Down on the Farm: May 30

Nick Buss– OF, Triple-A, El Paso Chihuahuas
3-4, 1 RBI, 2 R

Most of the time, a 30-year-old doing well in Triple-A isn’t really noteworthy. However, Nick Buss is taking that to a whole new level this season. Buss is now slashing .380/.434/.556 on the season with four long balls in just 108 at bats. After starting the season in a reserve role, Buss has earned himself everyday playing time, and has not disappointed. Buss is hitting .353 over the last ten days and .376 over his last 30 days.

Andre Rienzo– RHP, Triple-A, El Paso Chihuahuas
5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

Speaking of older players trying to make it back to the big leagues, Padres right-hander Andre Rienzo is also trying to do just that. In his longest appearance of the season, Rienzo has his best outing of the year, going five innings and giving up only two hits and no runs. After being used almost exclusively in one or two-inning relief appearances at the beginning of the season, it appears Rienzo is being stretched out in recent appearances. With the state of the Padres pitching staff, maybe Rienzo can find his way back to the bigs with the Padres this summer.

Franmil Reyes– OF, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
3-3, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 BB

This was probably the best game of Franmil Reyes’ professional career. After a pretty solid April, Reyes had cooled off at the beginning of May. However, Reyes has been catching fire over the last ten days, slashing .344/.421/.781 with four long balls. Reyes appears to really be tapping into his power and could be in for his best power output to date. His OPS is already 40 points higher than last year with the Storm and over 100 points higher than his 2015 season with the TinCaps. Reyes has a lot of size and a lot of power. If he can continue to hit for some average along with his power, he could be something.

Brett Kennedy– RHP, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Brett Kennedy has been the definition of solid but unspectacular so far this season. It seems like just about every time out he pitches five or six innings and gives up less than three earned runs. In fact, he hasn’t given more than four runs since his eight-run blowup on April 21. It remains to be seen whether Kennedy can parlay this success into big league success in the future, but he’s certainly been good at Double-A.

The Whole TinCap Offense

I couldn’t really pick one guy here as every TinCaps player had at least one hit in the team’s 12-9 loss. However, both Jack Suwinski and G.K. Young had home runs and two runs batted in. Brad Zunica also had two hits and an RBI, and Hudson Potts, Webster Rivas, and Rod Boykin all also drove in runs. All in all, it was a solid day for the TinCaps offense, even in a loss.

Austin Smith– RHP, Low-A, Fort Wayne TinCaps
2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K

It appears the Padres may have pulled the plug on Austin Smith as a starter. Smith has had his share of solid starts this season, but his bad starts have outweighed the good lately. After not appearing on the list of probable starters for the TinCaps, the TinCaps used Smith out of the bullpen last night. He wasn’t any better in that role, but maybe he can find success in the bullpen going forward.

Patrick Brewer

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.