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Iriarte has struck out seven in four perfect innings across his first two appearances out of the bullpen for Double-A San Antonio.
Iriarte was one of the better pitching prospects in a shallow Padres system entering the year, but he was good enough in 14 starts for High-A Fort Wayne that he is now one of the better pitchers in all the minors. The 6-foot-2 righty added three ticks of velocity to his fastball over the offseason, according to Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs, and he now sits in the mid-90s with a terrific changeup and slider. The lanky 21-year-old logged a 3.10 ERA, 1.28 WHIP and 77 strikeouts in 61 innings at High-A before getting promoted to Double-A on July 14. He has been working in relief since the promotion, so it's possible the Padres are preparing him to join the big-league bullpen down the stretch. In the long run though, he would appear to have the arsenal to start in the majors if his command holds up.
