Padres Down on the Farm: June 28 (Campusano homers for EP/Jarlin Susana 7 K’s in ACL/Castro 12 Ks, Wood 3 hits for LE)
Credit: Fastball Photo
The San Diego Padres’ affiliates went 3-2-1 on Tuesday.
Here is a recap of the day’s events.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost 3-6) (40-33 on the season)
Evan Miller – 2.0 IP, H, BB
Luis Campusano – (2-for-3) HR, 2B, R, RBI, BB
Robinson Cano – (2-for-5) 2 K
Brett Sullivan – (1-for-3) 3B, 2 RBIs, BB
The El Paso Chihuahuas lost the Dodgers’ affiliate in Oklahoma. Evan Miller cleanly handled the first two innings as an extended opener. Then things faltered when Aaron Leasher took over. He gave up three runs in just over three runs of work. Later in the game, Tom Cosgrove made his Triple-A debut. In his debut, he gave up three runs in one inning of work. While that was a rude awakening, there is every reason to believe Cosgrove will bounce back. In his career, he owns a 2.41 ERA at the Double-A level.
What a play by TK!#FearTheEars | #TimeToShine pic.twitter.com/Fu6hgHz2d3
— El Paso Chihuahuas (@epchihuahuas) June 29, 2022
The big names provided all of the offensive thump for the Chihuahuas. Campusano hit his fifth home run of the season; he also tallied a double. Robinson Cano worked two hits. He continues to produce in the minors while waiting for the final shot at the bigs. Still, that wasn’t enough as the three runs couldn’t sustain a lead.
San Antonio Missions (Lost 3-10) (38-30 on the season)
Nolan Watson – 4.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER), BB, 3 K
Connor Kaiser – (1-for-4) HR, 2 R, RBI, K
Thomas Milone – (1-for-2) R, 2 BB, SB, CS
Jorge Ona – (1-for-3) HBP, K
The Missions played very differently in the first and second halves of their game today. In the first half, they were coasting toward a victory. In the second half, they were embarrassingly outmatched.
Thomas Milone started out the game with a walk and stolen base. This set him up to score on a Domingo Leyba single. In the third inning, Connor Kaiser hit his sixth home run of the season. The Midland Rockhounds would strike back with one run of their own. In the fifth inning, Kaiser would score once again, the final run for the missions.
Instead of inching back, the Rockhounds took the lead in the fifth inning. They attacked starter Nolan Watson and put up three earned runs against him. From this point on, the Rockhounds were in control of the game. In the seventh inning, JJ Schwarz hit a two-run blast to extend the lead. Then in the eighth inning, the Rockhounds score four runs on six hits.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won 8-3) (28-42 on the season)
Ryan Bergert – 3.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, BB, 3 K
Max Ferguson – (2-for-5) R, BB, 2 K, SB
Cole Cummings – (3-for-4) R, RBI, K
Jarryd Dale – (2-for-5) HR, R, RBI
Max Ferguson and Cole Cummings earned their promotion to A+ baseball with the Fort Wayne TinCaps.
Ferguson was drafted by the Padres in the fifth round of the 2021 draft. He started off slow in both April and May but stuck to his bread and butter, high on-base percentage, and a threat on the base paths. Despite a low batting average in the first few months, he kept his on-base above .400, highlighted by 62 walks in 65 games. On the basepaths, he was the first farmhand to reach 50 stolen bases on the year.
His bat started to tick up, and June and he earned his promotion. Naturally, he would walk and steal a base in his TinCap debut. He even notched two hits.
Cummings is already looking like a massive win for the Padres’ scouting department. After going undrafted in the 2021 draft, he inked a deal with the Padres. Since signing, all he has done is rake. At Lake Elsinore, he put up a .262/.416/.448 slash line. San Diego is pretty light in prospect depth at first base, so Cummings has a clear path toward joining the organization’s plans. Today he tallied three hits.
The TinCaps’ pitching staff were shaky but still got the job done. As a group, they allowed thirteen hits and four walks. They managed to limit the damage to just three earned runs.
Lake Elsinore Storm (Won 5-3) (43-27 on the season)
Manuel Castro – 5.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 12 K
James Wood – (3-for-4) 2B
Juan Zabala – (2-for-4) SB
Nerwilian Cedeno – (2-for-4) R, RBI
Manuel Castro had himself a statement pitching performance today. The Padres signed him out of Mexico just over a year ago. Since joining professional baseball, he has been lights out. He remained that way until his first single-A start five days ago. For the first time in his career, he had a WHIP over 1.00 and allowed three earned runs in four innings. How did he respond? By striking out 12 batters over 5.2 innings today.
MLB Pipeline’s newest top 100 prospect, James Wood, also had himself a performance. Since rejoining Storm after an IL stint, he has gone hitless in only one game. In that time, he has 12 hits in 11 games played. Today he notched three hits, including a double.
A Tuesday night masterpiece from Manuel Castro #YourHomeTeam pic.twitter.com/fp5QH98EUm
— Lake Elsinore Storm Baseball (@Storm_Baseball) June 29, 2022
One of those hits came in a four-run first inning. The Storm started the game with four straight hits followed by two sacrifice hits. The Storm would ride that early lead to a 5-3 victory on the day.
ACL Padres (Tied 5-5) (7-9 on the season)
Jarlin Susana – 4.0 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 7 K
Colten Bender – (3-3) 2B, 2 R, BB
Juan Murillo – (2-4) 2B, R, RBI, 2 K
Another day another dominant start by Jarlin Susana. He keeps doing everything right. Today he held the walks and hits to a minimum. He struck out seven batters. The Padres are being cautious with him; he is yet to pitch more than four innings.
Despite the offense putting up eleven hits, they didn’t look great. They combined for nineteen strikeouts. Highlighted by Joshua Mears’ four-strikeout performance. At the beginning of the season, Mears looked like he was in a breakout performance. That shine quickly faded, and he now finds himself in the ACL, trying to climb back up.
DSL Padres (Won 3-1) (12-7 on the season)
Yariel Moreno – 4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 BB
Jose Sanabria – (2-for-4) RBI, K
Alain Camou – (1-for-3) 2B, BB, SB
The DSL Padres were stretched out to a nine-inning game. Yariel Moreno pitched the bulk of the innings. While he didn’t give up any runs, he didn’t look great. He didn’t strike anyone out and allowed six base runners in 4.2 innings of work. Jose Sanabria and Alain Camou lead the offense. They combined for half the Padres’ hits and make a good 1-2 punch at the top of the order.
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Wednesday’s Probable Pitchers
El Paso – Pedro Avila (2-2, 6.39 ERA)
San Antonio – TBD
Fort Wayne – Jackson Wolf (3-3 4.37 ERA)
Lake Elsinore – TBD
ACL Padres – TBD
DSL Padres – TBD
Evan is a student finishing up a degree in Finance from Northern Arizona University. The ability to break down numbers and find the story behind them has lead to his first of writing for East Village times. He covers baseball which is the sport he grew up playing and has followed even after his playing years.