San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: July 28

Chihuahuas 8, Round Rock Express 3

Key Statistics: CF Oscar Mercado, 2-for-5, 2 R, 2B, RBI; C Brett Sullivan, 2-for-2, 2 BB, 2 2B, 2 RBI, SB (7); 3B Jantzen Witte, 2-for-4, R, HR (14), 2B, 3 RBI; SS Ray Patrick Didder, 1-for-4, R, HR (1), RBI; RHP Matt Waldron (W, 2-7) 5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 7 K; RHP Nick Hernandez, 2 IP, 2 K

Prospect Watch: Don’t look now, but the Chihuahuas are heating up. The El Paso nine won their fourth straight over Round Rock to lock up a series win and will attempt to complete a sweep this weekend. … Brett Sullivan had a perfect night at the plate, reaching base in all four of his plate appearances. The 29-year-old walked twice, hit a pair of doubles, and drove in two runs. With the pair of doubles, Sullivan has reached 20 two-baggers with the Chihuahuas. It was the fourth consecutive season that the former Rays and Brewers farmhand has reached that plateau. Sullivan has swung the bat well, hitting .353/.433/.510 in 14 July games. … For the first time in a month, veteran infielder Jantzen Witte connected on a homer. It was the 33-year-old’s 14th homer of the season. After posting an OPS above 1.000 in June, Witte has fallen off considerably in July. He came into Friday’s action hitting just .180/.242/.262 this month. … Matt Waldron threw the ball well on Friday night and earned his second win of the season in the process. Waldron pitched five innings and allowed a pair of earned runs and three hits, striking out seven without walking anyone. Work has been sparse over the last month for Waldron. He made his big league debut on June 24 at home against the Nationals, then didn’t pitch until July 23. He spent some time in the Padres bullpen but did not make it into a game. With outings like the one he had Friday, he should be in the mix for more work in San Diego. 

Roster Moves: Before Friday’s game, the Padres traded El Paso catcher Kevin Plawecki to the Texas Rangers for cash considerations. In his final game as a Chihuahua, Plawecki beat Round Rock with a walk-off single. On Friday, Plawecki was a member of the Round Rock Express. Righty Domingo Tapia was outrighted to El Paso and will remain a member of the organization. 

Corpus Christi Hooks 8, Missions 1

Key Statistics: SS Jackson Merrill, 1-for-4; 2B Marcos Castañon, 1-for-3, 2B, BB; CF Daniel Johnson, 1-for-4, R; LHP Daniel Camarena (L, 1-6) 3.1 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 4 K; RHP Jairo Iriarte, IP, 2 H, 2 K; RHP Justin Lopez, 2 IP, H, 3 K

Prospect Watch: The Missions struggled to score once again and were blown out by the Hooks. Over the last two games, San Antonio has been outscored 21-3. … A night after Marcos Castañon had his nine-game hitting streak snapped, the infielder doubled and drew a walk. He was the only Missions player to reach base more than once. The 24-year-old has swung a hot bat since being promoted to the Missions, hitting .310/.400/.452 in 13 games. … Lefthander Daniel Camarena made the start for San Antonio and it was a rough one. The former big leaguer allowed 12 hits in 3.1 innings – including four doubles and three homers before being pulled. The 30-year-old is in his first season back from Tommy John surgery and the results have been mixed. Camarena has had some good outings, most notably throwing six shutout innings on May 31 at Frisco. However, he’s had plenty of outings where he has allowed hard contact. In 16 games, the Bonita native has a 7.31 ERA in 56.2 innings. … Righty Jairo Iriarte made another relief appearance and allowed two hits but he also notched a pair of strikeouts to escape any damage. Since joining the Missions, Iriarte has worked exclusively as a reliever and the results have been outstanding. In five outings, Iriarte has not allowed a run in seven innings. He’s allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out 10. The hard-throwing righty moved to the bullpen in case there was a need in the big league bullpen in the not-too-distant future. Thus far, the results couldn’t be better. 

Roster Move: A night after a rough outing, righty Duncan Snider was placed back on the seven-day injured list. Righty Seth Mayberry was activated from the injured list to take his roster spot. 

