Allen Cordoba was one of three Rule 5 picks the San Diego Padres retained on their roster coming out of spring training. There was no particular reason to think Cordoba would do well. He was making a huge jump from the Appalachian League to the majors, he hit poorly in spring training, and the Padres kept him as the 25th man mainly for his versatility.

In yesterday’s Gameday discussion thread a reader mentioned that Cordoba needs more attention for what he’s been able to accomplish. Through 29 games and 54 at-bats Cordoba is hitting .278/.339/.481 with three homers, four walks, and 14 strikeouts.

It’s a small sample of course and his high strikeout rate is a caution flag, but we are talking about a 21-year-old making a jump from rookie ball here. True, he did hit .362 last year in the Appy League, but with zero homers. Hitting three homers this year is already a career high.

With my current focus on the upcoming 2017 draft and ongoing daily news from the minors, I haven’t focused much (at all) on Cordoba since he came out of spring training.

Padres fans, or anyone else who has watched him play recently, What do you guys think? Share your thoughts. Will the pitchers catch up with him, or have the Padres found something special (or at least unique) here?