Padres Organization Players of the Week: July 1-7
Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Here is a look at the top performers of the week in the Padres organization.
Farm batter: Austin Allen (AAA)
| Games | AVG | HR | XBH | RBI | OPS | wRC+ |
| 4 | .389 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1.365 | 216 |
Allen is clearly blocked by Austin Hedges and Francisco Mejia in the organization at catcher, but that has not stopped him from being a hitting machine in El Paso. He is in the middle of an 11-game hitting streak where he is batting .378 with six home runs and a 1.295 OPS, in 11 games since his demotion. On Friday, he went 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI as El Paso beat Salt Lake 9-7.
2 HRs last Saturday.
Another HR on Tuesday.
And 2 more HRs tonight!#Padres No. 16 prospect Austin Allen is on a power surge as he's up to 12 HRs this season for @epchihuahuas.@Padres prospect stats: https://t.co/b4tnFmFjTF pic.twitter.com/jlaEb2Icq4— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 6, 2019
He is now batting .309 for the season with a 1.010 OPS, one of three El Paso hitters with an OPS north of 1.000. He got a brief look in the big leagues this season, playing in 19 games, hitting .262.
Farm pitcher: MacKenzie Gore (A+)
| Games | IP | ERA | K | BB | FIP |
| 1 | 7 | 0.00 | 9 | 3 | 2.51 |
Gore had quite the eventful week. First, he once again dominated in his start, going seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts, lowering his season ERA to a microscopic 1.02 over 79 1/3 innings. Gore leads the California League in ERA by a large margin. He also leads the league in FIP (2.31), strikeouts per nine innings (12.5), batting average against (.135) and is second in total strikeouts with 110.
Padres pitching prospects SHINED in the 2019 #FuturesGame! @MGore181, @adrian_morejon3 and @luispatinoa_ 🔥#PadresOnDeck pic.twitter.com/GzOE6ciuBl
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 8, 2019
After that, Gore went to Cleveland to play in the All-Star weekend MLB Futures Game. He did not disappoint, tossing a scoreless frame and picking off the only base runner he allowed. He put his stamp on the national stage. With his ridiculous ERA and wild delivery, Gore is quickly making a name for himself among the national pundits and should soon find himself in Double-A.
MLB batter: Manuel Margot
| Games | AVG | HR | XBH | RBI | OPS | wRC+ |
| 5 | .308 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1.246 | 211 |
The Padres had a wild week, and the fact that the best hitter in the lineup was Manuel Margot is a testament to that. Margot’s glove has always been there, with a 3.0 UZR this year in the outfield. His bat has lagged far behind. Perhaps this week was his way of breaking out and finding his groove. He played a key part in the Padres’ historic four-game series victory over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. He hit home runs in back-to-back games in which the Padres won by a slim margin, just his fourth and fifth of the year.
MANUEL MARGOT UP
MANUEL MARGOT OUT#FriarFaithful | @Padres | @manuelmargot pic.twitter.com/KFYdff5qni
— Bally Sports San Diego (@BallySportsSD) July 7, 2019
He has gotten off to a hot start in July, batting .308 with a 1.246 OPS thus far. In Tuesday’s loss to the Giants, he had a pinch-hit double, and he eventually came around to score. He was clutch on multiple occasions this week, and it’s safe to say the Padres do not go into the All-Star break at .500 without his efforts.
MLB pitcher: Chris Paddack
| Games | IP | ERA | K | BB | FIP |
| 1 | 5.2 | 0.00 | 6 | 1 | 1.61 |
Needless to say, Paddack was feeling much better after his brief demotion last month. He was out for revenge against the Dodgers who roughed him up in May to the tune of six runs (three earned). He got the last laugh (or roar?) on Saturday night, carving up arguably the best lineup in the National League with six strikeouts and he pitched into the sixth inning, allowing just three hits. In his last two starts, he owns a 0.77 ERA in 11 2/3 innings.
Sheriff Paddack ain't here to horse around. 😤🐎#FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/USpmhIrLBZ
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 7, 2019
Paddack was the best starting pitcher for the Padres throughout the first half of the season. Going into the All-Star break, Paddack leads the Padres rotation in ERA (2.84), strikeouts per nine innings (9.5), ERA+ (147) and WAR (2.0, via Baseball Reference).
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.