TinCaps 8, West Michigan Whitecaps 0

Key Statistics: LF Nathan Martorella, 1-for-4, 2 R, HR (16), RBI, SB (5), BB; 3B Graham Pauley, 3-for-5, 2 R, HR (8), RBI; 1B Carlos Luis, 3-for-5, 2 R, HR (4), 3 RBI; DH Albert Fabian, 2-for-4, R, 2B; LHP Austin Krob (W, 2-1) 7 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 8 K; RHP Carter Loewen, 2 IP, H, BB, 2 K

Prospect Watch: The TinCaps socked three homers and received fantastic pitching in an easy win. … Nathan Martorella connected on his league-leading 16th homer in the year – a towering blast to left-center field. It was his third homer of July, as the power-hitting first baseman/left fielder has emerged as the best first base prospect the Padres have had in the A.J. Preller era. … The Graham Pauley power surge continued Friday when the infielder connected on his eighth homer in 105 plate appearances as a member of the TinCaps. For comparison, the 22-year-old homered just four times in 276 plate appearances with the Storm, but walked at a 14.5% clip and hit .302 with some batted ball luck. Pauley has seen his walk rate and BABIP fall with the TinCaps and his strikeout rate has risen from 14.5% to 23%. However, the power spike has pushed Pauley’s wRC+ to 144 with the TinCaps, ahead of his mark in Elsinore and very impressive for a day-three pick last season. … Lefty Austin Krob turned in arguably his best outing of the season and won his second game as a TinCap. Krob matched a career-high with seven innings pitched. He allowed just four hits, walking two and striking out eight. The seven shutout innings lowered his High-A ERA to 2.00. 

Roster Moves: The TinCaps placed infielder Lucas Dunn and pitchers Alan Mundo, Victor Lizarraga, and Aaron Holiday on the injured list retroactively. There were no corresponding moves, so currently Fort Wayne has just 24 players on their roster. Since the roster spots weren’t backfilled, it seems like the four players should be back soon. 

Stockton Ports 6, Storm 3

Key Statistics: DH Samuel Zavala, 1-for-2, R, 2 BB, 2B; C Ethan Salas, 1-for-4; SS Rosman Verdugo, 2-for-4, R, 2B; RHP Dylan Lesko (L, 0-1) 2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, BB, 4 K; RHP Wilton Castillo, 4 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K

Prospect Watch: The Storm had their five-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the Stockton Ports. … Shortstop Rosman Verdugo had a nice night at the plate with a two-hit game, including a double. The double was Verdugo’s 26th of the year, a mark that leads the league. The 18-year-oldinfielder has barrelled the ball up more often and gotten stronger results as the season has progressed. Verdugo has a .856 OPS in July. … After a dominant first outing with the Storm, righty Dylan Lesko struggled a bit in Stockton. He completed two innings and allowed three runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out four as 27 of his 45 pitches went for strikes. Between the ACL and Lake Elsinore, Lesko has thrown 10 innings. He’s struck out 17 batters while pitching to an 8.10 ERA. He figures to have six more outings down the stretch, then he could get some additional work in the playoffs or during instructional league. … Righty Wilton Castillo took over for Lesko and fired four strong innings. The 6-foot-7 righty allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out five. In 15 innings with the Storm, the 23-year-old has pitched to a 4.20 ERA while holding opponents to a .246 batting average. 

Roster Move: After starting Wednesday’s game, lefty Jagger Haynes was placed on the seven-day injured list on Friday as he continues to deal with recurrent blister issues. Righty Francis Pena was promoted from the ACL to take his roster spot. The 22-year-old had posted a 4.50 ERA in 16 innings in the desert in his stateside debut. 

ACL White Sox 4, ACL Padres 1 (7 innings)

Key Statistics: CF Homer Bush Jr., 1-for-3, SB (4); C Jacob Campbell, 2-for-3, HR (1), RBI; SS Yendry Rojas, 1-for-2; RHP Jonney Rosario (L, 1-1) 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K; RHP Xavier Ruiz, 2.2 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K

Prospect Watch: The ACL squad managed just four hits and lost to the ACL White Sox in a seven-inning affair. … Two of the hits came off the bat of Jacob Campbell, who singled and hit his first Arizona Complex League homer. The 23-year-old signed with the Padres last summer as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Illinois. Campbell hasn’t seen a lot of playing time this season; he played in eight games earlier this season with the Storm and he’s played in just nine in the ACL. He is hitting .234/.280/.362 between the two stops. … Homer Bush Jr. singled and stole his fourth base of the week. The 21-year-old is 7-for-17 with a pair of homers since joining the organization as a fourth-round pick. … Righty Jonney Rosario made the start and worked into the fifth inning but ended up taking the loss. He allowed four runs on six hits, walking a pair and striking out four. The 19-year-old spent the 2021 and 2022 seasons in the DSL. He struggled in 2021 but displayed considerable improvement in his second stint to earn his first stateside appearance this year. He has a 5.82 ERA in 21.2 innings. 

Roster Moves: Infielder Jarryd Dale began a rehab assignment with a pair of flyouts. Dale played for Australia in the World Baseball Classic, going 1-for-2 in two games before an injury that has had him sidelined on the 60-day injured list all season. Last year with the Fort Wayne TinCaps, the 22-year-old hit .198/.317/.278 with 27 stolen bases.