Down On The Farm: July 9 (Gore Pitches in Fort Wayne)

The minor league affiliates for the San Diego Padres went 2-2 on Monday.

Here’s a recap of the day’s action.

El Paso Chihuahuas (50-40)

Off – All-Star Break, Game is Wednesday 7/11 at 7pm ET.

El Paso All-Stars
-RHP Brett Kennedy
-2B Luis Urias

San Antonio Missions (52-35)

*Cancelled – Inclement Weather

After being called up from Lake Elsinore, Buddy Reed should make his Double-A debut on Wednesday.

Lake Elsinore Storm (42-47) Lost 6-3

Michel Baez is now two innings shy of reaching his innings total from last season. He failed to last at least five innings for the first time since May 17th. Cody Tyler made his third appearance with the Storm after throwing 5.1 innings in the AZL. Tyler was drafted in the 32nd round of this year’s draft. Rod Boykin played in his first game since being demoted from San Antonio. With Buddy Reed getting the call to Double-A, Boykin is now roaming the outfield for the Storm.

Hudson Potts recorded his 28th double on the season but also struck out three times. Luis Torrens doubled twice and scored two runs. Torrens is batting .324 (11-34) over his last ten games. Brad Zunica launched his 11th home run on the year. Jorge Ona got off to a hot start in April but has continued to tail off as the season progresses. After posting a .348 on-base percentage in the season’s first month, he carried a .289 OBP in May, .238 OBP in June, and is down to .133 OBP so far in July. Allen Cordoba is batting .134 (9-67) with 27 strikeouts so far in High-A. David Bednar and Colby Blueberg combined for four innings of scoreless relief to finish the game.

2B Eguy Rosario: 0-5, 2 K
3B Hudson Potts: 1-4, 2B, 3 K
C Luis Torrens: 2-4, 2 2B, 2 R
RF Jorge Ona: 0-3, BB, K
SS Allen Cordoba: 0-4, RBI
SP Michel Baez: 3.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 3 K, HR (83 pitches-50 strikes) Loss
RP Cody Tyler: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 0 K (33 pitches-18 strikes)

Day Off: CF Edward Olivares

Fort Wayne TinCaps (43-45) Lost 6-1

MacKenzie Gore didn’t allow a hit through four innings. Gore then gave up two runs in the 5th before giving way to Osvaldo Hernandez. Hernandez is normally a starter but was tasked with piggybacking Gore this time through the rotation. This is probably because of the teams scheduled off day tomorrow. Ruddy Giron came off the disabled list and is back with Lake Elsinore. That meant Kelvin Melean was demoted from High-A to play second base at Fort Wayne. Melean attempted to make the jump to High-A in 2018 after playing in Tri-City all of 2017. This will be his first taste of the Midwest League. Gabriel Arias is still trying to put it all together at the plate and in the field. Arias was well-regarded for his fielding but committed his 19th error on the season. The same can be said for Luis Almanzar, who has played exclusively at third base this season although he was signed as a shortstop. Almanzar was charged with his 16th error on the year. Luis Campusano allowed his 4th passed ball. Tirso Ornelas nabbed a runner at second base for his 7th outfield assist on the year.

CF Jeisson Rosario: 0-4, 2 K
2B Kelvin Melean: 2-3, 2B, R, BB
RF Tirso Ornelas: 1-4, K
C Luis Campusano: 2-4, 2B, RBI
SS Gabriel Arias: 0-3, K
SP MacKenzie Gore: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K (77 pitches-46 strikes) Loss
RP Osvaldo Hernandez: 4 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (64 pitches-47 strikes)

Day Off: LF Robbie Podorsky, C Juan Fernandez, 2B Esteury Ruiz

Tri-City Dust Devils (13-12) Won 5-1

Starting pitcher, Henry Henry, had a bounce-back outing after allowing five earned runs over six innings his last time out. If Aldemar Burgos continues to rack up hits at this rate, he may be in for a call-up to Low-A sometime soon. Especially with Buddy Reed going to Double-A, I could envision a scenario where Robbie Podorsky is back in the Cal League which opens a spot in Fort Wayne for Burgos.

Olivier Basabe is just another one of the seemingly endless middle infield prospects the Padres have in the low minors. Basabe has proven that he can really hit in his brief time in the organization. Speaking of that, Owen Miller continues to rake. The Padres third round pick in this past draft has been knocking the cover off the ball. In his past ten games he’s batting .400 (16-40) and is slashing .344/.379/.469 in 103 plate appearances so far in his minor league career. His double-play partner, Luke Becker, was drafted in the ninth round of this past draft. After a promising 2017 season, Mason House has struggled to get going so far in 2018.

RF Aldemar Burgos: 1-4, RBI, K
DH Olivier Basabe: 0-3, BB, K
SS Owen Miller: 3-3, 2B, R, RBI
2B Luke Becker: 1-4, 3B, R, RBI, K
LF Mason House: 0-3, BB, K
SP Henry Henry: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K (85 pitches-56 strikes) Win
RP Jonathan Guzman: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K (28 pitches-18 strikes) Hold

Day Off: 2B Reinaldo Ilarraza, OF Michael Curry, OF Grant Little, OF Dwanya Williams-Sutton, C Blake Hunt

AZL Padres 1 (5-11)

*Postponed – Rain

AZL Padres 2 (7-9)

*Postponed – Rain

DSL Padres (19-13) Won 5-3

Luis Paez has taken all but seven of his at-bats from the leadoff spot and owns a .355 on-base percentage there. Yeison Santana has played shortstop exclusively and hit behind Paez in most of his games. Brandon Valenzuela usually hits somewhere in the middle of the order while suiting up behind the plate. Valenzuela has also appeared at one game at first base. Cristian Heredia hit his 3rd home run on the year but has struck out an alarming 30 times in 95 plate appearances. Miguel Rondon lasted six innings for the third consecutive start.

2B Luis Paez: 1-3, 2B, BB
SS Yeison Santana: 1-4, K, CS
C Brandon Valenzuela: 0-4, K
RF Cristian Heredia: 1-4, HR, 2 R, RBI, 2 K
1B Emmanuel Guerra: 1-4, 2B, R, RBI, K
SP Miguel Rondon: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K
RP Jose Garcia: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Probable Starters for Tuesday’s games:
El Paso Chihuahuas: All-Star Break
San Antonio Missions: OFF
Lake Elsinore Storm: Ronald Bolanos (3-5, 4.88)
Fort Wayne TinCaps: OFF
Tri-City Dust Devils: OFF
AZL Padres 1: TBD
AZL Padres 2: TBD
DSL Padres: Jesus Cisneros (1-1, 5.87)

Kenny Kirkpatrick

I’ve been a Padres fan for most of my life. I am currently a Baseball Video Scout Associate at Sports Info Solutions. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Colorado State University in December of 2016. My grandfather, Ed Kirkpatrick, played Major League Baseball in the 60’s and 70’s. He played for several teams including the Angels, Royals, Brewers, Pirates, and Rangers.