Down on the Farm: Weekly Review July 24-30

Ryan Schimpf– 3B, Triple-A, El Paso Chihuahuas
2-26, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 9 K, 4 BB, 3 TB

I usually try to focus on players who had a good or great week, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to talk about Ryan Schimpf this week. After getting off to a pretty solid start in Triple-A, it’s become pretty clear that Ryan Schimpf has gotten to the point where he is completely lost at the plate. Schimpf is pretty much duplicating what he did at the big league level, with a batting average just a bit about .200 and a strikeout percentage over 30 percent. If he keeps up this performance, it’s hard to see him ever getting another big league chance. Talk about a fluky year and a half of baseball.

Michael Kelly– RHP, Triple-A, El Paso Chihuahuas
6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

While clearly not Michael Kelly’s best start, he remains probably the best starter in a quite uninspiring Chihuahuas’ rotation. In fairness it’s hard to pitch in the PCL, but the likes of Dillon Overton, Zach Lee, Bryan Rodriguez, etc. just haven’t been able to get the job done for much of the season. Kyle Lloyd has been a bright spot since his promotion to Triple-A, even earning himself a big league spot start, but Kelly is probably the one with the better current stuff and long-term big league prospects.

Joey Lucchesi– LHP, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

It’s been a bit of a seesaw for Joey Lucchesi in his first taste of Double-A baseball, as it has been for Eric Lauer and Cal Quantrill as well, but Lucchesi had a solid start this week. Lucchesi has actually been fairly solid over his last few starts, but it has been clear that he’s had to work harder in each of his starts, which is to be expected with his promotion to Double-A. Lucchesi still may be third in terms of pure talent behind Lauer and Quantrill, but so far he has been the most successful of those three since the string of promotions.

Austin Allen– C, High-A, Lake Elsinore Storm
9-28, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 17 TB

One week after winning Cal League player of the week, and two weeks after winning another Cal League player of the week, Allen may be on his way to a third straight showing on the back of a massive four hit night on Saturday night. Allen was fairly quiet the rest of the week, but that strong showing is enough to put him on this list this week anyway.

Adrian De Horta– RHP, High-A, Lake Elsinore Storm
5 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 9 K

While the Padres have about 20 minor league pitchers worth watching, right-hander Adrian De Horta consistently gets lost among the sea of names. Going forward, he probably shouldn’t be overlooked any longer. He’s had some struggles in both Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore, and he’s not really as young as some of the other guys anymore (he’s 22), but he looked really impressive this week following two straight bad outings. There’s still some hiccups to work out, but De Horta made a strong showing this week.

Marcus Greene Jr.- C, Low-A, Fort Wayne TinCaps
10-21, 4 2B, 2 RBI, 14 TB

The two Austins may be the catchers grabbing attention in the Padres’ organization, but Marcus Greene has put together what has probably been the best season of any non top-30 Padres position player prospect. Greene has been even better over the last week or two, hitting six doubles over the last 10 days and consistently putting together strong at bats. He may not be Fernando Tatis or Jorge Ona, but it’s clear Greene has become an integral part of the TinCaps’ lineup.

Pedro Avila– RHP, Low-A, Fort Wayne TinCaps
6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Acquired in the trade that was the Padres basically giving away Derek Norris, who is more or less out of baseball entirely at this point, right-hander Pedro Avila has very quietly come along very strongly in recent weeks. Avila now has four straight starts of going at least six innings and giving up two earned runs or less. In total for those four starts, Avila has thrown 26 innings, given up three earned on 21 hits, while striking out 34 batters to only three walks. The hit total is obviously a little high, but if he’s striking out over a batter per inning and not walking hitters, he can be very successful as he progresses through the minor league system.

Justin Lopez– SS, Short Season, Tri-City Dust Devils
12-32, 3 2B, 6 RBI, 11 TB

It’s been a bit of a rough go so far this season for young shortstop Justin Lopez, but he has had a solid few weeks to finish up July. At just 17 years old, it’s clear he’s still figuring it out, but it seems to be coming together for him as of late. He may not have the name recognition as other J2 signees from last year such as Jeisson Rosario, Luis Almanzar, and Jordy Barley, but he’s having a solid showing with Tri-City while some of those guys are still in the AZL.

Ben Sheckler– LHP, Short Season, Tri-City Dust Devils
6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 5 K

At 6’8”, 240 pounds, Ben Sheckler is a rather large human being. At 22 years old, he may be a little old for his level, but it seems the big left-hander is finally figuring out his mechanics. Sheckler has very quietly put together nothing but solid outings in all of July and most of June. It returns to be seen how soon he will be moved back up to Fort Wayne, where he struggled earlier in the season, but it’s clear he’s had a better time with his mechanics lately.

Jordy Barley- SS, AZL Padres
7-16, 2 2B, 2 3B, 3 RBI, 13 TB

Pretty much anything you could say about Justin Lopez you also could say about Jordy Barley. However, Lopez lacks the standout tools that Barley has, as Barley is both an explosive runner and a defender with very fluid motions and soft hands in the infield. At the plate, Barley isn’t nearly as advanced, but he has shown quick hands with the ability to drive the ball to all fields.

Osvaldo Hernandez– LHP, AZL Padres 2
5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K

After a fairly positive start to the season in Tri-City, Hernandez found himself demoted to the AZL for his start on Sunday night, which proved to be a real doozy. According to the stat line, Hernandez somehow threw just 39 pitches despite facing 20 batters. Even more shocking, Hernandez somehow threw 37 strikes. If you do the math, Hernandez would have had to throw at least 27 pitches to get the nine strikeouts plus another 11 pitches at the least to the other 11 batters faced. So even if those were all first pitch swinging, that would put Hernandez at 39 pitches. So doable, but highly unlikely. It seems like there has to be a typo here. Anyway, it was an altogether solid start for Hernandez and an encouraging night for the lefty.

Elvis Sabala– 1B, DSL Padres
5-14, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 10 TB

Moises Lugo– RHP, DSL Padres
6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

Sunday’s Noteworthy Performances
Franmil Reyes– RF, Triple-A, El Paso Chihuahuas
2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R

Brad Wieck– LHP, Double-A, San Antonio Missions
1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Jesse Scholtens– RHP, High-A, Lake Elsinore Storm
6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Ronald Bolanos– RHP, Low-A, Fort Wayne TinCaps
7 IP, 6 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 7 K

Nick Margevicius- LHP, Short Season, Tri-City Dust Devils
5 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 5 K

Gabriel Arias– SS, AZL Padres 2
2-4, 2 1B

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.