Down on the Farm- August 19- Michel Baez is Human
Credit: Ryan Cox
DSL Padres (23-42): 5-3 loss vs DSL DBacks 1
AZL Padres (22-22): OFF
AZL Padres 2 (26-18): 10-9 win (10 innings) vs AZL Mariners
Tri-City Dust Devils (34-28): 4-3 win @ Everett
Fort Wayne TinCaps (61-64): 10-1 loss vs Great Lakes
Lake Elsinore Storm (58-68): 6-5 win vs Rancho Cucamonga
San Antonio Missions (71-53): 3-2 loss @ Tulsa
El Paso Chihuahuas (63-64): 2-0 win @ Tacoma
Key Performers:
RF Mason House (3-6, R, 2RBI, 2SO)
Mason House continues to tear the cover off the ball in the Arizona League. Tonight, he hit the game-tying single in the tenth inning, playing a key role in AZL Padres 2’s wild 10-9 victory. It was the last of his three hits on the night, raising his average to .325 in 114 at bats Mason was kind enough to conduct an interview with EVT recently, you can check that out here.
RHP Cole Bellinger (1.1IP, H, BB, K)
“Cody’s brother” continued to impress on Saturday, throwing 1 1/3 innings of scoreless ball in the Arizona League. The 17-year-old has not given up a run in 8 1/3 professional innings. In that span, he has given up only four hits, three walks, and has struck out nine batters.
LHP Nick Margevicius (4.0IP, 3H, R, ER, 2BB, 7K)
Margevicius was drafted in the 7th round of the 2017 draft out of Rider University, and has found success thus far in short-season ball with Tri-City. In four starts, the lefty has compiled a 1.89 ERA, nineteen strikeouts, one walk, and has allowed only one home run in nineteen innings pitched. At 6’5″ and 220 pounds, Margevicius is a tall glass of water who is off to a solid start in his professional career.
RF Luis Asuncion (2-4, R, 2 2B, 2SO)
Asuncion, a product of the Padres’ DR Academy, has shown improvement in his second year in Tri-City. Just a few weeks removed from winning All-Star Game MVP in the Northwest League, Asuncion stroked two doubles and scored a run in Tri-City’s 4-3 victory. While it would be nice to see the 19-year-old walk a bit more, his production is trending upwards.. and that is always nice to see. A promotion to Fort Wayne in 2018 seems like a lock.
RHP Michel Baez (4.0IP, 4H, 5R, 5ER, 3BB, 11K, 2HR)
Baez had an odd outing today for Fort Wayne, and it was the second subpar start in a row for the right-hander. The home run bug continues to bite him a little bit, and the command was obviously spotty tonight. The swing and misses are still there, though, as evidenced by the eleven strikeouts. Even though Michel’s ERA has “ballooned” to 2.56 and his dominance has faded a bit, there is no evidence to show that Baez will not get back on track in his next few outings. He is going to be just fine.
SS Fernando Tatis Jr. (2-3, 2BB)
Tatis was on base four times tonight, and continues to absolutely tear the Midwest League up in the month of August. He is now hitting .281 on the season.
RHP Enyel De Los Santos (6.0IP, 6H, 3R, 2ER, 3BB, 6SO, 1HR)
De Los Santos went up against Dodgers’ top prospect Yadier Alvarez today, and lost. That does not mean he didn’t hold his own, though. The 21-year-old continued his stretch of solid starts, and has not thrown fewer than five innings since June 18th. His ERA has dropped from 4.92 to 3.81 during the stretch. According to Keith Law’s chat this week, Enyel is still at least a few years away from The Show, with 2019 being a more realistic timetable. His stock has definitely gone up this season, though, and he will look to continue his consistency the rest of the way and into the playoffs.
1B Josh Naylor (1-3, RBI, BB, SB)
Josh Naylor returned to action tonight for the first time in eight days, which is noteworthy in itself. It was a quiet absence for Naylor, with no real reason coming out as to why he missed some time. Perhaps the Padres just gave Naylor some time off. He was at Petco Park to see his brother, Noah, play in the Perfect Game All American Classic. Maybe that had something to do with it.
LHP Dillon Overton (7.0IP, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 2K)
Overton threw seven innings of shutout ball against his former team on Saturday night. It had to feel good for him to get some revenge against the organization that let him go earlier on in the season. The lefty fished for soft contact all night and succeeded en route to the victory.
3B Christian Villanueva (1-3, HR, RBI, 2R, BB, K)
Christian Villanueva hit his 19th home run of the season tonight, which tied him with Ryan Schimpf for second-most on the Chihuahuas. The former Cubs farmhand has put himself back on the map in the hitter friendly PCL. His OPS is over .900 and his wRC+ is 130. Villanueva, a journeyman of sorts, has played eight seasons in the minor leagues (and missed all of 2016 with a fractured fibula).. could the Padres reward his season with a September call-up? It is not necessarily out of the question, but it may factor on whether El Paso makes the postseason. The Chihuahuas are only one game out of the division lead with fifteen games to go and are about to add a motivated Hunter Renfroe to their roster, so a playoff berth definitely is possible.
Baseball is fun. College sophomore that is aspiring to work someday in the sports industry. Follow me on twitter @Friar_Faithful. Go Pads!