SAN DIEGO—San Diego junior catcher Adam Kerner signed as an undrafted free agent with the San Diego Padres following the abbreviated 2020 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
 
This year's annual draft consisted of five rounds—shortened from 40 rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic—taking place June 10-11.
 
Kerner, a three-year starter, was drafted in the 37th round out of high school in the 2017 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. He joins a long list of Toreros to sign with the Padres organization, including Ripken Reyes who was drafted in the 30th round in 2019.
 
"We are all so happy for Adam that he gets to start his path to MLB with the hometown Padres," said head coach Rich Hill. "Adam has been the consummate teammate 
and warrior during his time here. We'll miss his great work ethic, production as a player, and his infectious attitude in the clubhouse."

The Agoura Hills, Calif. native appeared in 114 games during his career at USD, making 105 starts. Kerner finished with a .305 career batting average, collecting 113 hits including 32 doubles and 10 home runs. He was credited with 80 runs scored and 67 RBIs, finishing with a .379 on-base percentage and .472 slugging percentage.
 
In 2018, Kerner was named to the Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America Team and Baseball America Freshman All-America Second Team after starting 44 games and batting .338. He was also named to the WCC All-Freshman Team and All-WCC Second Team, collecting 50 hits and 23 RBIs for USD.
 
In his sophomore campaign, Kerner also earned conference honors with an All-WCC honorable mention. He finished with a .274 average, 45 hits and 33 RBIs, leading the team with six home runs.
 
In 2020, Kerner was on pace for another solid season before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He started 15 of USD's 16 games in the young season, batting .305 with two home runs and 11 RBIs. While the season was short, it remained eventful, as Kerner was behind the plate for Jake Miller's no-hitter on Feb. 28 against Monmouth.
 
In addition to his accolades on the field, Kerner was an accomplished scholar-athlete earning Academic All-District (2020, first team) and WCC All-Academic (2020, first team; 2019, honorable mention) honors.