet to see the need to call him up. The Padres do not as of yet have a left fielder, so this spring could be Ornelas’ longest look at a big-league job.

 

Roster rankings

• 25. RHP Ryan Bergert
• 26. RHP Henry Baez
• 27. LHP Omar Cruz
• 28. OF Brandon Lockridge
• 29. LHP Tom Cosgrove
• 30. RHP Stephen Kolek
• 31. RHP Juan Nuñez
• 32. C Brett Sullivan
• 33. UT Tyler Wade
• 34. LHP Wandy Peralta