Luis Campusano continues to rake in El Paso. (Photo Jorge Salgado)
Chihuahuas 8, Oklahoma City Dodgers 7 (completion of the game suspended on July 11)
Key Statistics: 3B Matthew Batten, 2-for-4, R, 2B; CF Taylor Kohlwey, 1-for-4, R, HR (3), 4 RBI; 2B Ivan Castillo, 3-for-4, RBI; LHP Jerry Keel, 6 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 2 ER, BB, 3 K; RHP Mason Thompson, 2 IP, K.
Oklahoma City Dodgers 2, Chihuahuas 0
Key Statistics: CF Taylor Kohlwey, 2-for-3; C Luis Campusano, 3-for-3; 3B Matthew Batten, 2-for-3; LHP Kyle McGrath, 2 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K; RHP Evan Miller (L, 1-3) 3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 K; RHP Sam McWilliams, 2 IP, H, 2 K.
Prospect Watch: The Chihuahuas and Dodgers picked up Sunday’s suspended game in the top of the seventh with the score tied at seven. Gosuke Katoh hit a monster homer to right to put El Paso ahead and Mason Thompson, who came on with two on and nobody out in the eighth, worked two perfect innings to claim the win. … Things didn’t go as well in the seven-inning nightcap as El Paso collected eight singles, but were held scoreless. … Sunday’s hero Taylor Kohlwey, 26, had a pair of singles Monday night and has now reached base in each of the last 12 games he has started. The left-handed-hitting outfielder has put together an impressive run in July, hitting .433/.500/.767 with three homers and 10 RBI in 34 plate appearances. Perhaps most impressively, he has struck out just three times all month. … Catcher Luis Campusano returned from his appearance in the Futures Game and singled three times in as many plate appearances. Campusano has been even more impressive than Kohlwey in July, making frequent, loud contact. The 22-year-old prospect has punched out just twice in 26 plate appearances this month while hitting .458/.536/.750. … LHP Kyle McGrath made the spot start and fired two scoreless innings. McGrath, 28, has been in the Padres’ system since 2014 when he was selected in the 36th round. After having Tommy John surgery at the tail-end of the 2019 season, the southpaw has appeared in 12 games, pitching to a 6.59 ERA. He cracked the big leagues in 2017 and 2018. … Sam McWilliams turned in his best outing as a Padres farmhand, firing two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out two. The 25-year-old righty was claimed off of waivers on June 5th from the New York Mets. McWilliams has big stuff, but has struggled with walks all season. He might be turning a cornerafter walking 12 batters in 7.1 innings in June. This month, he has only issued one free pass in 5.2 innings.
ACL Angels 17, ACL Padres 4
Key Statistics: SS Charlis Aquino, 1-for-4, BB; C Jared Alvarez-Lopez, 1-for-4, 2B, R; DH Alex Ramirez, 2-for-3, HR (1), 2 RBI; RHP Brayan Medina (L, 0-1) 1.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, BB; RHP Blake Baker, 1.1 IP, 2 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; RHP Luarbert Arias, 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.
Prospect Watch: It was a rough night in the desert for the ACL Padres as they lost big against the ACL Angels. … Alex Ramirez made his ACL debut and had a pair of hits, including a homer. Ramirez, 19, was part of the Padres’ 2018 international signing class. He spent the 2019 season in the DSL, where he caught 29 games and hit .260/.333/.427 – good for 10 percent above league-average. … RHP Brayan Medina started and struggled. He recorded just four outs and allowed four earned runs on five hits and did not record a strikeout. The 18-year-old Venezuelan has faltered out of the gate in his professional debut, but was seen as one of the key parts of the club’s 2019 international class. Through 4.1 innings, Medina has a 12.46 ERA. … Luarbert Arias pitched the final two innings and allowed a pair of earned runs. The 20-year-old struck out four batters and walked two. The righty has had issues with command in a limited sample but he is arguably one of the most talented pitchers the Padres have in the complex. Arias logged 51 innings in the desert in 2019 and could be a candidate to join the Lake Elsinore roster before the end of the season.
The Missions, TinCaps, and Storm all had today off. They will resume play tomorrow. Our week in review will be delayed until tomorrow due to travel.
DRAFT UPDATE
The Padres started day two of the draft in a big way – literally. The club selected outfielder James Wood, a massive left-handed hitting outfielder who played at the IMG Academy in Florida this year, with their second-round pick. The 18-year-old, already listed at 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds, has prodigious power, but has some swing mechanics that kept him from the very top of most draft boards. Before he left his home state of Maryland, Wood also played basketball – as his father did professionally oversees and both of his sisters have collegiately – so he’s only recently focused exclusively on baseball.
Each of the Padres’ next nine picks were college players. The club selected the first of three left-handed pitchers, Robert Gasser, with their competitive balance pick after the second round. Originally from Northern California, Gasser came into his own this year as an older junior at the University of Houston. He’ll likely develop as a starter. He was teammates with current Storm infielder Zach Mathis at Delta College before transferring to the Cougars.
Righty Kevin Kopps, who turned 24 this spring, followed Gasser off the board. The righty, who works purely as a reliever, earned the Dick Howser Trophy as the NCAA’s top performer, posting an eye-popping 0.90 ERA with an otherworldly 131:18 strikeout-to-walk ratio at the University of Arkansas.
The club selected University of West Virginia rotation-mates Jackson Wolf and righty Ryan Bergert in the fourth and sixth rounds. Bergert spent the full 2021 campaign on the shelf. Between them, San Diego selected University of Tennessee infielder Max Ferguson, who slid down draft boards after a disappointing junior campaign. The Padres’ third straight position player selection who throws right-handed while batting from the left side, Ferguson could provide huge value from the 160th overall slot if he can get back to the swing he used before getting pull-happy in 2021.
The Padres finished out the second day selecting Southern Mississippi lefty Ryan Och, Louisville utility player Lucas Dunn, righty Garrett Hawkins out of the University of British Columbia, and Quinnipiac catcher Colton Bender. Only Hawkins, 21, wasn’t yet a senior.
Day three of the draft gets underway Tuesday morning at 9:00 San Diego time and will last 10 rounds. In recent years, the Padres have been aggressive in targeting high school players who they can sign without going over $125,000 and dipping into their bonus pool. They should have some flexibility to go above that limit for at least a few selections Tuesday.
