Raúl Padrón

Raúl Eufrasio Padrón

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• 'Height 6' 0", Weight 195-221 lb.

• High School Colegio Andres Bello

• Born September 17, 1984 in Los Teques, Miranda, Venezuela

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Raúl Padrón is a catcher and first baseman who has played in the Oakland Athletics organization since 2003 without reaching the major leagues. He started off by hitting .266/.366/.380 in 63 games for the 2003 DSL Athletics 2. His first year in the US, he batted .306/.387/.476 in 40 games for the AZL Athletics in 2004, sharing his time between his two primary positions and DH, but has never hit above .300 at any level since (through 2009).

He was the starting catcher for the Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League in both 2005 and 2006, hitting .259/.306/.358 in 113 games the first year and falling to .242/.313/.299 in 99 games the next. He failed to display much home run power, hitting a combined 8 home runs over the two seasons, but his 31 doubles over the same period gave hope that his power would eventually develop.

In 2007, he moved up to the Stockton Ports of the advanced Class A California League but hit only .223/.269/.409 in 99 games. His power did come through, however, as he slugged 25 doubles and 13 home runs and drove in 52 runs. In 2008, his career hit a major bump as he was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, possibly indicating the source of his sudden power increase. As a result, he played only 53 games, but did get to play at AAA for the first time, spending 6 games with the Sacramento RiverCats of the Pacific Coast League. Overall, he hit .245 and his OBP improved to .302 (it had been well under .300 his previous two seasons), but overall it was a lost year.

In 2009, he started the season in Stockton once again, but was promoted to AA Midland after hitting .263/.306/.365 with 5 homers in 41 games. He then hit .275/.333/.384 with decent power in 39 AA games and returned to AAA Sacramento for 5 games.

Padrón was one of the hitting stars for the Leones del Caracas in the 2009-2010 Venezuelan League, hitting .276 with 9 home runs as the primary DH for the league champs. He hit a home run and drove in three runs in the second game of the 2010 Caribbean Series in a 5 - 2 win over the Indios de Mayagüez of Puerto Rico.

Padrón has a very strong arm and has been used a few times as an emergency pitcher during his minor league career, allowing 3 runs in 2 1/3 IP in 3 games through 2009.

Padron joined the San Diego Padres player development program in 2016 as a coach for the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Padron became a hitting coach with the Lake Elsinore Storm in 2017, San Antonio Missions in 2018, and Amarillo Sod Poodles in 2019. He was scheduled to return to Amarillo in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Padrón was a hitting coach for the San Antonio Missions in 2021-2022 and El Paso Chihuahuas in 2023-2024.

In addition, Padron has worked in the winter leagues during the offseason. He joined the Yaquis de Obregon on November 18, 2018 as a coach for the remainder of the season. The following year he coached the Yaquis starting on November 25th. Padron finally received a full-time position in 2023/2024 when he served as the Tigres de Aragua hitting coach in the Venezuelan League.