Former Gonzaga Bulldogs right-handed pitcher Alek Jacob has continued to turn heads in the farm system for the San Diego Padres, and now he’s getting rewarded with yet another promotion – this time up to Triple-A with the El Paso Chihuahuas.

Jacob was initially a 16th round pick out of Gonzaga during the 2021 MLB draft, and he’s absolutely dominated every single stop in the minor leagues. He threw 18.2 scoreless innings at Single-A in 2021 before beginning the 2022 season at High-A. He threw just nine innings there, posting 16 strikeouts, zero walks, and zero runs allowed before getting the promotion to Double-A.

For the first time in his career Jacob actually gave up runs at the Double-A level, although only four of them across 25.2 innings pitched, good for a 1.40 ERA and an excellent 32:8 K:BB ratio.

All told, Jacob has given up just four earned runs in 54.1 innings pitched, which gives him a career ERA of 0.66 along with 77 strikeouts and 10 walks.

At this rate, a strong performance in Triple-A could land Jacob with the big league club by the end of the season, a tremendous accomplishment for any player drafted in 2021 – especially for one drafted as far back as the 16th round.

Andy Patton

Andy hosts the Locked on Zags and Locked on College Basketball podcasts, and serves Locked On in a marketing/digital content creator role as well. He lives just outside Portland with his wife Jenna and dog, Tillie.