Padres Down on the Farm: June 27 (Edwards first professional home run/Gettys & France homer in El Paso/Baez excellent out of pen in Amarillo)

It was a busy day on the farm, with each affiliate participating in the action except for both Arizona Rookie League teams.

The affiliates went 4-2 on the day. Here is a recap of the day’s action.

El Paso Chihuahuas wins 17-6 (49-30 on the season)

High scoring games are a common occurrence in the Pacific Coast League, especially for the El Paso Chihuahuas. One of the best team’s in all of AAA, El Paso’s offense exploded for (insert runs) on a casual Thursday night game at El Paso.

Nine different Chihuahuas recorded hits, including multi-hit performances from four different players. Ty France, Jose Pirela, and Seth Mejias-Brean combined for ten hits and eight RBIs, including four extra base-hits between the three of them. Michael Gettys continued his onslaught of the PCL, smashing his 20th home run of the season and driving in five runs of his own.

One interesting note from the start of this game is the fact that El Paso has slowly started to adopt the use of an opener. Robert Stock started tonight’s game, and even though he struggled, the willingness to utilize this strategy at the minor league level could be an indicator that the Padres themselves may turn to this method sooner rather than later. While it might be nothing, it’s surely something interesting to note.

El Paso will go for the series victory over Sacramento on Friday night. The team has not yet named a starter, which may be an indication to an opener being used once again.

Michael Gettys: 2-5, HR, 2B, 5 RBI, K, RS

Ty France: 3-6, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 RS, K

Seth Mejias-Brean: 4-5, 3 1B, 2B, 2 RBI, RS

Paco Rodriguez: 4 IP, 5 H, ER, 4 K

Jose Pirela: 3-5, 3 1B, 2 RBI, 2 K, RS

Amarillo Sod Poodles lose 3-2 (35-40 on the season)

Looking to build off their strong first-half performance, the Amarillo Sod Poodles started a three-game set with the Corpus Christi. Kyle Lloyd started for the Sod Poodles, while Cristian Javier opposed him for the Hooks.

Neither team scored until the fourth inning when Luis Torrens singled in Edward Olivares. The Hooks responded by blasting three solo home runs in the top of the fifth inning, making it a 3-1 game. Amarillo scored again when Torrens launched a solo shot of his own in the seventh inning, but that would not prove to be enough. Corpus Christi defeated Amarillo by a score of 3-2, dropping the Sod Poodles to 35-40 on the season.

One interesting tidbit from this game was the dominance of Michel Baez. The 6-foot-8 right-hander has been working exclusively from the bullpen this season and has been nothing short of dominant. He struck out five batters over the course of two innings in tonight’s game and has now struck out 29 batters in 18 innings of work this season. With the Padres’ bullpen struggles this season, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for Baez to earn his way up to the big leagues at some point in 2019.

Baez Fourth K @EVT_News pic.twitter.com/FPrg5hkSF9

— Austin Hartsfield (@HartsfieldMLB) June 28, 2019

Luis Torrens: 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, RS

Michel Baez: 2 IP, 5 K

Evan Miller: 1.1 IP, 2 H, BB

Lake Elsinore Storm win 7-1 (41-35 on the season)

Fresh off the California League all-star festivities, the Lake Elsinore Storm looks to start the second half of the season on a strong note with a four-game series against Inland Empire. Reiss Knehr made his third start for the Storm in 2019, while Cooper Criswell started for the 66ers.

Lake Elsinore jumped all over Criswell in the first two innings, putting up five runs on the scoreboard and taking an early lead from the get-go. Gabriel Arias‘ single in the first inning scored Eguy Rosario, while extra base-hits from Oliver Basabe and Allen Cordoba contributed to a four-run second inning for the Storm. Inland Empire added a run of their own in the bottom half of the first on a single by Ryan Vega.

Neither team scored until the seventh inning when Lake Elsinore tacked on two more runs. Eguy Rosario singled and Connor Panas grounded into a fielder’s choice. That would be all the scoring in this contest, as the Storm took a 7-1 win over their divisional foes.

Knehr turned in a solid start, tossing five innings of three-hit baseball and earning the victory. High-end pitching prospect Luis Patino will start for Lake Elsinore tomorrow in the second game of this series.

Reiss Knehr: 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Jeisson Rosario: 2-5, 2B, RBI, K, RS

Franklin Van Gurp: 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 2 K

Gabriel Arias: 3-5, 3 1B, RBI, K

Eguy Rosario: 2-5, 2 1B, RBI, RS

Fort Wayne TinCaps win 5-2 (36-39 on the season)

The Fort Wayne TinCaps entered today’s action with the Southbend Cubs looking to secure a series victory. Former first-round pick Ryan Weathers toed the rubber for Fort Wayne and 23-year-old Derek Casey started for Southbend.

