BRANDON LOCKRIDGE

• Position(s): Outfielder
• Bats / Throws: Right / Right
• 2024 opening day age: 28
• Height / Weight: 6-foot / 185 pounds
• How acquired: Via trade with the Yankees in July 2024
• Contract status: Made MLB debut in 2024; will not be arbitration-eligible until 2028
• fWAR in 2024: 0.0
• Key 2024 stats: .167 avg., .167 OBP, .417 SLG, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 4 runs, 0 walks. 4 strikeouts, 2 steals (12 games, 12 plate appearances)

 

STAT TO NOTE

• .415 — Lockridge’s batting average on balls in play in two Triple-A stops in 2024, the highest of his minor league career. Lockridge has averaged .352 on balls in play over parts of six seasons in the minors, with the yearly number jumping from .291 in 2022 to .388 in 2023 to where it sat while he paired a .306/.410/.397 batting line over 104 games split between the Yankees and Padres’ highest affiliates.

 

TRENDING

• Up — A fifth-round pick out of Troy in 2018, Lockridge signed for $297,500 and ranked as high as No. 23 in the Yankees system entering the 2022 season, according to Baseball America. Of course, Lockridge was blocked at the big-league level in 2024 by the likes of Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo, meaning his 2024 rebound would have to land on other teams’ radars if he was going to get a chance in the majors as even a fourth outfielder. The Padres were one of those teams watching Lockridge hit .295/.405/.382 with 34 steals in 72 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, opting to fetch him from the Yankees for big-league reliever Enyel De Los Santos and minor league pitcher Thomas Balboni Jr. Lockridge’s production ticked up even higher in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League (.325/.420/.423, 12 steals) when the Padres added him to the 40-man roster on Sept. 1 and called him up 10 days later. Lockridge played sparingly over the final weeks of the season, but hit his first big-league homer over the final weekend of the regular season and, thanks to 80-grade speed, was included on both postseason rosters to provide speed off the bench.

 

2025 OUTLOOK

• With Bryce Johnson non-tendered and cast into free agency early in the offseason, Lockridge is the leading contender to win a job as a fourth outfielder capable of playing all three spots on the grass. Newly added to the 40-man roster, Lockridge enters the season with all three minor league options available, so he’s a safe bet to return to the majors at some point even if he doesn’t win a job in spring training.

 

 

 

Roster rankings

• 29. LHP Tom Cosgrove
• 30. RHP Stephen Kolek
• 31. RHP Juan Nuñez
• 32. C Brett Sullivan
• 33. UT Tyler Wade
• 34. LHP Wandy Peralta