Padres Organization Players of the Week: April 29-May 5
Credit: Jerry Espinoza/MiLB.com
Taking a look at your San Diego Padres organizational players of the week from April 29-May 5.
MLB Batter- Franmil Reyes
| Games | AVG | HR | XBH | RBI | OPS | wRC+ |
| 7 | 0.379 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1.125 | 191 |
There were several worthy candidates this week with offensive explosions in the last game of each series against the Braves and Dodgers. Manny Machado put on a show with four home runs, Eric Hosmer stayed hot, but the most consistent hitter this week was Reyes. He now has an eight-game hitting streak, dating back to April 28. He collected four hits in the series against the Dodgers, including that monstrous home run on Sunday, which is now the longest home run hit by a Padre this season.
Franmil Reyes crushed this ball 458 feet, off the giant video board in left field at Petco Park
📽 @Padres pic.twitter.com/MYBk32aBwy
— SB Nation MLB (@SBNationMLB) May 5, 2019
In Tuesday’s 4-3 victory over the Braves, Reyes smacked two home runs, drove in three and added a double, being the main source of offense for San Diego in the win. He had three multi-hit games this week and was key in all three Padres wins. His solo blast on Sunday got the scoring going for San Diego, and they needed every bit of it, with the game going down to the wire in the ninth inning. Reyes has shown an impressive, mature approach at the plate and is now one of the most consistent hitters in the lineup.
MLB Pitcher- Matt Strahm
| Games | IP | ERA | K | K/BB | FIP |
| 1 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 1.15 |
Strahm is a repeat-winner after a strong six innings of work in Thursday’s blowout 11-2 win in Atlanta. He did not walk a single batter and struck out six while allowing two runs, both of which came long after the game was in control. Strahm has shown excellent command as he has not issued a walk in his last four starts, which is a walk-less streak of 26 innings, dating back to April 7.
With his 6 IP today in ATL, Matt Strahm became first #Padres pitcher to go 4 consecutive starts of at least 5 IP w/o walking a batter since Greg Maddux went eight straight in 2007.
Strahm threw a 1st-pitch strike to 21 of 25 Braves batters and never went to 3 balls in a count.— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) May 2, 2019
Strahm entered this season as an unknown commodity, having made only eight major league starts in his career before this season. He now leads the Padres starting rotation in strikeout-to-walk ratio and walks per nine innings. He did not allow a run through five innings in Atlanta. Since his rough initial start of the 2019 season (2 2/3 innings, five earned runs, three walks), he has not allowed more than two earned runs in five straight starts.
Farm Batter- Edward Olivares (Double-A)
| Games | AVG | HR | XBH | RBI | SB | OPS | wRC+ |
| 6 | 0.393 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 1.290 | 237 |
Olivares was acquired in the trade with the Toronto Blue Jays that sent Yangervis Solarte north of the border before the start of the 2018 season. Last season, he displayed flashes of his power, with 12 home runs and a .429 slugging percentage in 129 games at High-A Lake Elsinore. This week, now in Double-A Amarillo, not only did Olivares hit four homers in six games, he hit three home runs in one game on Sunday. That puts him at eight home runs with a .954 OPS so far this season.
BREAKING: #Padres No. 23 prospect Edward Olivares records the first three-homer game in @sodpoodles history — and it's the fourth inning.
Watch LIVE on https://t.co/h5NSY7VuJN: https://t.co/W6MV5yyCwh pic.twitter.com/6vfFlQ4OuX
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 5, 2019
Olivares has a chance to separate himself in a crowded outfield in the organization if his power continues to develop. With this strong, homer-happy week, he has a six-game hitting streak and now leads the Texas League in dingers (8), RBI (24) and slugging (.593).
Farm Pitcher- MacKenzie Gore (High Single-A)
| Games | IP | ERA | K | K/BB | FIP |
| 2 | 9.1 | 0.96 | 18 | 6 | 0.50 |
Gore has been a weekly contender for player of the week and this week; no one topped his numbers. Gore started twice this past week. First, on Monday, he threw 4 1/3 innings with a dominating 11 strikeouts, one walk and one earned run. His pitch count was the only thing that stopped him from reaching even gaudier numbers as he left in the fifth inning with 86 pitches. In Sunday’s start, he was even more unhittable as he did not allow a single hit through five shutout innings while striking out seven and walking two. He allowed just one run in just under ten innings this week.
MacKenzie Gore is a baaad man.
The #Padres' No. 2 prospect (#MLB No. 14) has 5 Ks through 3 perfect frames after striking out 11 last time out. His ERA currently stands at 1.23.
Live stats for all of @MLB's top prospects: https://t.co/SjUDSIloUD pic.twitter.com/mTdDHsY9Ua
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 5, 2019
His strikeout-to-walk ratio was also off the charts, with 18 strikeouts to just three walks and three hits allowed between the two starts. Despite being the youngest pitcher in the California League, Gore leads the league in ERA (1.15), FIP (1.51), WHIP (0.67) and strikeout percentage (40.2%). He may not be long for Lake Elsinore if he continues this level of dominance.
Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.