Luis Patiño has known for a while this day was coming.
You don’t pitch in the All-Star Futures game (or strike out three of the five batters you face) if you aren’t big-league bound.
You aren’t asked to speak to the media at a FanFest alongside Manny Machado and Chris Paddack before any Triple-A time if you’re not part of the Padres’ future.
You’re not in big league camp in spring training and later pitching in summer camp intrasquad games if the Padres aren’t counting on you to help at some point in the near future.