Down on the Farm: July 6
Dillon Overton– LHP, Triple-A, El Paso Chihuahuas
6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Fresh off a not so great spot start against the division leading Los Angeles Dodgers, Overton looked a lot better for the Chihuahuas on Thursday night. Over the last year or so, Overton has been about as up and down as they come. For every solid start there is a bad start, but Thursday was yet another solid one following a bad one for the left-hander. Overton wasn’t dominant by any means, but for a game played in the offense-friendly PCL, it was a good line. It’s too bad the Chihuahuas gave up 11 earned runs over the next three innings…
Wilfri De La Cruz– C, High-A, Lake Elsinore Storm
3-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
I am going to be honest here and say I had no idea who Wilfri De La Cruz was before last night. As someone who follows the Padres’ minor league system closely, I get updates on my phone through the MILB First Pitch app for every Padres minor league team. Because of these updates, I started noticing De La Cruz’ name popping up more and more frequently. After a quick stint to start the season with the Dust Devils, De La Cruz has found himself in Lake Elsinore over the past few games, and he has not disappointed so far. For a guy who spent three years in the DSL from 2013-2015, and last year split between rookie ball and short season ball, De La Cruz has been impressive so far in his first taste of full season professional baseball.
Adrian De Horta– RHP, High-A, Lake Elsinore Storm
6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Speaking of impressive, Adrian De Horta has opened some eyes with his early season performance. Drafted in the eighth round of the 2013 draft by the Padres, the 22-year-old right-hander is finally starting to find some success after struggling through his first few years in the Padres’ system. De Horta now has eight straight starts to begin the season with three earned runs or fewer. The walks have been somewhat of a problem for De Horta, but he has maintained a steady strikeout rate and has been consistently good at getting batters out.
Fernando Tatis Jr.- SS, Low-A, Fort Wayne TinCaps
1-3, 1 3B, 1 BB, 1 R
I mainly wanted to write about Tatis here because he was included in the Baseball Prospectus Midseason Top 50 Update as the 22nd-best prospect in all of baseball. This seems like a somewhat aggressive ranking for my liking, but given his performance so far this season, it’s hard to argue with his long term potential. Despite being just 19 years old and playing in full season ball, Tatis leads all Padres top-30 prospects in wRC+ so far this season. For a guy so young, and playing at a premium position with a strong glove and some solid speed, that’s a heck of a package.
Pedro Avila– RHP, Low-A, Fort Wayne TinCaps
7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K
It’s been a bit of a slow going for Avila since joining the Padres organization this off-season, but this may just be his best start of the season. Avila has shown plenty of flashes, with several games with strikeout totals of eight or more, but this may be his most complete start to date, as all his pitches were working and he was limiting damage at every turn.
Luis Asuncion– RF- Short Season, Tri-City Dust Devils
2-4, 1 R
Fred Schlichtholz– LHP, Short Season, Tri-City Dust Devils
2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
That’s quite a fun name to say right? Drafted in the 13th round of last month’s draft, Schlichtholz is getting his first taste of professional action with the Tri-City Dust Devils of the Northwest League. He has looked solid in his first two outings for the Dust Devils.
Alex Cunningham- RHP, Rookie League, AZL Padres
1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
After some struggles in his first start with the Storm last week, Cunningham came back with a strong inning of work in the AZL. Despite being drafted just a month ago, the Padres were aggressive in giving the right-hander a chance to pitch in Lake Elsinore. It remains to be seen where he goes from here, but it may be best if he takes his time in the Arizona Rookie League.
Tirso Ornelas- RF, Rookie League, AZL Padres 2
1-5, 1 RBI, 4 K
Not every international signee is going to work out perfectly, and so far things have been far from perfect for Ornelas with the AZL Padres 2. To this point, Ornelas just hasn’t made much good contact, and striking out four times a game just isn’t going to get the job done. However, Ornelas has shown some bright spots, as his early season 16 percent walk rate does bode well for his overall plate discipline, even with the strikeouts.
Gilberto Vizcarra– C, DSL Padres
3-5, 1 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.