Scouting Report

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 50 | Overall: 40

Bergert was going to draw crowds at West Virginia as a junior in 2021, but ultimately needed Tommy John surgery that wiped out his pre-Draft season. Never one to shy away from a TJ arm with upside, the Padres selected Bergert in the sixth round and gave him double slot to sign with a $500,000 bonus. He returned as a starter with shaky results at High-A Fort Wayne in 2022 (5.84 ERA in 103 1/3 innings) and then broke out in '23, first back in the Midwest League, and later after a July promotion to Double-A San Antonio. Bergert’s 2.73 ERA across both stops was 12th-best among 272 Minor Leaguers with at least 100 innings last season, while his 3.11 FIP was eighth, one spot behind former Padre Robby Snelling (3.07). 

The 6-foot-1 right-hander would sometimes get too high with his arm slot in college, so the Padres have worked with him on lowering it a little, and that’s allowed his low-90s fastball to play much better up in the zone. He commands the pitch well too, even with some good rise and run. He’ll throw his low-80s slider almost as much as the heater against righties with good sweep and drop, and it’s also productive against lefties given how it tunnels off the fastball. A mid-80s changeup is behind the other two in terms of consistency, and he mostly pocketed an upper-70s curveball in the Texas League. 

Bergert continues to find his control the farther he gets from elbow surgery, and he should have enough to keep himself as a starter. The former Mountaineer will be Rule 5-eligible next offseason.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 45

Having struck out 30 percent of his batters faced in the short 2020 season at West Virginia, Bergert would have been a must-follow arm in the 2021 Draft if not for Tommy John surgery that knocked him for the entire spring. The Padres still selected him in the sixth round and signed him for nearly double slot at $500,000, money more associated with a fourth-round pick. Following his rehab, he was ready for a move to High-A Fort Wayne, where he showed he was healthy with 103 1/3 innings but with rough results (5.84 ERA, 1.61 WHIP).

The 6-foot-1 right-hander has been more consistently in the 93-94 mph range with his fastball in 2023, and it can be a swing-and-miss pitch when he zips it up in the zone. His upper-70s curve and mid-80s slider (the better of the two) give him a pair of breaking pitches that provide different looks and helped fuel the 27.3 percent K rate and 14 percent swinging-strike rate that were the bright spots on his High-A resume. His mid-80s diving changeup showed signs of being an average Major League pitch, and his splits have nicely evened out at High-A and Double-A this season.

Bergert walked 8.9 percent of his batters faced at Fort Wayne in '22, though some free passes were to be expected as he fought to regain control post-Tommy John. Despite the rough results and lack of a true plus pitch, there is still the deep arsenal needed for Bergert to be a backend starter, and the 2023 season has been a nice step forward as he moves further away from the elbow issues.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 40

Bergert was trending toward must-follow territory at West Virginia before he underwent elbow ligament surgery the fall before his junior year. Even after going unseen in the spring, he still went in the sixth round to the Padres in July 2021, and San Diego made sure he didn’t return to school with a $500,000 bonus, nearly double slot value for the 190th overall pick. (San Diego also selected fellow Mountaineer Jackson Wolf two rounds earlier.) Bergert made seven brief appearances in the Arizona Complex League after signing and has been with High-A Fort Wayne as a starter in his first full season.

Despite not pitching in 2021, the 6-foot-1 right-hander had already given scouts something to chew on with a fastball that touched the mid-90s and featured good spin rates, making it a good pitch at the top of the zone. An upper-70s curveball and low-80s slider have the potential to be average Major League pitches, and a diving changeup can help keep left-handers honest, though early Midwest League returns indicate he’s still better against same-side bats.

Coming off the surgery, Bergert has a simple and repeatable over-the-top delivery. He can lose some steam with his velocity in later innings, going from touching 95 early to more in the 91-92 range late, but that could be a product of him adding innings. Despite some early rough results, there’s still the promise of a potential four-pitch starter as he keeps getting built up.

Awards

TEX Pitcher of the Week

Week	Team
08/18/2024

MiLB.com Organization All-Star

Year	Team
2023

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	11/19/2024	San Diego Padres selected the contract of RHP Ryan Bergert from San Antonio Missions.
	09/25/2024	RHP Ryan Bergert assigned to Peoria Javelinas.
	03/07/2024	San Diego Padres Prospects activated RHP Ryan Bergert.
	01/26/2024	San Diego Padres invited non-roster RHP Ryan Bergert to spring training.
	07/14/2023	RHP Ryan Bergert assigned to San Antonio Missions from Fort Wayne TinCaps.
	07/14/2023	San Antonio Missions activated RHP Ryan Bergert.
	04/02/2022	RHP Ryan Bergert assigned to Fort Wayne TinCaps from ACL Padres.
	08/13/2021	RHP Ryan Bergert assigned to ACL Padres.
	08/12/2021	San Diego Padres signed RHP Ryan Bergert.
	05/14/2019	RHP Ryan Bergert assigned to West Virginia Mountaineers.