Padres prospect Luis Patiño for Lake Elsinore Storm

Luis Patiño has had plenty to smile about with the Storm. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)

Chihuahuas 6 Iowa Cubs 3

Key Stats: CF Franchy Cordero 2-5, 2B, HR (2), 2 RBI; SS Luis Urías 1-4, RS, BB, K; C Francisco Mejía 2-5, 2 2B, 2 RS; LF Alex Dickerson 3-5, 3B, RBI; RHP Gerardo Reyes 2 IP, 4 K; RHP Phil Maton IP, BB, K

Prospect Watch: Franchy Cordero continued his strong work in a rehab assignment, hitting his second double and second home run in four games with El Paso. While his six total bases are impressive, the fact that he made contact in each plate appearance may be more promising for Padre fans. The book on Cordero is that if he hits the ball, he hits it hard.  Before his latest elbow injury in April, Cordero had struck out seven times in 15 at-bats. He owns a career 40% strikeout rate in the majors.  If Franchy cuts down on his strikeouts, it will be hard to keep him in El Paso for long. … Speaking of difficult to keep down, Francisco Mejía hit two more doubles, raising his slugging percentage in 10 games since joining El Paso to .848.  His OPS stands at 1.312.  While some of that success should be attributed to the ball flying more in Triple-A, it should also go on notice that Luis Urías, and Mejía have found their strides while getting to play every day.

Frisco RoughRiders 7 Sod Poodles 3

Key Stats: SS Fernando Tatis Jr 1-2, RS, BB; RHP Emmanuel Ramirez 7 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 2 ER, BB, 3 K; 3B Ivan Castillo 2-4, RS; RF Edwin Olivares 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Prospect Watch: Frisco got to the Amarillo bullpen, squandering a strong start by Emmanuel Ramirez and pushing th Sod Poodles’ record back to .500. Rehabber Fernando Tatis Jr. has looked good in back-to-back starts. Tuesday he came out after scoring a run in the sixth, but he looked fine rounding the bases and walking fine back to the dugout after, so no cause for concern there.  Offensively, Tatis laced a single to right, drew a walk, and legged out an accidental swinging bunt. Defensively, Tatis made a great barehanded play in the first, and made every routine play he had at short. He should be back quickly. … Speaking of defensive plays, CF Buddy Reed showed why so many people dream on his abilities. He ended the second inning by throwing a beautiful bullet to third from right center field.  The next inning, he easily beat out a bunt.  Still though, Reed is hitting .211 with a 31% strikeout rate.

Inland Empire 66ers 9 Storm 3

Key Stats: RHP Dinelson Lamet 2.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K; RHP Javier Guerra IP, 2 H, 2 ER, K; RHP Luis Patiño 2 IP, BB, 4 K; CF Jeisson Rosario 1-4, 2B, RS; SS Gabriel Arias 2-4, RS, RBI;

Prospect Watch: The game featured a few of the many reasons tracking minor league stat lines alone can be misleading including fly balls lost on a poorly-lit field; minor league umpires blowing calls. That being said, after looking great for most of the game, easily spotting his fastball, rehabber Dinelson Lamet left an 0-2 breaking ball right down the middle that was hit for a grand slam to right. He got stretched out to 60 pitches in the outing though and will continue to build up and look to find his feel while rehabbing over the next month. … Javier Guerra made his first official appearance since converting to the mound late this spring. Showing the athleticism and surprisingly-advanced feel for pitching that has the staff cautiously optimistic about his future, Guerra ran his fastball up between 96-100 with good movement.  A few times he took a few mph off of it and it would cut more.  Both flashed as plus.  His offspeed though was a work in progress. After a bloop single to open his inning, Guerra got two straight bad swings on fastballs before he he got a flat slider right down the middle turned around on him for a two-run homer. He bounced back nicely in the next at-bat, spinning up a much better 0-2 slider for a weak chopper back to the mound. …

After Guerra hit triple digits, the 66ers had to turn down the dial for Luis Patiño who “only” hit 98 mph.  After struggling early in the year, Patino has reasserted his claim as a top 50 prospect.  Patiño, working on a scheduled short outing, flashed three plus pitches,  and the movement and velocity change between his curve and fastball make it almost unhittable. … Not to be outdone, Hansel Rodriguez sat low-90s, and showed off his nasty slider, which was a thing of beauty getting two strikeouts in the inning.  With that fastball/breaking ball combo, Rodriguez can be filthy in the pen.

TinCaps 4 Lake County Captains 3

Key Stats: RHP Gabe Mosser 6.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 8 K; RHP Austin Smith (S, 2) IP, 2 K; 2B Xavier Edwards 1-4, CS; SS Justin Lopez 1-3, 2B, RS, RBI, BB; C Blake Hunt 2-3, RBI, 3B, BB

Prospect Watch: A week ago, the TinCaps were riding high as the offense started to match the stellar pitching.  Then injuries started, and within a week Tucupita Marcano, Grant Little, and Luis Almanzar all hit the IL and the team struggled.  Now the offense relies heavily on Xavier Edwards, Justin Lopez and the catching position for the offense.  Tonight it came through.  Lopez got the TinCaps on the board with a double, and then came home on a triple by Blake Hunt.  That gives Lopez 10 extra base hits in his last 19 games, after he managed only four (all doubles) in his first 23. … One of the biggest and most pleasant surprises recently for Fort Wayne has been the emergence of Austin Smith.  The first pick ever by AJ Preller, has never had an ERA under 5.35 in four minor league seasons.  Yet over the last week, he has come alive.  Since May 27, Smith has gone eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, one walk, and 11 strikeouts.

Draft news

The Padres selected another pop-up Texas outfielder in the third round, then focused heavily on college pitching on Day 2 of the draft. We take a look at their returns from Tuesday and what it means for their approach for the final 30 rounds on Wednesday.

Posted by Ben Davey

Writer for MadFriars since 2011. San Diego raised. Grossmont alum. Die hard SD and sports fan. Currently keeping my day job as an AP Chemistry Teacher.

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