San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: August 1

It was a busy deadline day for A.J. Preller and the Padres, and we’ve got the breakdown of all the comings and goings here. Once everything shook out, it was a great day on the field across the system.

Chihuahuas 6, Salt Lake City Bees 1

Key Stats: RHP Anderson Espinoza (W, 5-4) 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 BB, 2 K; C Austin Nola 2-for-4, 2B, R; LF Ben Gamel 3-for-4, 2B, R, RBI, BB; SS Eguy Rosario 1-for-5, 2B, R; CF Jose Azocar 1-for-4, HR (5), RBI; 3B Tim Lopes 2-for-5, R, RBI, SB (28)

Prospect Watch: With two more pitching prospects traded away, it was a big day for Anderson Espinoza to try and raise his stock. He rebounded from being roughed up in his last start by tossing a season-high seven innings without allowing an earned run. Of late, Espinoza has been pitching to contact more, generating over a 50% groundball rate. After allowing six home runs in his first two months with El Paso, Espinoza has only allowed one over his last 11 starts, a truly remarkable feat at elevation. … Austin Nola had his first extra-base-hit and multi-hit game since being sent to El Paso. The double was his first since June 15, while he collected multiple hits for the first time since Game 3 of last year’s NLDS. … Ben Gamel stayed hot, adding another three hits as he extended his hitting streak to seven games. He is hitting .464/.531/.929 over that stretch.

Missions 6, Arkansas Travelers 3

Key Stats: RHP Jared Kollar (W, 1-1) 6 IP, H, 2 BB, 5 K; RHP Jairo Iriarte 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, 3 K; SS Jackson Merrill 1-for-4, HR (2), 2 RBI, BB; 2B Ripken Reyes 0-for-1, 3 BB, R, SB (18); DH Juan Fernandez 2-for-5, RS, 2 RBI

Prospect Watch: Righty Jared Kollar delivered what might have been the Missions’ best pitching performance of the season, as he only allowed one single over six innings. After a clean hit to lead off the game by Jonathan Clase, who was promptly caught stealing, Kollar didn’t allow another hit. While he hit a batter and walked two, the Travelers didn’t have a runner reach second base against him. Between High-A and Double-A, the Rutgers alum is 6-1 with a 2.57 ERA over 12 starts. The undrafted free agent had given up at least two runs in each of his first four starts since his promotion from Fort Wayne. … Jairo Iriarte is human.  After not allowing a run over his first seven innings in Double-A, he gave up two over an inning and a third. The first was his own doing, as he allowed a double and a single in the seventh. He returned for the eighth and got a strikeout and walk before giving way. The runner he left on ultimately came around. Even as he gave up his first runs since moving to the bullpen, the 21-year-old struck out three. Overall, Iriarte has a 2.99 ERA and 90 strikeouts over 69.1 innings in his breakout campaign. … Jackson Merrill hit his second home run since joining the Missions and 12^th overall on the season as he continues to show he can turn on the ball with authority when he gets a pitch in his wheelhouse. Merrill also drew his first walk in a week and only his third in sixteen games for the Missions. The 20-year-old is batting .319/.342/.493 in Double-A while striking out at just a 6.8% rate.

TinCaps 10, Great Lakes Loons 5

Key Stats: LHP Robby Snelling (W, 3-1), 5 IP, 4 H, ER, 7 K; 2B Nerwillian Cedeno 2-for-5, RS, RBI; LF Graham Pauley 2-for-4, HR (10), 2B, 2 RS, 3 RBI, BB; RF Kai Murphy 3-for-4, RS, RBI; C Anthony Villar 2-for-4, HR (3), RS, 2 RBI

Prospect Watch: Robby Snelling threw another five stellar innings, allowing only four baserunners. Snelling and the entire TinCap staff endured three errors in the field, but still dominated. In five starts since his promotion to Fort Wayne, Snelling has allowed just seven earned runs and he has struck out 16 against eight hits and no walks in 11 innings across his last two starts. Between Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne, he is 8-2 on the year with a 1.91 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 75.1 innings during in his debut campaign after the Padres selected him and agreed to an above-slot deal in the competitive balance round last year. … Graham Pauley‘s continued his remarkable power surge with Fort Wayne, connecting on his his tenth home run in 28 games with Fort Wayne after hitting only four in 62 contests at the more hitter-friendly Lake Elsinore. He joins only 19 other players to have 10 home runs in the Midwest League, including the league leader  Nathan Martorella and the recently promoted Marcos Castañon and Merrill, though every other player on the list has at least twice as many at-bats. After 28 High-A games, Pauley is hitting .265/.356/.598 in Fort Wayne and putting himself firmly on the prospect map. … Like Pauley, Anthony Vilar has been in Fort Wayne for a little over a month after spending most of 2022 in High-A. Unlike Pauley, he had struggled to a .481 OPS in his first 12 games with the club after posting a solid .780 OPS in the Cal League. After homering in his second straight game Wednesday, the 24-year-old catcher has raised that mark to .673.

Modesto Nuts 6, Storm 1

Key Statistics: DH Ethan Salas 1-for-4, 2B; RF Nick Vogt 1-for-4, HR (6), RBI; C Oswaldo Linares 2-for-4

Prospect Watch: The offense sputtered as Samuel Zavala was sidelined. That left Ethan Salas to carry the middle of the lineup and he did once again with a double to extend his hitting streak to six games. In 44 games, the 17-year-old is hitting .291/.377/.531. … After hitting an under-the-radar but impressive .267/.353/.483 in July, Nick Vogt continued his hot stretch with a solo home run for the Storm’s only run of the game. Last year’s seventh-round pick has six home runs and 14 stolen bases this season.  … Oswaldo Linares is earning plenty of playing time for himself even with Salas behind the plate. Linares opened the month with a two-hit night, picking up from an impressive .448 on-base percentage last month. The 20-year-old has a real feel for gap-to-gap power.

ACL Royals 7, ACL Padres 4

Key Stats: DH Homer Bush 1-for-2, 2 BB, SB (7); CF Dillon Head 1-for-3 3B, RS, BB, SB (1); LF Daniel Montesino 2-for-4, RS; RHP Michel Baez IP, 2 H K

Prospect Watch: After putting on a show in his first professional game, Dillon Head hit a triple in the first at-bat of his second game and came around to score. Later in the game, he also walked and stole the first bag of his career. … Homer Bush Jr continued to put up numbers with a hit and two walks. He has gone 10-for-27 in his first eight professional games with five walks. He has stolen a base in seven of his eight games thus far. … Michel Baez appeared in his first game since June 22, tossing a scoreless inning and allowing two hits as he begins his latest rehab assignment.