Down on the Farm: Weekly Recap May 22-28
Credit: Milb
Rafael Ortega– OF, Triple-A, El Paso Chihuahuas
12-29, 2 2B, 2 3B, 6 RBI, 4 R, 18 TB
With a strong last month, and an even stronger week and a half or so, Rafael Ortega is now slashing .331/.381/.494 on the season and is proving to be one of the Chihuahuas’ most reliable bats. Ortega is a 26-year-old with major league experience playing in Triple-A, but he has had a good amount of success nonetheless. It does say something that the Padres elected to call up Franchy Cordero rather than use Ortega in a fourth outfielder-like capacity. He’s clearly just organizational filler at this point, unless he really does something impressive.
Luis Urias– 2B, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
7-23, 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 BB, 10 TB
It’s actually been a fairly quiet week or two for Luis Urias. Or so it seems. Despite somewhat cooling off in recent weeks, Urias is still slashing .346/.427/.482 as a 19-year-old in Double-A. Impressive. The shortstop experiment appears mostly over, as Urias has played mostly second base again since Jose Rondon returned from injury. Regardless of where he plays, Urias has proven he is one of the best hitters in not just Double-A, but the entire minor leagues. Urias is now third in the Texas League in batting average, second in OBP, eighth in slugging percentage, and third in wRC+. Every other person on those leaderboards is at least 23 or 24. Yup, it’s been that kind of year. There’s a real argument to be made that Luis Urias should be the Padres’ new number one prospect once lists are updated. I wouldn’t disagree.
Enyel De los Santos- RHP, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
8 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
I wrote earlier in the week about De Los Santos’ start and how maddeningly inconsistent he can be from start to start, and even within starts. His start this week was not one of those, as he threw eight strong innings for the Missions. De Los Santos still has quite a bit of work to do, but this start is an encouraging sign for the big right-hander.
Javier Guerra– SS, High-A, Lake Elsinore Storm
10-26, 2 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 20 TB
This marks the third time I have written about Javier Guerra in the last week. That may just be a new record, at least since he was originally acquired from the Boston Red Sox and people were calling him the shortstop of the future for the Padres. Obviously those calls have long dissipated, but Guerra is really starting to heat up. This was very likely his best week of the season, as he not only collected six extra base hits, but limited his strikeouts to only five for the week. For a guy who is striking out a ton and not hitting anything, this last week may be a big confidence boost.
Pedro Avila– RHP, High-A, Lake Elsinore Storm
7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
I have written a lot this year about players getting lost in the shuffle. With so many talented prospects working their way through the minor league system, there is bound to be plenty of guys like that. Pedro Avila has shown himself to be one of those guys. Surrounded by the likes of Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer, Cal Quantrill, and now Jesse Scholtens and Jacob Nix, Avila is seemingly the odd man out. Even so, Avila put together his best start of the year, throwing seven shutout innings for the Storm. Avila may lack the upside of the rest of those names, but he could still be a decent prospect in his own right.
Logan Allen– LHP, Low-A, Fort Wayne TinCaps
6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Logan Allen continues to be the most impressive pitcher in a Padres system that is full of impressive pitchers. It seems you can almost consistently count on him for five or six good innings, less than two runs, and at least six or seven strikeouts. Allen now has the third best FIP, and 10th best WHIP, in the entire Midwest League, as well as the best FIP of any Padres minor leaguer. Somehow we are still waiting for him to get called up to Lake Elsinore, but it should be only a matter of time. And I will be there waiting for him when he does.
Honorable Mentions
Jerry Keel– LHP, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
6.2 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
After a strong start to the season with Fort Wayne, Jerry Keel found his way to Double-A and did not disappoint in his debut with the Missions.
Michael Kelly– RHP, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Michael Kelly continues to impress with the Missions and he could be another guy that makes the move to Triple-A following the next guy on this list.
Kyle Lloyd– RHP, Triple-A, San Antonio Missions
6.1 IP, 3H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 12 K (Double-A)
6 IP, 11 H, 5 R (3 ER), 0 BB, 1 K (Triple-A)
After an impactful start earlier in the week, Kyle Lloyd earned a promotion to Triple-A where he was less effective, but still solid in his first turn at the Triple-A level.
Promotions
Jerry Keel from Low-A to Double-A
Kyle Lloyd from Double-A to Triple-A
Dinelson Lamet and Franchy Cordero from Triple-A to MLB
Nick Schulz from Double-A to Triple-A
Austin Bousfield from High-A to Double-A
Jacob Nix from Extended Spring to High-A
Ronald Bolanos, Mason Thompson, Reggie Lawson to Low-A
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.