San Diego Padres sign Mitch Walding to minors deal as a catcher

The San Diego Padres are signing 29-year old Mitch Walding to a minor-league contract, per MLB.com reporter AJ Cassavell. The most interesting part of the headline is the fact that the Padres are eyeing a move behind the plate for Walding.

To date, Walding has just 15 games of major league experience under his belt, registering just a single hit (a 455-foot home run) in 21 plate appearances for the Philadelphia Phillies back in 2018 and 2019.

Walding has considerable thump in his left-handed swing, hitting double-digit home run totals four times since 2016 and has functioned primarily as a corner infielder for the Phillies and, most recently, the Los Angeles Angels.

Aside from his power bat, Walding is known for his strong throwing arm, one the Padres liked enough to warrant a minor-league contract and a chance to switch positions from third to behind the plate. Per Cassavell, Walding had this to say about the positional switch:

“My goal was finding anything that could get me back to the big leagues, I looked at that as an alternate route that could really do some good for my career. So I got to work. It takes a lot of dedication into it, but the basic thing is: You’re trying to learn a new position from scratch. You’re trying to take in as much information as you can, every single day.”

Walding is said to hope that the move behind the plate will extend his career “by five years.” He spent last season in the Angels’ minor league system, appearing in a total of 37 games, hitting six home runs and 10 doubles in just under 150 plate appearances.

While Mitch Walding has yet to appear in any live games at his new position, he has already gotten to work and began catching bullpen sessions. The longtime corner infielder signed with the Padres anticipating a move behind the plate. His strong throwing arm prompted the Padres to float the idea past him and it will be interesting to see how he performs as he gets more comfortable in live games.