Patrick Kivlehan had another solid night for El Paso. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Round Rock Express 16, Chihuahuas 7
Key Stats: LHP Ryan Weathers, 5 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, BB, 5 K; CF Brian O’Grady, 1-for-4, HR, R, 4 RBI; LF Patrick Kivlehan, 4-for-5, 2 2B, HR, 2 R, RBI; C Luis Campusano, 2-for-4, 2B.
Prospect Watch: Ryan Weathers‘ second Triple-A start wasn’t the gem he threw last time, but it was certainly nothing to scoff at in the high-flying Triple-A West. In the launching pad of El Paso, Weathers located 63 of his 84 pitches for strikes. He leaves tonight with a 3.60 ERA in two starts now for the Chihuahuas. … Brian O’Grady‘s sixth home run raised his OPS back over 1.000 at 1.009. The 29-year-old outfielder is slashing .305/.373/.542 in 59 June at-bats. … Patrick Kivlehan moved into a tie for fourth in Triple-A West with his 12th home run of the season. Kivlehan – whose professional career-high is the 32 home runs hit in 2019 – is batting .448 with 10 home runs in home games, and .190 with two home runs on the road. … Luis Campusano‘s hitting streak has now reached 10 games. The Padres’ top catching prospect is 15-for-41 in that time span, good for a .366 average, with three doubles and two home runs. After a slow start in El Paso, one which followed an even more forgettable start of the season with the big club, Campusano is slashing .324/.385/.577 in June.
Jordan Humphreys in action at Extended Spring before his organizational debut on Thursday with San Antonio is Frisco. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Frisco RoughRiders 12, Missions 10
Key Stats: SS CJ Abrams, 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB, 2 SB; RF Jack Suwinski 1-for-3, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, SB; CF Jose Azocar, 1-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB; 3B Allen Cordoba, 2-for-5, 2B, RBI; 1B Kyle Overstreet, 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB; RHP Jordan Humphreys 1.2 IP 5 H 4 R 3 ER BB K; RHP Brandon Komar, 4.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K;
Prospect Watch: CJ Abrams had his second straight two-hit night and hit safely in his fourth straight game. He also swiped a pair of bags, moving him into a tie for fifth in Double-A Central in stolen bases. Teammate Esteury Ruiz is tied for third in the league with 15 steals. Abrams also paces the circuit in doubles with 13. … Jack Suwinski struck again with his 13th home run, tied for the league lead. He is also your Double-A Central leader in Slugging Percentage with a .667 clip. 13 is also a new career-high in home runs for Suwinski, who hit 12 for Lake Elsinore in 408 at-bats in 2019. … Jose Azocar added his third home run of the year. The 25-year-old from Venezuela has hit two of his three homers in June, a month in which he heated up to the tune of a .295/.402/.462 slash line after a lukewarm start to the season. Azocar joined the Padres as a free agent after the 2020 season after eight seasons in the Detroit Tigers organization. … Allen Cordoba followed up a three-hit night with a two-hit night and extended his hitting streak to four games. Acquired via the Rule 5 Draft in the winter of 2016, Cordoba played 100 games for the Padres in 2017. Despite that fact, Cordoba remains 25 years old and is playing his first season of Double-A. Before the Padres selected him, he had never played above Rookie ball. … Kyle Overstreet continues to be a hot bat and has made himself comfortable at first base, where he is now riding a five-game hitting streak. A 2015 14th round pick out of Alabama, the Birmingham native isn’t the most potent bat in the lineup, but he isn’t “splitty”, posting a .686 OPS vs lefties and .715 vs righties. He’s been a consistent presence for San Antonio in 2021. … Brandon Komar made his Double-A debut by answering the call in relief of a struggling starter, and responded with 4.1 scoreless innings of work. Komar, a 22-year-old righty from Madison College in Wisconsin, was selected by the Padres in the 13th round of the 2019 Draft. Prior to being promoted to San Antonio, Komar made 12 appearances (one start) for Fort Wayne, notching a 2-2 record, 3.60 ERA, and striking out 32 batters in 30 innings of work. .. Jordan Humphreys, 25, made his Padres debut for the Missions tonight with the start tonight. Humphreys was claimed by San Diego in the offseason from the Giants, who had picked him up from the Mets in a trade for Billy Hamilton. Humphreys missed all of 2018, with Tommy John surgery and did not play in 2020 because of the COVID Pandemic. When he was in the Mets organization he was considered on of their Top 20 prospects by Baseball America with the ceiling of a number-four big league starter. In 2017, in the Low-A South Atlantic Leauge, he had a 1.55 ERA in 69.1 innings pitched with 80 strikeouts against 9 walks and 41 hits.
