PEORIA, Ariz. — With the Padres on the road in Goodyear and the big league Mariners in Japan, a group of Padres prospects took on a team of Mariners minor leaguers in the big stadium at the Peoria Sports Complex.
The team of Padres prospects prevailed 5-2 but here are some notes on the players that stood out.
Ryan Weathers making hitters look silly pic.twitter.com/GZ4bv8z19h
— madfriars (@madfriars) March 18, 2019
- Ryan Weathers made the start for the Padres and impressed throughout. He ran into some trouble in the first inning, allowing a leadoff double. He gave up a hard-hit single that scored a run, off of the bat of former Phillie J.P. Crawford. After that, Weathers settled in, showing very good command of a fastball that touched 94 MPH, but sat mostly at 92. Weathers did a nice job of throwing his fastball inside and Mariners hitters had issues catching up to it. After the first, Weathers didn’t allow a hit and walked only one batter the rest of the afternoon. He generated several poor swings with a curve that was 79-82 mph. His unofficial line was: 4 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 6 K. Weathers also got the win.
Weathers verse top 50 prospect Jarred Kelenic. Guess who won? pic.twitter.com/Jcn9iXQUfE
— madfriars (@madfriars) March 18, 2019
- At the plate, Jeisson Rosario picked up where he left off last season by drawing a leadoff walk. He later reached on an error and stole a base, although a good throw would have likely retired him. Rosario also made a good running catch in center field on a ball that was scalded into the gap.
- Big Brad Zunica had a big game at the plate. In his first at-bat, he hit a booming home run off of Mariners’ farmhand Anthony Misiewicz — a fellow left-hander. While there was no official distance, the ball cleared the right center field wall by a good 40-50 feet. In his second at-bat, Zunica lined a single to right to beat a defensive shift and he had a sacrifice fly to left to score a run. He struck out in his final at-bat.
- Jorge Oña lined a double to the left field gap to score a run as part of a 1-for-4 day. He struck out twice, once on a slider and another on a check-swing fastball. In minor league games, Oña has thumped the ball on several occasions but has yet to play in the field.
- Gabriel Arias had an opposite-field triple in the bottom of the sixth, after falling behind in the count. Arias has shown a quick bat at the plate in a few looks we have had this spring. Arias also looked smooth fielding on the afternoon.
- After Ryan Weathers left, Chris Rowley, a 28-year-old minor league free agent, came in and threw three hitless innings while walking one. He sat mostly at 89 MPH on the fastball and showed a good off-speed pitch, that looked like a change. Rowley seems like a good bet to see some time in the El Paso rotation
- Tirso Ornelas had a pair of hits, including a double that bounced off of the center field wall in the bottom of the eighth. Orneals put on an impressive show in batting practice all throughout the weekend.
- Elliot Ashbeck pitched the ninth and gave up a laser home run to Kelenic to the opposite field off Ashbeck’s fastball.
***
@RLawww6 95 mph FB in for strike two, then followed up with this beauty for the K pic.twitter.com/ERw8r9Ett0
— madfriars (@madfriars) March 18, 2019
While the prospect game was going on, we ran over to the Triple-A game to get a look at starter Reggie Lawson. Lawson was sitting at 93-94 mph with his heater and touched 96 mph. He threw mainly fastball/curve mixing in an occasional slider and change. He did have some location issues with his secondary pitches leading to two walks, but when he threw them for a strike, he was nearly unhitable.
Keep an eye out for 1B Carlos Luis. He has been one of the biggest surprises from training camp. He put on a clinic during BP today, including a towering home run 450 feet to left center. He had two hits in the intersquad game yesterday. The Padres’ brass seems really high on his potential. Good chance you seem him starting at 1B in Fort Wayne.