Padres trade catcher Victor Caratini to Milwaukee Brewers

The Padres will likely open the season with two catchers on the roster after trading Victor Caratini on Wednesday to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Jorge Alfaro, who hit .417 with a 1.462 OPS in spring training, will make the team as the backup to Austin Nola. It is possible Luis Campusano, the team’s third-ranked prospect, makes the team as a third catcher. However, the Padres remain hopeful they will make another move to add a veteran bat before Thursday’s 9 a.m. (PT) deadline to announce opening-day rosters.

The Padres also sent money to the Brewers and received two prospects in return, catcher Brett Sullivan, who played at Triple-A last season, and Korry Howell, primarily an outfielder who also has played second base, third base and shortstop. Howell, the Brewers’ 17^th-ranked prospect, split time between Single-A and Double-A in 2021. Howell is 23 years old; Caratini, Sullivan and Alfaro are all 28.

Caratini, who came to the Padres in the December 2020 trade for Yu Darvish, hit .227/.309/.323 in 356 plate appearances for the Padres. He has caught every one of Darvish’s regular-season starts since the middle of the 2019 season, meaning Thursday’s season opener will be the first time in 58 games anyone besides Caratini has caught Darvish.

Caratini’s time in San Diego was not lengthy, but he had some big moments. He drove in three runs on opening day last season, caught Joe Musgrove’s no-hitter eight days later and on June 17, in front of a sellout crowd in the first game in which COVID restrictions were lifted, he hit a walk-off home run.

The 32-year-old Nola is expected to start opening day and the vast majority of games this season. He has a career line of .272/.340/.376 but missed most of last season with three different injuries.

Sullivan was on the Brewers’ 40-man roster after being signed this offseason. He hit .223/.302/.375 for the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021.

Howell hit .244/.349/.455 with 24 stolen bases at his two stops last year.