Nicholas Gilbert Padilla (born December 24, 1996) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

in the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

organization. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. He plays for the

Puerto Rico national baseball team The Puerto Rico national baseball team (), also known as Team Rubio is the national baseball team of Puerto Rico. The men's senior team is ranked 9th in the world . Puerto Rico is the incumbent Pan American and Central American/Caribbean champ ...

Career

Padilla attended Cardinal Spellman High School in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York, and

Grayson College Grayson College is a Public college, public community college in Grayson County, Texas. The main campus is in Denison, Texas, Denison and it has branch campuses in Denison (west extension, at the site of the old Perrin Air Force Base) and Van A ...

Tampa Bay Rays

The

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

in the 13th round of the

2015 MLB draft The 2015 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks finished the 2014 season ...

. He made his professional debut in 2016, starting 8 games for the rookie-level Gulf Coast Rays. In 2017. Padilla spent the year with the Low-A

Hudson Valley Renegades The Hudson Valley Renegades are a Minor League Baseball team based in Fishkill, New York. The High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Renegades play in the South Atlantic League. The Renegades play their home games at Heritage Financial Pa ...

, pitching to a 3-2 record and 2.38 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 34.0 innings of work across 11 games (7 starts). He spent the 2018 season split between Hudson Valley and the Single-A

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which ...

, registering a 4-7 record and 4.04 ERA with 53 strikeouts in 69.0 innings pitched. In 2019, Padilla spent the year with Bowling Green, logging a 7-2 record and 3.48 ERA with 76 strikeouts and 2 saves in 62.0 innings pitched. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Chicago Cubs

On December 10, 2020, the

selected Padilla in the minor league phase of the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. He spent the 2021 season with the High-A

South Bend Cubs The South Bend Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in South Bend, Indiana, and play their home games at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium. The team w ...

, struggling to a 16.20 ERA in 2 appearances and missing the majority of the year due to injury. He spent time with three Cubs affiliates prior to his promotion in 2022, posting excellent results with South Bend, the Double-A

Tennessee Smokies The Knoxville Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The team was based in Kodak, Tennessee, a Knoxville suburb, fr ...

, and the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

. On August 23, 2022, Padilla was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted up to the majors for the first time. He made his major league debut that day against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

, allowing a run in 1.2 innings pitched while recording his first career strikeout against eventual

National League MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. The award has been presented by the Baseball Writers' ...

Paul Goldschmidt Paul Edward Goldschmidt (born September 10, 1987), nicknamed Goldy, is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks and St. ...

. On September 6, Padilla was designated for assignment by the Cubs.

Chicago White Sox

On September 9, 2022, Padilla was claimed off waivers by the

. He made seven appearances for the Triple-A

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field ...

to close out the year, posting a 3.00 ERA with six strikeouts in six innings pitched. Padilla was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte to begin the 2023 season. In 3 appearances for Chicago, he recorded a 5.79 ERA with 6 strikeouts across innings of work. Following the season on November 30, Padilla was removed from the roster and sent outright to Triple–A Charlotte. In 2024, Padilla made 29 appearances split between Charlotte, the High–A

Winston-Salem Dash The Winston-Salem Dash are a Minor League Baseball team in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They are a High-A team in the South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Chicago White Sox since 1997. The Dash began playing their home games ...

, and rookie–level Arizona Complex League White Sox, compiling a cumulative 2.92 ERA with 46 strikeouts over 37 innings of work. He elected free agency following the season on November 4, 2024.

Philadelphia Phillies

On November 11, 2024, Padilla signed a minor league contract with the

International career

Padilla played for the

at the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Padilla, Nicholas 1996 births Living people American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent Baseball players from the Bronx Bowling Green Hot Rods players Cardinal Spellman High School (New York City) alumni Charlotte Knights players Chicago Cubs players Chicago White Sox players Grayson Vikings baseball players Gulf Coast Rays players Hudson Valley Renegades players Indios de Mayagüez players Iowa Cubs players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Major League Baseball pitchers South Bend Cubs players Tennessee Smokies players Winston-Salem Dash players 2023 World Baseball Classic players