San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: August 30

Salt Lake Bees 9, Chihuahuas 0

Key Statistics: 3B Brandon Dixon, 1-for-4; SS Matthew Batten, 1-for-4; RHP Matt Waldron, 5 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 4 K; RHP Pierce Johnson, IP, 2 K; RHP Tayler Scott, 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, K

Prospect Watch: The Chihuahuas managed just four singles and were blown out at home by Salt Lake. … Lost in the lack of offense was a solid outing from Matt Waldron. The knuckle-balling righty pitched five innings and allowed just one run on five hits, walking one and striking out four. The University of Nebraska product has struggled quite a bit in his first pass at Triple-A. After pitching to a 2.84 ERA in nine starts with the Missions, he has started 11 for the Chihuahuas. His outing Tuesday lowered his ERA to 8.29. He’s allowed 57 hits in 46.2 innings this season in Triple-A. … Right-hander Pierce Johnson continued his rehab stint with a scoreless inning. Johnson did not allow a base runner and struck out a pair. It was Johnson’s first outing since August 26. The Padres could give him another tune-up or two but big league rosters can expand to 28 on Thursday. … Righty Tayler Scott – technically on a rehab assignment of his own – recorded two outs but allowed three runs (two earned) in the process. Scott was placed on the injured list on August 15 with a laceration on the middle finger of his pitching hand.

Roster Moves: The last few Tuesdays have been quite busy with roster moves so let’s break them down below:

The top two teams in the system swapped out a few players with Brandon Dixon coming up to Triple-A to give the Chihuahuas a little more offensive firepower. The former big leaguer played in 25 games for the Missions and hit a ridiculous .367/.430/.786 with 10 homers. … Righty Mason Fox will head to El Paso for the second time in his career. He appeared in a pair of games for the Chihuahuas last season. He has a 5.80 ERA in 33 games with the Missions. … Right-hander Moises Lugo will move up to Triple-A for the first time after a successful stint in Double-A as a multi-inning reliever. In 62.1 innings for the Missions, Lugo has a 2.74 ERA with 85 strikeouts. He should provide additional support for the Chihuahuas as they compete for a playoff berth.

Infielder Connor Hollis (who Mark profiled for our subscribers over the weekend) was sent back to San Antonio after an 18-game stint with the Chihuahuas. In those 18 games with the Chihuahuas, Hollis hit .279/.362/.410 – numbers that were just slightly below league average. The bigger story is that Hollis’ return to the Texas League will allow him to compete for the league’s batting title. He finished Tuesday night tied for the league lead with a .324 average. … Side-winding righty Alek Jacob will return to the Missions bullpen. Jakob pitched to a 1.40 ERA with the Missions this season, earning a promotion to Triple-A. He didn’t fare as well in Triple-A (7.50 ERA) but he struck out 18 batters in 13.2 innings. … Veteran righty Thomas Eshelman will head back for his third stint with the Missions. The former Oriole fills up the zone – he’s walked just 8 batters in 100 innings. Unfortunately, he has also allowed 144 hits in those 100 innings which has led to a 5.90 ERA between the two stops. … With Luis Campusano in the big leagues, Alison Quintero will head back to Triple-A from Low-A to provide some bench depth. The Chihuahuas currently carry Cam Gallagher, Brent Sullivan, Michael Cantu, and Matias Polanco on the roster, so Quintero doesn’t figure to get much playing time.

Corpus Christi 11, Missions 3

Key Statistics: LF Tirso Ornelas, 1-for-3, R, BB; 1B Yorman Rodriguez, 1-for-4, R, HR (12), 3 RBI; 2B Domingo Leyba, 1-for-4, 2B; RHP Brandon Komar (L, 3-4) 3.1 IP, 10 H, 9 ER, BB, 4 K; RHP Seth Mayberry, 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K

Prospect Watch: The Missions fell behind 11-0 before adding four runs to make the blowout loss look less lopsided. … Most of the Missions’ offense came off of the bat of Yorman Rodriguez, who connected on a three-run homer. It was Rodriguez’s 12^th homer of the year as he pads his career-high total. The first baseman has set career-highs in virtually all offensive categories, including doubles (21), homers (12) RBI (71), and games played (106). Rodriguez has an outstanding hit tool but his lack of selectivity at the plate has hurt his offensive output a bit. He’s walked in just 6.8% of his plate appearances this season, though he’s improved his patience significantly this month. … Righty Seth Mayberry made his Double-A debut and looked quite sharp. Mayberry completed two innings and allowed two hits, walking one and striking out five. The former 39th-rounder was a solid contributor out of the bullpen for the TinCaps this season. The ERA isn’t sterling (4.57 in 30 games) but he racked up 61 strikeouts in 41.1 innings and opposing batters hit just .238 against the right-hander. Like many relievers that pitch in High-A, the walks are a bit too frequent but his stuff plays out of the bullpen. Even though the game was out of hand when he entered, he cooled off the hot bats of Corpus Christi. … Infielder Ethan Skender pitched the last inning and didn’t allow a run. It was the second pitching performance of his professional career.

