Padres prospect Logan Driscoll is excelling early in his career

Logan Driscoll was drafted by the Padres 73^rd overall in the 2019 MLB Draft.

Driscoll is a catcher from Burke, Virginia. Representing his hometown means a lot to him.

“Growing up and going to high school and college in the same area has been a really special experience,” Driscoll said. “Just throughout this whole first season, the random texts and support that I get from the people back home has been special. I’m really grateful for that.”

For 3 years, Driscoll attended George Mason. Following his junior year, he was drafted and signed with the Padres. While at George Mason, Driscoll hit .326 with 17 home runs and 108 RBIs.

“Being at George Mason was a really great experience for me,” Driscoll said. “I followed my brother there, so I had a close relationship with the coaching staff there. I really can’t say enough good things about Skip and those coaches. They put me in a position to succeed. The relaxed playing style allowed me to play the game the way I always have. I’m really grateful for that.”

When Driscoll got the call from the Padres telling him they were drafting him, it was an incredible moment for him.

“It was such a surreal experience,” Driscoll said. “Everyone always said there was possibility for you to go on that first day. But you never really believe it until it happens. That’s just like a feeling that I’ll never be able to forget, but never truly be able to describe.”

After being drafted by the Padres, Driscoll was sent to Class A Short Season where he would play with the Tri-City Dust Devils. In his first professional season, Driscoll played fairly well. He hit .268 with 3 home runs and 20 RBIs in 39 games.

“It was a lot of fun,” Driscoll said when asked what his first season with Tri-City was like. “It was a little bit of an adjustment period there. I ended up pulling my quad, so it made that transition process a little bit easier. Being able to focus on the little things instead of jumping right into it helped. But just showing up to the field every day with a great group of players and coaches made it a lot of fun. I think the hardest thing to adjust to was the workload of playing every day. We only had a handful of off days. Getting used to that was the biggest obstacle.”

In Tri-City, Driscoll was impressed by a few players on his team.

“We had a bunch of great players. Jason Blanchard and Ethan Elliott were two lights-out lefties we had all year. We also had Chris Lincoln come up from the Arizona Fall League. He was one of our dependable back end bullpen guys. Jordy Barley had a few tools that were really impressive. I could go on and say great things about everyone.”

Playing professional baseball is not too different for Driscoll then college. Obviously, there are a few differences, but overall not too much has changed.

“Like I said, playing every day has been the biggest change,” Driscoll said. “Coming in, I didn’t really know what to expect. I thought it’d be a lot different, but it really wasn’t. When you have a great group of guys and get that close team chemistry, it almost feels just like college. It really wasn’t that big of a difference.”

Following his season with Tri-City, Driscoll is playing for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League (AFL). The AFL is a league where top prospects from around the league go during the off season and compete with and against prospects from other teams around the league.

“It has been a great opportunity,” Driscoll said about the AFL. “It’s one that I didn’t think I’d get this early in my career. I’m just trying to make the most of t right now. Being able to pick the brains and just watch the guys that have already established themselves is a great opportunity. I’m just taking my opportunities as they come.”

In his first game with the Javelinas, Driscoll hit two home runs and caught all 9 innings. Driscoll had the only two RBIs for his team. The Javelinas went on to lose to the Glendale Desert Dogs 5-2.

“It was a pretty funny experience,” Driscoll said. “It was one of those days were it just felt easy. I was so focused on my catching and working behind the plate because that’s been my main focus and instruction, even down here. Just working with our coordinators, it’s been drilled into me just to focus on catching. It wasn’t until after the game when I really reflected on it when I was like ‘Wow that was crazy’. It was definitely an awesome day and one that I won’t forget.”

Driscoll is a top prospect for the Padres and fans should be on the lookout for him over the next few years.