Down on the Farm: July 20
Credit: MiLB
Kyle Lloyd– RHP, Triple-A, El Paso Chihuahuas
6 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
At this point in his professional career, Kyle Lloyd isn’t really viewed as much of a “prospect” in those kinds of circles, at least not in terms of being a key piece of the Padres’ future plans. However, even though he is already 26 years old, the right-hander has put together a solid season split between Double and Triple-A. Drafted out of college in the 29th round in 2013, Lloyd had a bit of a slow going in his early professional career before his successful season with the Missions in 2016. Lloyd followed that with a strong showing to start the year again with the Missions before being promoted to Triple-A a few weeks back. Lloyd has struggled in his first handful of starts in El Paso, but that is to be expected given how extreme that hitting environment is. Lloyd doesn’t have front of the rotation or even middle of the rotation potential, but it seems increasingly likely he will see a good amount of big league innings in 2018 at the least. Beyond that is more of a toss-up, but anything could happen.
Luis Urias– 2B, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
4-5, 1 2B, 1 R
Is Luis Urias back? I hope Luis Urias is back. After suffering through quite a slump for most of June, and seeing his batting average fall by around 30 points, Urias seems to be getting back on the horse as of late. Urias now has hits in 10 consecutive games, with multiple hits in half of those games. There’s only been one extra base hit during that time, but it appears that Urias feels comfortable at the plate again and is once again excelling with his bat to ball skills. Although Urias may lack the power or defense or speed of other Padres prospects, no player in the Padres’ system has the hit tool and eye at the plate that Urias does. Even without the power, Urias is a future top of the order hitter with his strong contact skills and stellar eye. If the power comes, the Padres could very well have a perennial all-star on their hands.
Eric Lauer– LHP, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
6 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
After spending the first few months of the season making the California League look like nothing more than a cakewalk, left-hander Eric Lauer has hit a few speed bumps following his promotion to San Antonio a few weeks back. After striking out nine in seven and two-thirds shutout innings in his Double-A debut, and following that up with just two earned runs in five innings, Lauer has been hit around to the tune of 16 hits and 12 earned runs over his last two starts. Even so, these two starts represent the first real hiccups for a guy who was nearly spotless for his first 80 innings of the season. Going forward, Lauer has some kinks to still work out, but he’s on the right path for reaching his goal of being in the big leagues sometime next year.
Rod Boykin– CF, High-A, Lake Elsinore Storm
3-5, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 R, 1 RBI
Did Rod Boykin come out of nowhere or what? After very quietly excelling at Fort Wayne early in the season, Boykin recently found himself promoted to Lake Elsinore, and he has not disappointed so far. Through his first 35 High-A at bats, Boykin has two doubles, one triple, and three long balls to go along with his .400+ OBP. Boykin has done his fair share of striking out this season, especially with the Storm, but with so much versatile talent, Boykin is drawing plenty of attention to himself.
Austin Allen– C, High-A, Lake Elsinore Storm
3-4, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI
It seems like recently it’s been nearly impossible to write about the Lake Elsinore Storm without mentioning Austin Allen in the same breath. Over the last month or so, Allen has been an absolute offensive monster, as the young catcher has slashed .327/.363/.617 over just the last 30 days alone. Over the last two weeks, Allen has been even better. In July, he has only had two games in which he did not get a hit. At this point, there’s no stopping Allen, and he may find himself getting a late season promotion to San Antonio if he keeps this up.
Jorge Ona– RF, Low-A, Fort Wayne TinCaps
3-4, 1 R, 1 RBI
With Javier Guerra getting the call up to San Antonio this week, there’s been a lot of speculation on who is going to be called up from Fort Wayne to take his roster spot. While a lot of the speculation has been around Fernando Tatis Jr., right fielder Jorge Ona is another guy who may have earned himself a mid-season promotion. The numbers don’t jump out at you for Ona, especially considering the power numbers haven’t been there, but he’s getting a lot of base hits and getting on base a lot. With that being said, Ona has 22 extra base hits in just shy of 300 at bats on the season, something that could be a bigger concern as the big right fielder advances through the system.
Henry Henry– RHP, Short Season, Tri-City Dust Devils
6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
We all knew he had an 80-grade name, but now right-hander Henry Henry is now showing a higher grade of stuff than he has at any other point. After not going past four innings in any of his first four starts of the year, Henry has gone a combined 13 innings in his last two starts, giving up just six hits and one earned run while striking out 11 hitters. In a rotation with Osvaldo Hernandez and Adrian Morejon, Henry is quietly putting his name on the map for the Dust Devils. If he can continue this development, his name may not be the only 80-grade for the right-hander.
Travis Jankowski– CF, Rookie League, AZL Padres
2-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI
It’s nice to see Travis Jankowski back on the field. Through his first five games with the AZL Padres on his rehab stint, the outfielder has looked good, collecting five hits in those games. It’s still probably at least a few weeks until he is ready to be on the big league roster again, but here’s hoping he can put together a strong last two months of the season for the Padres.
Aaron Leasher- LHP, Rookie League, AZL Padres
4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Drafted by the Padres in the sixth round of this year’s MLB Draft, Aaron Leasher looked a lot better in his second AZL outing after a rocky first outing. Being a left-hander gives the 21-year-old an obvious advantage, but he is going to need to do some work in order to become a long-term potential rotation piece. Even so, given his left-handedness, Leasher could be a lefty specialist in the bullpen someday if the starting thing doesn’t work out. But that’s certainly a long way away.
Yordi Francisco– RF, DSL Padres
2-4, 1 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI
Editorial and Prospect Writer for East Village Times. Twenty-five years young, Patrick has lived in San Diego for his entire life and has been a Padres fan nearly as long. Patrick lives for baseball and is always looking to learn new things about the game he loves through advanced stats.