Kelvin Melean has played all over the infield. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
TinCaps 9, South Bend Cubs 1
Key Statistics: SS-3B Kelvin Melean, 2-for-5, 2 R, HR (2), 3 RBI; 2B Justin Lopez, 2-for-4, 2 R, HR (4), BB; RHP Moises Lugo, 4 IP, R, 4 BB, 5 K; LHP Ramon Perez (W, 1-0), 2 IP, BB, 3 K; RHP Austin Smith, 2 IP, 4 K.
Prospect Watch: A night after scoring eight runs on just four hits, the TinCaps scored nine runs on five hits. Fort Wayne has drawn 17 walks in consecutive blowout wins against their intrastate rival. Fort Wayne had a combined no-hitter going into the ninth but South Bend spoiled the fun with a pair of hits in the final frame. … Infielder Kelvin Melean had a pair of hits, including his second homer of the year. The versatile infielder is in the midst of one of the best stretches of his career. Over his last four games, he is 8-for-18 with two homers and 11 RBI. The infielder has been a bit of an organizational player over the past few years, contributing solid defense in the infield and modest production at the plate. He has a .708 OPS in 33 games with the TinCaps this season. … Justin Lopez also homered, his fourth blast of the year. Lopez had an awful start to the season but has had arguably his finest month as a professional. Lopez’s multi-hit effort raised his slash-line to an excellent .283/.368/.450 this month. The strikeout totals are still high but he’s increased his walk-rate significantly this month and it is sitting at over 10%. Lopez has never produced an on-base percentage above .300 in a full season. The 21-year-old infielder has excellent defensive tools and power at the dish. If he can reduce the punchouts, he has a chance to develop into an interesting prospect. … Moises Lugo started and struggled with command but did not allow a hit. Lugo walked four and struck out five. Lugo has quietly been an effective starter for the TinCaps, although he has been limited to about four innings a start. Thursday’s outing lowered his ERA to 2.78 although he has been fortunate this year, as evidenced by a .214 BABIP. … Hey, does anyone remember Austin Smith? Well, he’s spending another summer in the Summit City and he threw up a pair of scoreless innings to help preserve the near no-hitter. Smith struck out four batters. The now 24-year-old was the first draft pick of the A.J. Preller era. In six professional seasons, he has yet to advance past High-A. If there is a positive to take away, Smith is posting the highest K/9 (11.57) of his career. He has a 7.54 ERA this season, driven by the fact he has allowed a ton of hard contact (his line-drive rate is at 28%), and opposing hitters are batting .455 on balls in play. Smith will be eligible for free agency this winter, assuming the Padres don’t add him to the 40-man roster.
Euribiel Angeles. (Photo: Antonio Gonzalez)
Storm 6, Modesto Nuts 1
Key Statistics: SS Jordy Barley, 1-for-5, R; 3B Euribel Angeles, 3-for-4, RBI; DH Brandon Valenzuela, 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI; RF Joshua Mears, 2-for-4, 2B, RBI; RHP Jesus Lugo, 2 IP, 2 H; RHP Jason Reynolds (W, 2-0) IP, 3 H, ER, K; LHP Gabriel Morales, 4 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 5 K.
Prospect Watch: The Storm cruised to an easy win at home against the Nuts. … Infielder Euribel Angeles was the offensive star for Lake Elsinore Thursday night. The 19-year-old had three singles and drove in a run. Angeles has been excellent in June, as his effort on Thursday raised his batting average to .359 in June. Overall, Angeles is hitting .311/.345/.401 this year which is hovering at league average, due to Angeles’ lack of power. However, he has shown an advanced ability to make contact and he is only playing in his second full professional season. He spent his 2019 year with the DSL Padres. … Brandon Valenzuela started at designated hitter and had a pair of hits – his first multi-hit game since June 9 in which he had a career-high four hits. The 20-year-old catcher has been a very solid contributor at the plate for Lake Elsinore and has seen time behind the plate and at first base. Overall, Valenzuela has a solid slash-line of .272/.366/.407 with a career-high four homers in 2021. … Gabriel Morales came in to start the fourth inning and tossed four shutout innings, striking out five and walking three. Morales, 22 spent most of 2019 in the Arizona League, where he enjoyed a bit of a breakout. This year, Morales has appeared in 11 games, four of them starts. Morales has often been the back-end of a piggyback and has generally had multiple-inning stints. Morales has had issues with handing out free passes this season (17 in 27.2 innings) which has contributed to an ERA of 4.23. He has posted excellent strikeout numbers and is one of the best pitching prospects on the current Storm roster.
Mark Wilkens was the co-author of today’s Daily.
