San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: August 20

While the biggest happenings across the system were off the field, there was still plenty of action on a short schedule.

Albuquerque Isotopes 7, Chihuahuas 1

Key Stats: LF Tirso Ornelas 2-for-4, 2B; DH Rangel Ravelo 1-for-4, HR (8); LHP Aaron Leasher 4 IP, 4 H, 4 R (2 ER), 7 K, 1 BB; RHP Kevin Kopps 1 IP, 1 K

Prospect Watch: Starter Aaron Leasher struck out a season-high seven batters, but gave up a pair of runs in each of the first two innings, putting El Paso in a hole from which they could not escape. The lefty, coming back from a rough two inning outing on only three days’ rest, committed an error to cost himself two unearned runs in the first then gave up three hits, including a double to one-time Padre farmhand Wynton Bernard, in the second. The system veteran rallied to retire the final seven batters he faced to help a pitching staff that is thin on available innings at the moment. Leasher last struck out more than seven hitters for Double-A San Antonio in July, 2021. … Kevin Kopps worked a scoreless inning in his second Triple-A appearance, striking out one. The 26-year-old righty last gave up an earned run on June 28, though he’s surrendered nine unearned runs despite a 25:6 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 21 innings. … Tirso Ornelas recorded his fifth straight two-hit game since rejoining El Paso, collecting a single and his third double of the week. The 23-year-old outfielder hit just .231 in his first stint of the year in the PCL earlier this summer, but went 10-for-18 with three walks during the series in the offense-happy environs of Albuquerque.

Missions 4, Midland RockHounds 3

Key Stats: SS Jackson Merrill 1-for-3, HR (4), BB; 3B Juan Fernandez 1-for-4, 2B; RF Justin Farmer 0-for-1, 2 BB, 2 SB (5); RHP Jared Kollar 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 K, 3 BB; RHP Justin Lopez (S, 3), 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 K

Prospect Watch: The Missions made the most of their four hits to edge out Midland and claim their second win of the series. Already assured of a playoff spot from the first half of the season, the club is now three games below .500 in the second half. … San Antonio went hitless the first time through the lineup, but Jackson Merrill led off the fourth inning with a monster homer off the scoreboard in right field to start the scoring. Coming into the year, the club wanted the 20-year-old to demonstrate he could turn and elevate pitches on the inner half. Merrill has responded to the challenge, slashing his ground ball rate by almost a quarter while increasing his homer rate by about a third compared to last year. He’s continued to cut his strikeout rate at each successive level and now has it at only 11% through 30 games at Double-A. … An inning later, Juan Fernandez doubled in Justin Farmer and then, with two outs, Cole Cummings came through with a two-run double of his own to cap the Missions’ scoring. Fernandez made his third appearance in the leadoff spot for San Antonio and has now made at least that many starts at each spot in the lineup this year. The 24-year-old catcher-turned-infielder sports a .723 OPS on the season. … While Justin Lopez was the only one of four San Antonio relievers to give up a run in his inning of work, he recorded his third save of the year. In his first full year pitching, the converted shortstop has posted a 3.58 ERA. He didn’t get his first save opportunity until this month, but has performed well as the organization has put him in higher-leverage situations as the season has progressed.

TinCaps 6, Dayton Dragons 1

Key Stats: CF Jakob Marsee 2-for-4, BB, HR (13); SS Nerwilian Cedeño 1-for-5, HR (3); 1B Nathan Martorella 1-for-3, 2B, BB; LF Graham Pauley 2-for-4, HR (16); RHP Victor Lizarraga 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 5 K, 1 BB; RHP Cole Paplham 1 IP, 1 K

Prospect Watch: The top prospects in the TinCaps’ lineup Sunday came through to back a stellar pitching performance by Victor Lizarraga as the club claimed a series win to remain one-and-a-half games out of first place heading into the final three weeks of the season. Jakob Marsee and Nerwilian Cedeño hit back-to-back homers to lead off the game and give Lizarraga more than enough room to work with. Marsee also collected a single and a walk in the game to continue a blistering August. In 18 games this month, the lefthanded center fielder is hitting .400/.530/.677 with more walks than strikeouts. The hot stretch has his slugging percentage for the year up to .425, the highest it’s been since the third game of the season. The Michigan native appears among league leaders in a variety of categories, including a Midwest League-best .413 on-base percentage. … Graham Pauley ended any suspense in the contest when he launched his 16th homer for the TinCaps in the sixth inning. The blast pulled him within two of the league leaders despite having arrived in Fort Wayne only 45 games ago. The lefthanded hitting slugger is one of only four players in minor league baseball with at least 20 homers, doubles and stolen bases this year. … Lizarraga, coming off a nine-day layoff, worked six scoreless innings, allowing only three singles along the way. The 19-year-old righty relied more on his curve than he has at times this year, striking out five and getting 10 groundouts on the day. In his previous two starts since dealing with a virus last month, Lizarraga had given up eight earned runs in only four innings. He’s on track to just edge his 2022 total of 94.1 innings pitched.

Storm and ACL Padres had the day off.

Roster Moves: There are multiple reports that, with the big league club collapsing and the rookie league season ending on Tuesday, the Padres will make a raft of moves across the system.

Perhaps most shockingly, the club is promoting prized catching prospect Ethan Salas to Double-A San Antonio after just nine games in High-A Fort Wayne despite the 17-year-old being mired in an 8-for-55 slump this month. Several people confirmed off the record that there was serious consideration given to moving Salas directly to Double-A two weeks ago when the team instead, at the last moment, sent him to join the TinCaps on the road in Lansing.

While Salas is the most eye-grabbing move, the club is also pushing lefty Robby Snelling and Pauley up a level for the second time this season. Snelling, 19, has asserted himself in his debut campaign, posting a 1.88 ERA with 99 strikeouts in 86.1 innings across two Single-A levels. He will become the youngest pitcher to throw in Double-A this year when he makes his Missions debut. He has already thrown 86.1 innings this year, so it is unclear how long he will stay active as San Antonio heads into the playoffs.

Pauley ends his stint with the TinCaps with a stellar .300/.358/.629 line. His emergence as a power source after spending the first three months of the year in Lake Elsinore is one of the organization’s best development successes of the year.

Nathan Martorella and Marsee, two stallwarts of the TinCaps lineup all year, will also head to Double-A. While Marsee has been on fire this month, first baseman Martorella’s production has nosedived to a .586 OPS in August. The players were selected back-to-back in the fifth and sixth rounds of last year’s draft.

The loss of talent on the TinCaps roster will reportedly be offset by the promotions of outfielders Samuel Zavala and Tyler Robertson, first baseman Griffin Doersching, infielder Devin Oritz and last year’s first-round pick, Dylan Lesko. Zavala, who only turned 19 in July, ranks among California League hitters in most offensive categories and was making a run at a possible 20/20 season before a recent slump. Lesko, in his first season since undergoing pre-draft Tommy John surgery last spring, is coming off back-to-back strong starts for Lake Elsinore. He stretched his pitch count up to 70 in his most recent outing, a four-inning start in which he gave up only two hits.

This year’s first round pick, Dillon Head, and first baseman Romeo Sanabria, one of the top performers in the ACL this summer, will be among those joining the Storm for the final three weeks of the season.