Randy Vasquez has seen a steady increase of work since he started his career with the New York Yankees in 2023. He appeared in 11 games as a rookie and made five starts for the Yankees and finished the season
with a record of 2-2. Vasquez closed the season with a 2.87 ERA and allowed 18 walks to 33 strikeouts. The future appeared bright for the right-hander.
The numbers produced by Vasquez caught the eye of San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller and he was acquired via the Juan Soto trade along with pitchers Michael King, Jhony Brito and Drew Thorpe and catcher Kyle Higashioka.
Vasquez was given an opportunity to start for the Padres in 2024 and had mixed results. He appeared and started in 20 games and finished with a 4-7 record. His innings pitched increased from 37.2 to 98.0 which also led to an increased ERA of 4.87. Vasquez gave up 56 runs with 53 of those being earned and recorded 62 strikeouts and allowed 29 walks.
The thought was that Vasquez would take another step forward in 2025, and he did in terms of overall numbers, but the win/loss record remained relatively the same as he finished 6-7. Vasquez appeared in 28 games and made 26 starts. He threw 133.2 innings and worked to a respectable 3.84 ERA. However, his runs and earned runs shot up and finished at 127 and 122 respectively. Unfortunately for the right-hander, and the Padres, he finished with 78 strikeouts and 52 walks.
Vasquez currently stands as the No. 4 starter in the Padres’ rotation. If he remains in that position as San Diego enters the season, he will be asked to take on a greater role and will have to find greater success. Wins and losses are not solely on the pitcher so it’s tough to judge how well Vasquez is performing on record alone, but walks are solely on the pitcher and Vasquez has complete control over throwing strikes. His fastball velocity increased at the end of last season and there is hope that his increased velocity will increase his confidence and he will challenge more hitters.
With growing numbers in games started and innings pitched, Vasquez has been able to steadily acclimate himself to pitching through a major league season over the past three years. Reports are that Vasquez has been working throughout the offseason and is in better shape at this point in the offseason than he was at this time a year ago. Maybe that is maturity and Vasquez becoming more of a professional or maybe he understands he will be leaned on heavily in 2026 and he is trying to show Preller, manager Craig Stammen and the Padres he is up to the challenge.
