Rafael De Paula

De Paula piled up 104 strikeouts in 89 innings while working mostly as a starter at High-A Tampa to begin the season, before he was acquired by the Padres as part of the Chase Headley deal. There are some questions regarding his future as a starter against better competition. Upon arriving in the Padres' organization, De Paula was assigned to High-A Lake Elsinore, where he continued to work as a starter to lesser results in the hitter-friendly California League as he became more prone to the long ball. Even if he can't harness his secondary pitches and ultimately fails to stick as a starter, De Paula has a power arm capable of becoming an asset in a late-inning relief role. He'll turn 24 prior to Opening Day, which may lead the Padres to promote him to Double-A for the start of 2015 even though he failed to dominate before or after the trade last season at a lower level of competition.