Former Titan Inks Deal With San Diego Padres

SAN DIEGO, Calif.- Luke Westphal, a pitcher for UW-Oshkosh baseball from 2009-12 signed a contract with Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres on Wednesday (June 5) and will be assigned to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas.

In his four seasons in black and gold, mostly as a starting pitcher, Westphal accumulated a 3.08 ERA across 40 appearances and 29 starts. He tallied a 17-10 record, 12 complete games and 197 strikeouts in 207.2 innings of work.

He earned All-WIAC Honorable Mention for the 2010 season before breaking out with WIAC Pitcher of the Year and All-WIAC First Team honors in 2011. During the 2011 campaign, he went 7-0 in eight starts with a 1.34 ERA, five complete games and struck out 64 batters while allowing only nine earned runs. Opponents batted just .184 against Westphal and recorded six extra-base hits. The American Baseball Coaches Association named him to the All-Region first team and All-America third team for his performance while D3baseball.com tabbed him for All-America second team.

Westphal closed out his career with the Titans by earning another All-WIAC First Team nod in 2012.

Westphal signed his first major league contract in 2015 with the Minnesota Twins. During that season, he threw for the Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels, Class-A Advanced Fort Myers Miracle.

He played for the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts and Miracle in 2017 before going international for two seasons. He pitched for the Melbourne Aces in Australia (2018), Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican Republic (2019).

After the canceled 2020 season, he came back to the United States and joined the High Point Rockers, a member of one of Major League Baseball's affiliate leagues in 2021 before signing with San Diego ahead of the trade deadline.

Westphal pitched internationally again in 2023 and the beginning of 2024, throwing for Puerto Rican teams Indios de Mayagüez and Gigantes de Carolina before earning a spot on the Mexican League Norte All-Stars. He pitched 0.2 innings, striking out one and allowing a hit on May 25.

Westphal then came back to the United States, signed his second contract with the Padres and will throw for the Chihuahuas.

Across his minor league career, Westphal owns a 13-15 record in 111 appearances and 42 starts. He has struck out 290 batters and has a 4.06 ERA in 268.0 innings pitched.