A slow Saturday night in the Padres’ system as three games were postponed because of either rain or snow.
Franchy Cordero returned to the El Paso lineup on Saturday night but for how long? Photo Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre/El Paso Chihuahua
Las Vegas Stars 5- Chihuahuas 2
Key Statistics: LF Franchy Cordero 1-4; PH Dusty Coleman 1-1 HR (1); C Raffy Lopez 1-3 HR (1); 2B Luis Urias 1-3, HBP; RHP Walker Locket (L, 0-1) 4.0 IP 6 H 3 R 3 ER 2 BB 6 K; RHP T.J. Weir 2.0 IP 2 H 2 K.
Prospect Watch: The Chihuahuas dropped the second game of the series as they were held to four hits, although two were home runs…Nice Triple-A debut by T.J. Weir. Weir is a sinker/slider specialist and this spring his velocity on the sinker was consistently in the low 90’s in Spring Training. The former Ball State star was one of the better relief pitchers in the organization last year.
Chihuahua Notes: Franchy Cordero returned tonight on his minor league rehab. According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Cordero is not expected to stay in El Paso for long…the Padres acquired left-handed hitting catcher Brett Nicholas from the Texas Rangers for future considerations and assigned him to El Paso.
In eight minor league seasons, Nicholas, who also plays first base, put up good numbers with a slash line of .280/.343/.429. According to Lone Star Ball, he didn’t really hit enough to be an MLB regular at first and was somewhat lacking defensively behind the plate. Maybe a change of scenery could change that perception. The bat and positional flexibility will help at a thin spot in the upper minors.
The Missions –Arkansas Naturals game was rained out in Little Rock, Arkansas. The teams will play a seven-inning doubleheader tomorrow night.
As an interesting side note, Josh Naylor, the MadFriars #14 prospect for 2018, was scheduled to make his first start in left field. Naylor has yet to play any position other than first base in his professional career.
The Storm – Stockton Ports game was rained out. As with the Missions, the teams will play a seven-inning doubleheader on Saturday.
TinCaps 6, Lake County Captains 2 (suspended after three innings)
Key Statistics: SS Gabriel Arias 2-2, 2B, RBI, SB; RF Tirso Ornelas 1-2, HR (1), 2 RBI; DH Esteury Ruiz 1-2; 1B Carlos Belen 2-2, 2B; CF Jeisson Rosario 1-3; LF Jack Suwinski 1-1, BB; LHP 3.0 IP 6 H 2 R 2 ER 3 BB 4 K.
Prospect Watch: The TinCaps and Captains will play innings four through nine at Parkview Field on Sunday and then the regularly scheduled game will be seven innings. Before the game was called for snow – welcome to the Midwest League in April – the TinCaps’ bats did some damage… Jeisson Rosario and Tirso Ornelas, both only 18, will get a lot of attention this season. The six-foot-four Ornelas hit his first home run of the year and Rosario has three hits in the first two games… After going hitless in the season opener, Gabriel Arias was 2-2 tonight. He is one of the better defensive shortstops in the system and according to the Padres made great strides at the plate in the offseason.
For the box scores of all the Padres’ affiliates games please go to the MiLB.com scoreboards.
