San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: June 29

The highest and lowest levels won leading to an organizational split as Taylor Kohlwey continues to be an absolute beast for the Chihuahuas while James Wood continues to obliterate baseballs for the Storm.

Chihuahuas 14, Oklahoma City Dodgers 3

Key Statistics: CF Esteury Ruiz 2-for-6, 2 R, 3 SB (13, 14, 15); 2B Robinson Canó 3-for-6, 3 R, RBI; 1B Taylor Kohlwey 4-for-5, 2 2B, HR (8), 3 RS, 3 RBI; RF Brent Rooker 1-for-5, 2B, RS, 2 RBI; 3B Eguy Rosario 2-for-3, 2B, HR (10) 2 RS, 4 RBI; RHP Reiss Knehr IP, 2 K; RHP Dinelson Lamet 0.1 IP, BB, K; RHP Pedro Avila (W, 3-2) 6 IP, 3 H, 3 R, ER, 7 K

Prospect Watch:  Wednesday saw the first-place OKC Dodgers go against the second-place Chihuahuas with the two parent organizations squaring off starting Thursday in Los Angeles.  After dropping a tough one in the series opener, El Paso destroyed the Dodgers 14-3 tonight.  They plated two runs in each of the first three innings, and then scored another eight later in the game for good measure. … The player of the game was once again Taylor Kohlwey, who finished a triple short of the cycle; settling for two doubles instead.  With one day left in the month, he has all but secured his best-ever month as a professional.  In 16 games, Kohlwey is hitting .418/.474/.731 with five home runs and 23 RBI also being career-highs.  He has only struck out 11 times this month, lowering his K% to 14.3%, with anything below 20% being excellent. … Not to be outdone, Eguy Rosario doubled and homered on Wednesday night.  Eguy has hit seven homers this month; after having just three in April and May combined.  With over two months still to go, Rosario is just two home runs shy of his career-high.  …  Esteury Ruiz collected another multi-hit game and stole three more bases to put him at 52 overall this season, 15 of them in Triple-A.  He moved back into a first-place tie for the most stolen bases in all of professional baseball with Max Ferguson, who was recently promoted to Fort Wayne. Remarkably, despite being in El Paso for less than a month, Ruiz already ranks in the top-ten in the PCL in stolen bases. Meanwhile, he still has a commanding stolen base lead in the Texas League, and could theoretically end up leading the Texas League and the Pacific Coast League in stolen bases.  … Reiss Knehr came out of the bullpen and struck out the side.  It was only his second scoreless outing in El Paso this season. … Instead of Knehr, Pedro Avila got the start, and for the second straight outing, he only allowed one earned run.  He did make a couple appearances in San Diego this year, throwing four innings with five strikeouts and allowing two earned runs, and is giving the Padres every reason to bring him back up if a need arises.

Midland Rockhounds 2, Missions 1

Key Statistics: RHP Brandon Komar 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER; RHP Michel Baez IP, BB, 2 K; RF Jorge Oña 2-for-3, RBI; LF Tirso Ornelas 1-for-3

Prospect Watch: Before the game, outfielder Korry Howell was placed on the injured list. Howell has been one of the catalysts on the team since returning from the COVID list, hitting .308/.386/.538 in that 11-game span. Righty Jose Quezada was sent back from El Paso to take his place on the roster. … Two weeks ago, right-hander Brandon Komar was named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week. He earned a promotion to San Antonio and struggled in his first appearance with the Missions this year (2.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER).  This was his first start since that poor outing and he notched a quality start, allowing just two earned runs in six innings. … The Missions managed to tally just three hits in the game, so there are very few offensive highlights, with outfielder Jorge Oña collecting two of those hits.  The good news is Oña is about to finish the month with his best numbers in a long time. His multi-hit effort raised his June slash-line to .265/.286/.441. The bad news is the multi-hit game brought his season batting average to .200.

West Michigan Whitecaps 14, TinCaps 4

Key Statistics: CF Robert Hassell III 1-for-4, 2 RS, BB; SS Max Ferguson 0-for-4, BB; DH Cole Cummings 2-for-3, RBI, SB (7); LHP Jackson Wolf (L, 3-4) 1.2 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K

Prospect Watch: Padres players and fans might have been complaining about the dime-sized strike zone last night, but that was still better than the strike zone the TinCaps and Whitecaps faced.  Jackson Wolf was living all day on the corners, and none of them were called for strikes.  He walked four batters in the second inning and was removed. Wolf faced nine batters and only two made contact. The other seven batters either struck out or walked. Wolf didn’t give in, continuing to throw what were called balls, and he eventually walked in a run. Righty Luis Madrazo relieved Wolf and proceeded to allow a two-run single. … Designated hitter Cole Cummings is off to a hot start in the Midwest League after raking in the Cal League.  As long as the pitcher is right-handed, you can expect the former left-handed hitting UC Santa Barbara slugger to have success (1.008 OPS compared to .490 OPS against lefties). Considering Cummings was an undrafted free agent last year, he has already shown that not being drafted doesn’t mean you can’t be successful. … Shortstop Max Ferguson only reached base once, walking with a runner already on base in front of him.  As a result, there was never a free base to steal.

James Wood sent this from the batter’s box to the batter’s eye faster than you could say “Top 100 Prospect”#YourHomeTeam pic.twitter.com/WZDdomt4yb

— Lake Elsinore Storm Baseball (@Storm_Baseball) June 30, 2022

Storm 7, Inland Empire 66ers 6 (11 innings)

Key Stats: RF Justin Farmer 2-for-3, R, 3 BB, 2 SB (24); CF James Wood 2-for-6, HR (5), 3 R, 2 RBI; 2B Nerwilian Cedeño 2-for-5, 2B, RBI; 3B Marcos Castanon 2-for-4, 2B, RBI; LHP Bodi Rascon 5 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 6 K

Prospect Watch: In the first inning, center fielder James Wood, hit a rocket that banged off the batter’s eye in center field.  Over the last few days, Wood has shown why the Padres like him so much.  He is hitting the ball with with authority, commanding the zone, and showing rare actions for a player anywhere near his size. … Left fielder, Justin Farmer reached base five times with a pair of hits and three walks. He also stole two bases; exactly what you want to see from a lead-off hitter.  His overall numbers are still fairly pedestrian (.216/.374/.373) but he is getting on-bae, stealing bases (24 so far), and scoring runs.  He is currently fourth in the league in both runs and stolen bases.  … Southpaw Bodi Rascon put up another good outing for the Storm but did not factor in the decision. He allowed just one earned run in five innings. Rascon, 21, has pitched well in three of his four June outings. In those outings, he’s allowed just three earned runs in 14 innings —  good enough to put him among the elite of the Cal League. Rascon has made 11 appearances this season and in seven, he’s allowed one run or less. However, in the other four, he’s allowed at least four earned runs.

The ACL Padres do not play on Wednesday as it is a regularly scheduled league-wide day off.