Down on the Farm: May 1 – Fernando Tatis Jr!
Prospects of Note
Luis Urias – 2B, Triple-A, El Paso Chihuahuas
1-2, 1 BB, 1 SB, 2 R
At this point in time, it seems clear that Luis Urias will be the next Padres’ prospect to make an impact at the big league level. Well, that is among hitting prospects. Either way, Urias has turned it up as of late after going through a bit of a slump in mid-April. Over the last 10 days prior to Tuesday’s game, Urias slashed .615/.750/.1077 with three doubles, six walks, and zero strikeouts. For the season, Urias is now up to a .307/.416/.440 slash line with 13 walks to just 15 strikeouts. The extra-base power has still been slow to develop, but Urias does more than enough at the plate to one day be a productive big leaguer. That day may be coming sooner rather than later.
Kyle Lloyd – RHP, Triple-A, El Paso Chihuahuas
6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Fernando Tatis Jr. – SS, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
3-5, 1 BB, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R
It’s certainly been a rough go of things for Fernando Tatis Jr. so far this season. Prior to Tuesday’s game, Tatis was slashing just .198/.261/.396 with 35 strikeouts to just seven walks. However, it seemed like Tatis was turning the corner, even prior to Tuesday. With three home runs and three doubles over the last 10 days, Tatis had been slightly improving. Tuesday marked an even bigger improvement, as Tatis collected three extra-base hits in total and struck out only once while walking once. There is still some work to do for Tatis to get back into the good graces of some Padres’ fans, but a night like this could be the start of a hot streak. Or at least that’s what we are all hoping for.
Jesse Scholtens – RHP, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
6 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
It’s early, but Jesse Scholtens has been a bit of a revelation so far this year. After striking out batters at just an 18 percent clip in High-A in 2017, Scholtens is striking out over 34 percent of batters over his first handful of starts in Double-A in 2018. It’s unclear if this is something new from Scholtens or just a small sample size fluke, but he has certainly put himself on the map early this season with his performance. The most important thing for Scholtens is probably the 37:6 strikeout to walk ratio, which is even better than his 86:24 ratio from last year.
Hudson Potts – 3B, High-A, Lake Elsinore Storm
1-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI
In what is a barren farm system with regard to third base talent, Hudson Potts might be the hope the Padres are looking for. That is unless Christian Villanueva keeps up his impressive hot streak from the first month of the season. Potts has been in a bit of a slump over the last week and a half, but he is now up to four home runs and 11 extra-base hits in total on the year, as he continues to show his power.
Reggie Lawson – RHP, High-A, Lake Elsinore Storm
5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
After a stellar start to his season, Lawson took a slight step back on Tuesday, as he walked more batters than he struck out. However, he limited the damage with only one earned run and four hits in total. In five starts this year, Lawson has given up one earned run or less in every start while striking out 27 batters in total in his 25 innings of work. If he keeps this up as the season progresses, he should continue to climb up prospect lists, and perhaps, minor league levels.
Esteury Ruiz – 2B, Low-A, Fort Wayne TinCaps
1-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Mason Thompson – RHP, Low-A, Fort Wayne TinCaps
6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Following a rough few outings to start the season, right-hander Mason Thompson looked much improved on Tuesday night. There were still some issues with command, but with only two hits given up in six innings, it was clear Thompson’s stuff was more electric than it had been previously. He’s still coming back from some injury problems so it may take him awhile to really get going. Either way, Tuesday night was a very encouraging sign.
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.