Padres Down on the Farm: July 26 (De Vries & Ornelas Stay Hot)
Credit: MILB
San Diego Padres affiliates went 3-2 on Friday.
Here is a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso: 4-3, Loss against Bees (40-60, 5th PCL East)
* Tirso Ornelas: 3-for-4, Run Scored & Stolen Base
San Antonio Missions: 4-2 Loss to Amarillo: (45-47, 3rd TEX South)
*Austin Krob: 1 2/3 IP, 5 Hits, 5 ERs
It was a Friday night to forget for the Missions pitching staff, as San Antonio fell by the final of 10-2 to the Rockhounds.
Missions pitchers Austin Krob and Miguel Cienfuegos each surrendered five earned runs on the mound in the loss. Korb, the starter, pitched just an inning and two-thirds, walked three, and allowed five hits.
Krob’s ERA is now above five, at 5.58, but he has been better than that number indicates. His FIP is 3.89, and his xFIP is 3.71. Those numbers will go up after this start, but he’s been solid for most of the season. He has swing-and-miss stuff in his game, thanks to his 70-grade slider, which has guided him to a 23.1% K% on the year.
Cienfuegos also allowed five hits in two and one-third innings. Both pitchers would allow a home run in the loss. For Cienfuegos, this was his worst outing in Double-A this season. Coming into this game held a 2.60 FIP and a whopping 29.2% K% on the season.
Cienfuegos is susceptible to hard contact, as shown by his outing tonight. On the season, he has yielded a 36.8% line drive rate. That is not a number he continues to expect to “survive on.” Yes, the swing and miss is there for him, but generating more ground balls, or soft fly balls, will be key for him moving forward.
Lake Elsinore Storm: 1-0 Win Against Rawhide (48-44, 1st Cal South)
*Leodalis De Vries: 2 for 5, 2B & Run Scored
The Storm won 1-0 over Visalia on Friday night, bringing their season record to 48-44.
The game’s lone run would be scored by no other than 17-year-old phenom and Padres No.4 prospect (for now) Leodalis De Vries. De Vires would go 2-for-5 in the win and swat another extra-base hit.
You would be hard-pressed to find a minor leaguer who has a better month than De Vries. Since July 1, he’s posted a 206 wRC+, .528 wOBA, .420 ISO (Isolated Power), and .754 Slug%. He has eight home runs in his last 14 games played and 14 extra-base hits in his previous 18 games played.
But the numbers go deeper than just the slugging. He is making elite decisions at the dish for a 17-year-old. In the last month, he has a 16.7% BB%, while for the year, he has a 74.1% Z-contact%, 12.8% SwSrt%, 26% Chase%, and 15.7% Chase Swing%.
He has just a 24% O-swing rate, but when he does swing outside of the zone, he often makes contact with an impressive 62% O-contact rate.
De Vries continually shows excellent barrel control and will only continue to improve as he fills out his frame. He has the makeup of a player who could be a top-10 prospect in all of baseball in the very near future.
On the mound, the trio of Ian Koenig, Johan Moreno, and Will Varmette combined for the shutout. Moreno was the most impressive of the group, thanks in large part to his fastball and his ability to work down in the zone effectively. It was his best outing of the year, as up to this point in the season, he held a 5.03 ERA and a 6.39 FIP
Fort Wayne Tin Caps: 3-0 Win against Dragons ( 38-56, 6th MID East )
*Braden Nett: 5 IP, 0 Hits, 2 Ks
Fort Wayne won 3-0 on Friday over Dayton, bringing its season record to 38-56.
The Tin Caps got a solid start on the mound from Padres No. 16 prospect Braden Nett. Nett would work five shutout innings, allowing just one hit, walking four, and punching out two. The command continues to be an issue for Nett, who has a 12.7% BB% on the year.
Still, he was able to navigate around those walks tonight and induce a surplus of soft contact. Nett’s ERA “lowers” to 7.01 on the season. Even with the struggles at times this season for Nett, the upside still makes him intriguing.
His fastball sits 98 mph, and he owns a 25% K% on the year and a 4.14 xFIP. The arsenal is good enough to make him a possible back-end starter or bullpen arm at the big league level. But in order to get there, he has to cut down on the walks.
At the Plate, Romeo Sanabria would go 1-for-4 with a clutch RBI Double. It took a little bit for the Indian River State College alum to settle in at High-A, but he found his stroke in July.
Since the start of the month Sanabria has posted a 144 wRC+ .391 wOBA, and a 18.2% BB%. Sanabria is the definition of patient, as he boasts just a 61.9% Z-Swing%, 26.2 Whiff%, and a 25% Chase%.
He sees the ball and understands the zone very well. However, he could still benefit from attacking earlier in counts. Someone it appears he’s taking, just for the sake of taking. A slight increase in early count aggression could balloon these July numbers even further
DSL Padres Gold (18 – 20) Won 9 to 0 – Rookie
*Yimmy Tovar: 3 for 4
The Padres DSL Gold would pick up the 9-0 win today, moving their record to 18-20 on the year. Shortstop Yimmy Tovar would go 3-for-5 at the dish win and RBI in the win to lead the way offensively.
Gustavo Marquez also had a solid day, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored.
On the mound, Winyer Chourio would shine. The 20-year-old from Merida, Venezuela, has been outstanding in the DSL, boasting a 1.23 ERA. His dominance continued as he pitched six innings, allowing no runs on no hits but walking two while punching out eight.
It was by far the most whiffs the 20-year-old has gotten this season.
Saturday’s Probable Pitchers:
El Paso: TBD
San Antonio: Henry Baez
Fort Wayne: Sam Whiting
Lake Elsinore: TBD
DSL Gold: TBD
DSL Brown: TBD
Proud San Diego Native. Attended Sonoma State University, where I received my bachelor’s degree in communications; following my graduation, I returned home to San Diego, where I have worked in the local San Diego media sports scene since 2020.