SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Padres have signed right-handed pitcher Ryan Weiss to a one-year contract with a club option for the 2028 season, President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller announced on Tuesday.
Weiss, 29, spent his 2026 campaign in the Houston Astros organization between the major league club (9 G) and Triple-A Sugar Land (22 G). He finished his season with a 1.37 ERA over his final 19.2 innings pitched (3 ER), striking out 24 batters to just five walks with the Space Cowboys across four games in the month of September (three starts), including 8.1-shutout innings on a career-high 98 pitches (71 for strikes) in his final outing on Sept. 18 vs. Las Vegas. Across parts of six minor league seasons (154 G), he owns a 22-19 record with a 4.99 ERA (216 ER, 389.2 IP), 1.45 WHIP and 366 strikeouts to 144 walks.
The South Elgin, Illinois native made his first Opening Day roster and his Major League debut in 2026 against the Los Angeles Angels on March 27, finishing the game with 1.0 inning of two-hit, one-run ball with a walk and two strikeouts. Through his first three career games, he surrendered just one run across 6.0 innings with two walks to seven strikeouts, while finishing all three games. He became just the second Astro to record more than 5.0 innings and finish each of his first three games to begin his Major League career, joining Chris Zachary during his 1963 rookie season. On the year, he recorded a 7.62 ERA (22 ER, 26.0 IP) in nine outings (two starts), throwing more than 1.0 inning in each of his last eight appearances with Houston.
Originally drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fourth round of the 2018 MLB First-Year Player Draft, he spent his first five professional seasons within the Diamondbacks (2018-22) and Kansas City Royals (2022-23) minor league systems before spending parts of three seasons between the Independent Atlantic League (2023, 2024), Chinese Professional Baseball League (2023) and the KBO League (2024-25). In 46 starts in the KBO with the Hanwha Eagles, he posted a 3.16 ERA (95 ER, 270.1 IP) with a 1.07 WHIP and 305 strikeouts to just 85 walks. He threw a career-best season in 2025, going 16-5 with a 2.87 ERA (57 ER, 178.2 IP) in 30 starts with 207 strikeouts, finishing the season ranked third in the KBO in innings and wins, while ranking fourth in strikeouts.