SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — If home is truly where the heart is, then Rocio Delgado’s home is in Puerto Rico.

“I grew up in Ciales. It’s a town in the middle of the island, green, full of mountains. It’s a very pretty town that I invite everybody to have the opportunity to go visit,” Delgado said.

Everything in her house, from the sugar cane painting to the cafecito, reminds her of the island.

“The best way to drink the coffee,” she said as she warmed milk on the stove.

But, she doesn’t live in Puerto Rico anymore.

“Especially in the beginning, it was super hard because my family is there, my friends as well,” Delgado said.

She moved to San Diego more than 20 years ago to continue her education. “That was a hard transition.”

Through her time in her art studio, you can see the longing to connect with her homeland in each brush stroke. “Painting was a way to heal,” she said. “I feel like it was a therapy.”

That feeling produced her painting: “Corazon Boricua.”

“I let myself go in a way,” Delgado said.

She painted the blue, white, and red heart with oil on a large canvas.

“I feel that the heart is not broken. It’s just expanding,” she said, adding it symbolizes the resilience of Latinos.

That’s what caught the attention of the San Diego Padres.

“They sent us a deck with several different design options, things that are important to the culture,” said Emily Wittig, the Vice President of Marketing with the San Diego Padres.

In collaboration with the award-winning artist, the Padres will feature her artwork on the limited-edition game hat during their fourth Puerto Rican Heritage Game.

“I was finishing my heart, and that’s the one that they chose,” Delgado said.

What started as a painting on her wall became a digital graphic design she shared with the Padres.

This hat became a reality after several drafts — a tangible way to share her culture at the Puerto Rican Heritage Game.

“We want it to be authentic,” Wittig said. “We want it to be true to the culture, so it’s important for us to work with these local community groups to see what’s important to them.”

The team designed every part of the hat with intention.

“Our Puerto Rican celebration hat is the colors of the Puerto Rican flag,” Wittig said.

It includes authentic details in even unexpected ways.

“The fun thing that people might not notice right away, but on the inside we have the coqui, the tiny frogs, which are so cute, so it’s a really fun nod to Puerto Rico while also still celebrating and showing your Padres pride,” Wittig said, showing the details of the hat.

The Padres donate $5 from every ticket sold to the House of Puerto Rico, which Carmen Acevedo says keeps the cottage operating.

“It’s also going to keep the international cottages alive for the rest of the generations,” Acevedo said.

Acevedo says the cultural museum relies solely on donations, receiving more than $4,000 from the game last year.

“This one is a fundraiser with a lot of fun,” Acevedo said.
Delgado is one of thousands of Puerto Ricans who left the island in recent years.

“I was thinking it was going to be a short transition, just come study, having an opportunity to do that, and come back, but things change,” Delgado said.

According to the Pew Research Center, since 2004, more than 600,000 Puerto Ricans have left the island to live in the mainland United States, so events like this offer a chance to reconnect with other Puerto Ricans.

“We want people to feel included and welcomed here,” Wittig said.

While Delgado no longer calls Puerto Rico her physical home, you can see the home in her heart through the ‘Corazon Boricua.’

“The Padres are doing something so nice to recognize the Puerto Rican community in San Diego, and not too many teams do that,” Delgado said.

The bad news for San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano is good news for third-string catcher Rodolfo Duran.

Duran was promoted from Triple-A El Paso on Thursday, when the Padres prepared to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a four-game series. Campusano was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left toe fracture. Right-handed pitcher Joe Musgrove was transferred to the 60-day injured list in a corresponding roster move.

It isn’t the first time this season the Padres have summoned Duran from Triple-A El Paso.

The 28-year-old catcher joined the Padres on April 16 in advance of a game against the Seattle Mariners at Petco Park. At the time, catcher Freddy Fermin was undergoing concussion testing after he took a foul ball off his mask the night before.

Ultimately, Duran went back to the minor leagues without appearing in a game. Because he isn’t on the Padres’ 40-man roster, multiple roster moves were needed before he could be promoted.

Campusano was deemed day-to-day after taking a foul ball of his foot in Tuesday’s win over the San Francisco Giants. Now, he’ll miss at least the next 10 days amid a breakout season that’s seen him hit .288 with three home runs, 10 RBIs and an OPS of .958.

As for Duran, he signed a minor league contract with the Padres in January 2025 and has spent the past two seasons at Triple-A El Paso.

The catcher is a veteran of 615 minor league games since 2015, when he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager. He’s a career .268/.335/.458 hitter in Triple-A, but has so far been buried on the depth chart of four different big league organizations.

Prior to signing with the Padres, Duran played for the Kansas City Royals organization in 2024. He split his time between Triple-A Omaha and Double-A Northwest Arkansas, slashing .282/.323/.467 across the two levels.

In 2023, Duran spent the entire season with the New York Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate — his first full season at the highest level of the minor leagues. Duran slashed .252/.329/.444 for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders that season.

From 2015-21, Duran climbed the Phillies’ organizational ladder slowly, topping out with four games at Triple-A in his final season. He has also appeared in 90 Dominican Winter League games from 2020-26, slashing .242/.283/.377 in his homeland’s top circuit.

At 5-foot-8, Duran becomes the shortest position player on the Padres’ active roster.

Padres Place Joe Musgrove on 60-Day IL

As for Musgrove, he’s ramping back up from 2024 Tommy John surgery. He suffered a setback this spring that has him sidelined for seemingly the foreseeable future.

While this move was strictly procedural, the latest updates on Musgrove don’t provide much confidence toward him returning any time soon.

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SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Arts leaders packed City Hall Wednesday, urging city leaders to reconsider proposed cuts that would eliminate nearly $11.8 million in arts and culture funding from San Diego’s budget.

Representatives from some of San Diego’s most well-known cultural institutions, including the Mingei International Museum, the La Jolla Playhouse, and the Fleet Science Center, voiced their concerns at a budget review committee meeting.

Debby Buchholz, managing director of the La Jolla Playhouse, said: “The idea that America’s finest city would spend no money on arts and culture is reprehensible, frankly.”

Advocates argued the cut represents a fraction of the city’s overall spending.

“$11.5 million dollars in a $6.5 billion budget is not even a drop; it’s less than a quarter of 1% of the total budget,” Buchholz added.

Arts advocates warned the impact would be immediate, with potential layoffs, program cuts, and even closures.

Jessica Hanson York, executive director of the Mingei International Museum, said, “We are huge employers of people who are making a living as creatives in this community and we want our artists and creative contributors to be able to stay here, and it doesn’t help when we don’t have the support to keep them employed.”

During the meeting, Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee questioned the mayor’s office about whether an economic impact analysis had been completed.

Kent Lee asked “Was an economic impact analysis completed in regards to arts and culture?”

The mayor’s office responded that no such analysis had been conducted.

Lee also pressed the mayor’s office on whether and when arts and culture funding might be restored.

The mayor’s office responded saying, “That’s a difficult question to answer I think there is a lot of desire to bring these funds back we are going to work hard to bring these funds back we recognize the impacts. I don’t have a specific plan for you today.”

Arts advocates say they want to see no cuts made to their funding. The full City Council will have the final say on the budget in the coming weeks.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.