The Padres’ minor league affiliate schedule was very much like a menu on Friday, with a full spread of games.

Padres’ affiliates went 2-2 in regular season games.

Here is a recap of the night’s events.

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 11-6 vs Oklahoma City) (2-5 on the season)
Oscar Gonzalez – 1-for-3, Three-Run Home Run, Two Walks
Clay Dungan – 1-for-2, Two-Run Home Run, Two Walks
Jared Kollar – 3.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 BB. 1 K (76 pitches – 42 strikes)

It was mostly a night to forget and bounce back from for the El Paso Chihuahuas, as the team was no-hit for seven innings by the OKC pitching staff. The Chihuahuas offense drew their fair share of walks, but nothing materialized in the run column until the seventh inning against a fatigued Justin Jarvis. The eighth inning saw the Chihuahuas’ best offensive work of the night, as the red-hot Oscar Gonzalez launched his third home run over the last two days, a three-run home run to left field. Clay Dungan added on with his own first home run of the season, a long ball of the two-run variety. Gonzalez and Dungan each walked twice, as did Mason McCoy, and Tirso Ornelas reached base twice in the loss.

Oscar Gon(E)zalez does it again. Make that 3 homers on the series ? pic.twitter.com/yMIoGaKwmv

— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) April 5, 2025

The pitching staff did not fare well for El Paso in the loss. Starter Jared Kollar was hit hard by one of the PCL’s top offenses, allowing six hits and six runs in 3.2 innings. Looking to bounce back from his last start, Kollar incorporated his curveball and changeup more frequently, but his changeup caught too much plate in the early innings. The right-hander struggled to get whiffs as well, with batters fouling off 13 offerings against three swings-and-misses. For an arm like Kollar, location becomes increasingly important, and his offerings caught too much plate for his and the Chihuahuas’ liking. Southpaw Austin Davis allowed three runs in an inning of relief, and Jake Higginbotham allowed one run in a frame as well. Right-hander Raul Brito threw 1.1 innings of relief, surrendering a run on three hits. The lone reliever who didn’t allow a run for El Paso was left-hander Jason Blanchard, who struck out one in one inning of work.

El Paso returns to action on Saturday at 5:05 pm Pacific, and Stephen Kolek will start for the Chihuahuas.

San Antonio Missions (Won 5-4 vs Amarillo) (1-0 on the season)
Devin Ortiz – 2-for-4, Home Run, Two RBI
Moises Gomez – 3-for-4, Three Singles
Jagger Haynes – 2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K (51 pitches – 32 strikes)

Missions Opening Day took place at Nelson Wolff Stadium, the start of a new campaign of Missions Baseball. Padres’ top prospect, Ethan Salas, was among the headlining names in the starting lineup, but the most intriguing name was arguably the Missions’ Opening Day Starter.

Left-hander Jagger Haynes took the mound for San Antonio, making his Double-A debut. The left-hander flashed the potential that the Padres organization saw in his when drafting him back in 2020, as Haynes struck out four batters in 2.1 innings of work. Though he was not yet fully stretched out and on a pitch count, Haynes showed the sort of stuff that can and will play at the MLB level down the line.

“Rain, rain, go away,
let us see Jagger Haynes hold batters at bay”
The @missionsmilb Opening Day starter struck out four in 2.1 innings.
Haynes came in at No. 23 in our @EVT_News #Padres Top 30, but he could very well crack Top 10 territory if the K’s keep racking up! pic.twitter.com/nHCuZIiWnx

— Diego Garcia (@StatNerd_Base) April 5, 2025

Among the new faces in the Missions lineup was infielder Devin Ortiz, who made quite the first impression to the Missions crowd. Stepping up to the plate, Ortiz walloped a hanging off-speed pitch to left field, putting San Antonio on the board. The hustle of Ethan Salas led to the tying run, as a chopper to the right side and a pair of errors allowed San Antonio to tie the game. A wild pitch from Sod Poodles starter Dylan Ray scored the go-ahead run, and a pair of RBI singles from Ortiz and Marcos Castanon capped off the four-run fourth inning. The visiting Sod Poodles brought the game within one run in the sixth inning, with an Andy Weber triple scoring two off Jose Geraldo.

Now, in a one-run game, the Missions had an opportunity to display one of their team’s strengths: the back end of the bullpen. The triumvirate of Ryan Och, David Morgan, and Bradgley Rodriguez made their season debuts, each racking up at least one strikeout in the process. While this trio might not always be the go-to combination at the end of games for the Missions, the “OMR” trio could continue to cause fits for opposing batters at the end of Missions victories like this one.

San Antonio returns to play Saturday at 5:05 pm, with right-hander Henry Baez making his season debut.

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 5-0 vs Lansing) (1-0 on the season)
Leo De Vries – 2-for-4, Two Runs
Jack Costello – 2-for-4, Double, Two RBI
Enmanuel Pinales – 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K (66 pitches – 36 strikes)

The Opening Day festivities were on in Fort Wayne, as the TinCaps (sporting fresh new uniforms) took the W in their season opener. The TinCaps received an influx of talent entering the season, with much of that talent residing in the team’s starting lineup.

