SAN DIEGO — Cal Mitchell grew up playing his high school baseball on the diamond at Rancho Bernardo High School. The former Broncos standout had committed to play in college for the Toreros at the University of San Diego but was instead drafted at #50 overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft in 2017 and signed with the MLB team.
Mitchell was once a top-30 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system and would eventually make his big league debut with the Pirates in May 2022. After hitting just .222 in 71 games and 216 at-bats over the course of 2 seasons Mitchell was eventually designated for assignment and cleared waivers making him a minor league free agent when the season came to a close.
That's where the Padres came in. San Diego signed the Southern California native to a minor league deal in November 2023 and brought him to spring training as a non-roster invitee.
"It's kind of like being the new kid in school," said Mitchell. "It's really special. You know, of course, those are the only games that I went to as a kid are the only games I could get to so I was a Padre fan through and through. It's exactly that it's special."
With the departure of Juan Soto and Trent Grisham to the Yankees, the Padres are in serious need of outfielders and left-handed hitters. Cal is a left-handed hitting outfielder. That helps his chances to make the team, something he has pondered since he was a kid.
"I only thought of it as something that would be cool. Like man, that would be amazing. To be a Padre. Then I don't know when it was time to get drafted you're just hoping somebody calls your name. But now years later it's still just as cool as when I was thinking about it when I was 10," Mitchell said.
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