Additional Roster Moves: Left-handed pitcher Ben Krauth and outfielder Matthew Acosta were released from the Missions’ roster. As of Tuesday night, the Missions have 26 players on the roster – two below the limit in the Texas League. The 24-year-old Acosta was drafted by the Padres in the 12^th in 2019. The former USC Trojan was a steady offensive contributor. He produced above-average offensive numbers in 2019 with Tri-City and last year with Lake Elsinore. This year, he struggled at High-A Fort Wayne and looked overmatched during his stint with the Missions. …  Krauth signed with the Padres in July after being released by the Guardians organization. He worked as a starter for the Missions and went 1-4 with a 7.18 ERA in nine starts. … Left-handed pitcher Fernando Sanchez, 21, was sent down to a more age-appropriate assignment in the Cal League after making three stop-gap appearances in San Antonio. He made just a single appearance in Lake Elsinore last year before getting shut down with an injury. … As noted, Seth Mayberry was promoted from Fort Wayne and made his Double-A debut Tuesday night.

West Michigan Whitecaps 5, TinCaps 1

Key Statistics: CF Justin Farmer, 1-for-4, RBI; 3B Carlos Luis, 1-for-3, BB; C Brandon Valenzuela, 1-for-4; LHP Bodi Rascon, 5 IP, 5 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K; RHP Keegan Collett (L, 1-1) 2 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; RHP Ethan Routzahn, IP, R, BB

Key Statistics: The TinCaps lost the opener of the final homestand of the season, managing just five hits in the process. … Third baseman Carlos Luis was one of just two TinCaps who reached base twice on Tuesday night. His single extended his hitting streak to five games. The left-handed hitting infielder has a solid .277/.338/.400 slash-line in August. He hasn’t homered in August but he’s made consistent contact since joining the Fort Wayne roster. … After a pair of disastrous appearances to begin his TinCaps career, lefty Bodi Rascon bounced back with a nice outing against West Michigan. Rascon worked five strong innings, allowing just a run on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts. The 21-year-old from Decatur, Texas got torched for 15 earned runs in 5.1 innings in his first two games. He fared much better with the Storm, pitching to a 4.20 ERA before his promotion. He should get one more start with Fort Wayne before the season ends on September 11. … Right-hander Keegan Collett took over for Rascon and allowed three earned runs in two innings to earn his first loss in a TinCaps uniform. The former 35th-rounder put up ridiculous strikeout numbers with the Storm before earning the promotion to Fort Wayne. In ten games with the TinCaps, Collett is still striking out a fair share (15 in 10 innings) but walks continue to be an issue for the former Florida Gulf Coast hurler. He’s walked nine in those 10 innings and that has led to a 5.40 ERA.

Roster Moves: The TinCaps received left-handed relievers Danny Denz and Alexuan Vega from the Storm. … Denz, 24, is back in Fort Wayne for his second stint in 2022. Overall, the former Memphis Tiger has struggled this season. In 22 outings with the TinCaps and Storm, Denz has a ghastly 10.37 ERA in 41.2 innings. … Alexuan Vega pitched to an 8.20 ERA in 27 games with the Storm. He was the Padres’ sixth-rounder in 2018 out of high school in Puerto Rico.

Storm 10, Visalia Rawhide 2

Key Statistics: SS Jackson Merrill, 2-for-5, 2 RBI; 3B Marcos Castañon, 2-for-5, R; RF Samuel Zavala, 2-for-3, 2, R, HR (4), 3 RBI, BB; RHP Craig Stammen, IP, BB, 2 K; RHP Duncan Snider (W, 6-1) 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, ER, 8 K; RHP Aaron Holiday, IP, K

Prospect Watch: After a rough series against Inland Empire, the Storm returned to The Diamond and took their frustration out on a bad Visalia team and won easily. … Right fielder Samuel Zavala had a pair of hits, including his fourth homer since his promotion to the Cal League. The 18-year-old had a rough series against the 66ers but returned to form against the Rawhide. In 23 games with the Storm, the teenager has an impressive .800 OPS after a nice start in the ACL. … After a pair of hitless games to finish last week’s series, third baseman Marcos Castañon found the hit column again with a pair of hits. Castañon ranks tenth in the league with 105 hits. He is second in the league with 21 homers, just one behind Hunter Goodman of Fresno. … Righty Craig Stammen started on a rehab assignment and pitched a scoreless inning as he begins his path back to the big league roster. Stammen walked a batter and struck out a pair. Stammen was placed on the injured list on July 6 with right shoulder inflammation. … Righty Duncan Snider followed Stammen and earned his sixth win of the season. Snider completed 6.1 innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits. He didn’t walk a batter and he struck out eight. The 24-year-old righty got roughed up last week against the 66ers but other than that, he has provided the Storm with quality innings. In 44 innings with the Storm, Snider has walked just 10 while punching out 53. Overall, he has a 3.68 ERA.

Roster Moves: In addition to getting Sanchez from the Missions, the Storm received a pair of intriguing arms from the desert. Infielder-turned-pitcher Justin Lopez will make his full-season debut as a pitcher the next time he takes the mound. Lopez had a 4-0 record with a 1.29 ERA in five games in the desert. … Left-hander Austin Krob, the Padres’ 12-round pick in July, joins the Storm after one appearance in the complex league. In 31.2 innings with TCU this spring, Krob pitched to a 5.12 ERA. … Catcher Jared Alvarez-Lopez was activated after a brief trip to the injured list. He will be one of three catchers on the Storm roster. … Finally, right-hander Manuel Castro will head back to the ACL roster, effectively ending his season. The 20-year-old pitched to an 8.05 ERA in 14 appearances between the Storm and the complex league.