Austin Allen continues to rake in the Texas League. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Chihuahuas 10, Sacramento River Cats 1
Key Stats: RHP Dillon Overton 4 IP, 0 ER, 3 K, BB, H; RP Colten Brewer 2 IP, W, 0 ER, K; RP Tyler Webb 2 IP, 4 K, 0 ER; 3B Luis Urias 1-5, R, K, 2B; Forest Allday 0-2, 2 R, 2 BB, K; RF Franmil Reyes 0-4, 2 R, BB, K; C Austin Hedges 3-5, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2B, 2 K; 2B Carlos Asuaje 2-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, 3B; 1B Allen Craig 4-5, R, 3 RBI; LF Shane Peterson 1-4, RBI, 2B, K; SS Javy Guerra 0-5, 5 K
Prospect Watch: In what was ultimately an offensive barrage by the Chihuahuas, they started the game against MLB pitcher Jeff Samardzjia who was making a rehab start for the River Cats. Austin Hedges swatted a home run off of him in the top of the second, giving Hedges eight hits in 16 at bats in four games for El Paso. He finished the night with a double as well, though struck out twice. … With a double, Luis Urias has now hit safely in nine of his last ten games. He is hitting .297 in that same stretch, but his strikeout-to-walk ratio is still an uncharacteristic 5:2. Nevertheless, the stretch comes after a month when Urias batted under .240 and struck out 24 times in 109 at-bats. … After a tepid display following his demotion in May, Carlos Asuaje continues his tear in June, adding another pair of hits to push his average to .373 on the month. His triple to deep left field was his third – and tenth extra-base hit – in June.
Roster Notes: The Padres had a series of moves up and down the system. With Wil Myers coming off the DL, Franmil Reyes returned to join El Paso. Colin Rea’s 30-day rehab assignment period ended, so he was activated from the 60-day DL and optioned to the Chihuahuas. He has looked shaky in his work with San Antonio. Their arrivals mean that Jesse Scholtens and Nick Schulz move down a level, pushing Deion Tansel and reliever Gerardo Reyes back from San Antonio to Lake Elsinore. The cascade continued with 2015 second-rounder Austin Smith getting sent back to Fort Wayne and Korey Anderson stepping back to the AZL.
Missions 5, Midland RockHounds 1
Key Stats: RHP Lake Bachar 4 IP, 4 BB, 0 K, 0 ER, 2 H; RHP Miguel Diaz 3.2 IP, ER, 3 K, 2 BB, 3 H; SS Fernando Tatis Jr. 1-4, R, 2 K, SB; LF Josh Naylor 0-2, 2 BB, R; 3B Ty France 1-4, 3B, 2 RBI, R, K; C Austin Allen 3-3, 3 2B, R, RBI, CS, BB; CF Michael Gettys 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 2B, K
Prospect Watch: After failing to swipe a bag in the first month of the season, Fernando Tatis Jr. has collected eleven, including another one last night. It would be a stretch to see him match the 32 he stole last year, but there’s no reason he can’t reach 25 if he keeps up his current pace. If so, he could very well have his second season with an at least 20 HR and 25 SB. While he will likely ultimately outgrow that speed at the big-league level, he gets good reads and the organization is pushing him to be aggressive. … Josh Naylor continues to resemble the player he was last season – a guy with a knack for hitting but lower than anticipated power numbers – not the player we say through the first month this year. He has just three home runs in his last 47 games and hasn’t produced an OPS higher than .732 in the last two months. While he is hitting a robust .291 and posting a .378 OBP this month, he’ll need to start driving the ball more to compensate for his defensive limitations. … On the other hand, Austin Allen is having little difficulty driving the ball as he collected three doubles on a stellar offensive day. He is slugging .632 on the month and a league-leading .578 on the season.
Visalia Rawhide 8, Storm 6
Key Stats: RHP Emmanuel Ramirez 4 IP, 7 ER, 9 H, 7 K, 2 BB; RF Buddy Reed 3-5, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 R, RBI; 2B Eguy Rosario 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB, SB, 2 CS; CF Edward Olivares 1-5, R, 2 K; C Luis Torrens 1-4, R, 2 K, SB; 3B Hudson Potts 0-2, 2 BB; DH Allen Cordoba 0-3, R, RBI, 2 K
Prospect Watch: Buddy Reed showed no signs of slowing, falling a mere single shy of the cycle last night. His .332 batting average is nearly a 100 points higher than what he hit in Fort Wayne in 2016, and his ten home runs are only four short of surpassing his total from college and his minor league careers combined. … 18-year-old Eguy Rosario is quietly putting together his best offensive month of the season, hitting .276 and getting on base at a .364 clip. Through 62 games at High-A, Rosario has trimmed his strikeout rate from his half-season in Low-A last year. While he’s nearly four years younger than the average player in the league, he already has good power and is controlling at-bats. …Edward Olivares, the prime acquisition in the Yangervis Solarte trade, has fallen off drastically after an auspicious start to the season. He is hitting just .240 since April and has walked just ten times compared to 37 strikeouts in that stretch. … Emmanuel Ramirez got the start coming out of the break to give the rotation a bit more of a break. He will likely swing back to the bullpen after this start.