Weathers had a strong outing, tossing four scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Despite pitching with diminished velocity after returning from an IL stint a few weeks ago, Weathers has still looked sharp in his outings. His slider has really improved, even with the dip in velocity, and has truly become a swing-and-miss offering for the young left-hander.

Great outing for Ryan Weathers tonight. Fastball was sharp, great command, sat 89-91 mph, touched 92 mph. Really impressed with his slider, which was mostly 76-78 mph – Arm action was almost identical to fastball, he’s really improved this pitch and it’s a weapon now.

— Honcho (@Honcho1010) June 28, 2019

Xavier Edwards drilled his first home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Padres number eight overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, is currently batting .331 with an OPS of .783 in his breakout season. Blake Hunt drove in two runs, while Tucupita Marcano‘s single in the sixth inning made it a 5-2 game and secured the victory for Fort Wayne. Casey took the loss for Southbend, while Henry Henry continued his strong first full professional season with his sixth save. The TinCaps will start a four-game series with Great Lakes at home tomorrow night.

Xavier Edwards: 3-4, HR, 2 1B, RBI, 3 RS

Tucupita Marcano: 3-4, 3 1B, RBI, RS

Ryan Weathers: 4 IP, 3 H, 4 K

Blake Hunt: 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Agustin Ruiz: 2-4, 3B, RS

Tri-City Dust Devils win 6-3 (7-7 on the season) 

With their season only a few weeks old, the Tri-City Dust Devils are still trying to find themselves in the shortened 2019 season. Tri-City’s starter Ignacio Feliz was acquired from the Cleveland Indians last season in the Walker Lockett trade and is an intriguing pitching prospect who will likely find his name on prospect radar’s in a few seasons.

Tri-City started the game off on a strong note, scoring two runs in each of the first two innings. Nick Gatewood singled in Reinaldo Ilarraza and crossed home plate himself after a wild pitch. Ilarraza himself singled in two runs in the top half of the second, giving Tri-City a 4-0 lead after their first two at-bats.

Spokane wasted no time finding themselves on the scoreboard, however, as they scored a run in the bottom half of the second inning and two in the fourth. That would be all for Feliz, as the 19-year-old was pulled from the game after just 3 2/3 innings pitched despite striking out seven batters.

The Dust Devils scored again in both the sixth and seventh inning when Jordy Barley and Tyler Benson each singled in a run of their own.

Jordy Barley: 2-4, 2 1B, RBI, BB, K, RS

Reinaldo Ilarraza: 1-3, RBI, BB, K, 2 SB, RS

Carlos Luis: 3-5, 2 1B, 2B, 2 K, RS

Ignacio Feliz: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 7 K

DSL Padres lose 2-1 (11-12 on the season)

In a low-scoring affair, the DSL Bluejays defeated the DSL Padres in walk-off fashion. Jesus Lugo started on the mound for the Padres, tossing seven strong innings of one-run ball. The 21-year-old right-hander struck out 12 batters and only allowed one run on a home run from Francisco Fajardo.

The Padres would score their lone run of the game in the fourth inning when Eddyson Moreno homered to right field. With the game tied at 1-1 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, a throwing error by third baseman Axcel Peralta moved the game-winning run into scoring position. A sacrifice fly from Yeison Jimenez off Nick Rios ended the game, giving the Bluejays squad a 2-1 victory.

Jonfy Diaz took the loss for the Padres, while Edgar Castro earned the victory for the Bluejays after tossing five scoreless innings in relief. The DSL Padres will take on the Bluejays again tomorrow.

Jesus Lugo: 7 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 12 K

Eddyson Moreno: 1-4, RBI, RS, 2 K

Victor Duarte: 2-3, 2 1B, BB

Friday’s Probables

El Paso- TBD vs. Enderson Franco (2-2 6.32 ERA)

Amarillo- TBD vs. J.B. Bukauskas (0-3 5.97 ERA)

Lake Elsinore- Luis Patino (4-6 3.15 ERA) vs. Oliver Ortega (2-4 3.55 ERA)

Fort Wayne- Sam Keating (3-3 4.64 ERA) vs. Peyton Remy (2-3 3.30 ERA)

Tri-City- Reynolds (1-0 0.00 ERA) vs TBD

AZL Padres 1- TBD vs. AZL Brewers Blue

AZL Padres 2- TBD vs.AZL Brewers Gold

DSL Padres- TBD vs. DSL Blue Jays

Diego Solares

Diego works at Prep Baseball Report as an Area Scout in Illinois and Missouri. He graduated this spring with a Bachelor Degree in Communications and played four years of college baseball, logging nearly 50 innings of work in a relief role. Diego hopes to work in an MLB front office one day and has been a Padres fan since he was six years old.