Who else to get things started than Leo De Vries. The Padres’ No. 1 prospect made his High-A debut and did not disappoint, reaching base to open the game and promptly swiping second base. Left fielder Jack Costello, hitting second after his strong debut campaign, drove in El Mutante on an RBI double before scoring himself on a single by Braedon Karpathios. Karpathios, one of the Padres’ more under-the-radar prospects (and EVT’s No. 28 Padres prospect), made his name as an on-base machine in Lake Elsinore, and the plate discipline looks to have carried over as well. Infielder Rosman Verdugo scored on a wild pitch to give Fort Wayne a 3-0 lead after one inning of play.

? First run of the season!? pic.twitter.com/FdqMynCAJs

— Fort Wayne TinCaps (@TinCaps) April 4, 2025

The bats stayed hot in the second against Lugnuts starter Gage Jump, with Brandon Butterworth doubling, followed by a single from De Vries. Costello then scored Butterworth on an RBI single, with De Vries scoring later in the inning on a wild pitch.

Jack Costello with another RBI base hit, Fort Wayne leads 4-0 now pic.twitter.com/fRnZJaG1k6

— Al Scott (@AlScott1998) April 4, 2025

The 5-0 lead after two innings was more than enough support for TinCaps starter Enmanuel Pinales, who was tough as nails in his outing. While he walked three batters in his first two innings of work, Pinales found his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, inducing a timely popout. The right-hander went 3.2 innings, striking out four batters and not surrendering a run. The idea of the opposing team scoring runs was not one the TinCaps pitching staff would allow to come to fruition, as Tyler Morgan pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in relief of Pinales. The sharpest relief outing came from southpaw Harry Gustin, who threw two scoreless innings with two punchouts through the seventh and eighth innings—with the ‘Caps up by five in the ninth, right-hander Tyson Neighbors made his TinCaps debut after a brief cup of coffee with Single-A last season. Neighbors walked the first two batters he faced, but then pulled together to strikeout CJ Rodriguez, retire Sahis Valenzuela on a soft ground ball, and struck out Rodney Green Jr swinging to end the ballgame, securing the shutout win.

Fort Wayne returns to play Saturday at home against Lansing. Isaiah Lowe will pitch. The first pitch is scheduled for 10:05 a.m. Pacific.

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost 16-9 vs Rancho Cucamonga) (0-1 on the season)
Lamar King Jr – 2-for-4, Grand Slam
Ryan Jackson – 1-for-3, RBI Walk, RBI Single
Maikel Miralles – 3 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 3 K (58 pitches, 29 strikes)

Starting the season on the road, Lake Elsinore’s pitching staff had themselves a rough day at the office, allowing 16 runs and issuing 11 walks. Starting pitcher Maikel Miralles pitched better than the final line would indicate, striking out three batters in three innings. Miralles allowed four runs (three earned) on the evening, with four hits and three walks scattered across his outing. The Storm’s relief corps didn’t fare much better, as right-hander Carson Swilling (in his professional debut) allowed three earned runs in 1.1 innings of relief. Right-hander Miguel Valde could not find the strike zone in relief, recording one out while allowing one hit and issuing three free passes. Bernard Jose and Johan Moreno allowed two runs each over a combined two innings of relief, and right-hander Vicarte Domingo fared best in his professional debut. Domingo allowed one run on three walks and a hit, striking out three batters in 1.1 innings.

Lake Elsinore’s offense was behind the eight-ball early, as Rancho starter Hyun-Seok Jang was dominant in four innings of work. Lake Elsinore’s lone run against the Quakes starter came on a bases-loaded walk to Ryan Jackson. In the middle to late innings, the Storm scored runs in bunches, with Jackson, Spence Coffman, and Kasen Wells recording RBI singles in the sixth inning. Wells’ single scored two runs thanks in part to a throwing error from Quakes reliever Jholbran Herder. The Storm’s final runs came in the eighth inning, as catcher Lamar King Jr launched a grand slam to center field for the Storm’s sixth to ninth runs of the game. However, the scoring would not be enough as Lake Elsinore fell by a touchdown under the Friday night lights.

Lake Elsinore returns to play Saturday in Rancho Cucamonga at 6:30 p.m. Pacific. A starting pitcher has yet to be announced.

Diego Garcia

A born and raised San Diegan, Diego Garcia is a lifetime Padres fan and self-proclaimed baseball nerd. Diego wrote about baseball on his own site between 2021-22 before joining the East Village Times team in 2024. He also posts baseball content on his YouTube channel “Stat Nerd Baseball”, creating content around trades, hypotheticals, player analyses, the San Diego Padres, and MLB as a whole.

A 2024 graduate of San Diego State, Diego aims to grow as a writer and content creator in the baseball community.