The TinCaps andWhitecaps game was postponed.
The clubs will play two seven-inning games on Friday if the weather cooperates.
Dust Devils 5, Spokane Indians 4
Key Stats: RHP Henry Henry 4.2 IP, 4 K, 2 BB, 3 H; RF Aldemar Burgos 1-4, 3 R, BB, K, 2B, SB; C Blake Hunt 2-5, RBI, R; 1B Justin Paulsen 1-4, BB, 2 K; LF Mason House 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K; 3B Kelvin Alarcon 1-4, BB, K, RBI
Prospect Watch: As a reliever in Fort Wayne this year, Henry Henry struggled through a frigid May to the tune of a 19.89 ER hours A, but he’s seemingly rediscovered his groove as a starter for Tri-City. In his second start, he tossed nearly five scoreless innings and threw 67 percent of his pitches for strikes. Additionally, he has walked only three batters in nine innings for the Dust Devils after walking an egregious 12 in six innings for the TinCaps. … Blake Hunt, the Padres’ competitive balance pick in last year’s draft, has reached base in each of the team’s first six games. He isn’t nearly as developed offensively as fellow draftee and catcher Luis Campusano, but considering he slashed .214/.313/.393 in the Arizona League last season, it’s encouraging to see Hunt off to a solid start. He is a polished receiver coming out of the same high school program that produced Austin Hedges.
AZL A’s 10, AZL-1 8
Key Stats: SS Xavier Edwards 1-for-5, BB, SB (2); 3B Jarryd Dale 2-for-5, 2B; RHP Moises Lugo 3IP, 6H, 5R, 4K, 4BB; RHP Starlin Cordero 1IP, 2H, 3R, 1K, 2BB, WP
Padres prospect Moises Lugo delivers in his US debut. (Photo: MadFriars\David Jay)
Prospect Watch: Starter Moises Lugo showed some encouraging signs in his first stateside appearance, but created a few too many problems for himself. After striking out a pair in the first inning with a fastball that showed good life at 92-94, he wore down relatively quickly. In the second, after he rushed a throw on a comebacker that should have been the second out of the inning, he looked rattled and issued a pair of walks. Juwuan Harris got a fantastic jump on a long drive to the left-center gap but just had the ball come off his glove for a three-run triple. The 19-year-old from the Dominican Republic showed an advanced approach to pitching, sequencing his change and curve fairly aggressively in different counts. He was down to the high-80s by the third inning. … Xavier Edwards is a standout athlete. In the first inning, facing a rehabber from Triple-A, he jumped the first pitch for a hard-hit single up the middle, then swiped second on the next pitch. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored easily on a hard-hit grounder to shortstop. He made several impressive plays, ranging deep into the hole early in the game, and effortlessly handling a slow grounder he charged in front of the bag. … Jarryd Dale, who played mostly up the middle in the spring, shifted over to third base. He was caught flat-footed on a hard-hit grounder his way early, but adjusted from it well. The 17-year-old Australian has developed well at the plate in his limited exposure to professional baseball. He controlled his at-bats Thursday nicely and doubled to the wall late.
AZL-2 11, AZL Mariners 10
Key Stats: CF Angel Solarte 4-for-6, 3B, HR (1); LF Yordi Francisco 2-for-4, 2B, BB; RHP Michel Milano 2IP, 3H, 5R (2ER), 3K, 2BB
Prospect Watch: Even playing across the Peoria Sports Complex from us, Angel Solarte was the talk of the night. The 17-year-old Venezuelan came up a double short of the cycle, collecting a triple to deep center and pulling his first professional homer. One of the recipients of the Padres’ top available $300,000 signing bonus last summer, the center fielder has impressed organization staff through his first extended spring training, not just for the impressive physical tools, but also his approach. … It’s a testament to how impressive Tucupita Marcano‘s spring has been that the club slid Jordy Barley over to third base for him to play shortstop Thursday. One of the 2016 international free agents who didn’t come stateside last year, the 18-year-old infielder will move around the dirt this season. He has a strong approach from the left side of the plate and has filled out significantly from his listed 165 pounds.
