San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: August 23

Sacramento River Cats 6, Chihuahuas 1

Key Statistics: LHP Jay Groome (L, 4-8) 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 9 K; RHP Kevin Kopps IP, H, ER, BB, K; 2B Tim Lopes 0-for-2, 2 BB, 2 SB (35); LF Tirso Ornelas 1-for-4, R; DH Eguy Rosario 1-for-3

Prospect Watch: Through the first four innings, Jay Groome was fantastic. He had retired 10 in a row at one point, and he’d struck out seven with only two hits allowed. He then allowed six baserunners and three earned runs in the fifth, including three walks. He did manage to escape further damage by striking out Joey Bart for his ninth and final strikeout of the night. As disappointing as the start ended, Wednesday’s outing was Groome’s best of the month by a good margin. Groome has averaged nearly a strikeout per inning this year, but has walked more batters than ever before in his career as he’s fought for command all year.  … The offense managed three hits, all singles. One of them came off the bat of Tirso Ornelas. The 23-year-old has collected at least one hit in every game since being recalled from Double-A and is now hitting .412/.447/.618 in August … Kevin Kopps allowed his first Triple-A earned run in his third appearance. His “cutter” generated the most whiffs and still averages over 2700 RPM, the highest RPM for any pitch thrown in the game. The 26-year-old remains the unusual four-pitch reliever, but is getting good results. Over 58.2 innings across two levels, Kopps has a 2.61 ERA and an 11.2 K/9. … Ray Kerr pitched a scoreless ninth. It was his third straight scoreless outing since being sent down. He has a 2.38 ERA and a 10.9 K/9 in Triple-A this year.

Missions 4, Amarillo Sod Poodles 2

Key Stats: LHP Robby Snelling 3.2 IP, 2 H, ER, 5 BB, 2 K; RHP Bobby Milacki 3.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 K; RHP Efrain Contreras (S, 3), 0.2 IP, 2 K; CF Jakob Marsee 1-for-3, BB; LF Jackson Merrill 1-for-4; 2B Marcos Castañon 1-for-3, 2B, 2 R, BB; 1B Nathan Martorella 1-for-4, 2B, RBI; C Ethan Salas 0-for-3, BB; RF Cole Cummings 2-for-3, HR (6), 2 RBI

Prospect Watch: In the second game since the prospect-rich Missions came together, they pulled out a come-from-behind victory to earn another win. Robby Snelling made his first Double-A start. After cruising through the first, he edwalk the bases loaded to begin the second. After giving up an RBI groundout, he battled back to retire the next two batters and limit the damage. Runners reached scoring position in the next two innings, but Snelling escaped without any damage.  Of his 71 pitches to get 11 outs, only 37 were strikes. This was only the third time in 19 starts that Snelling had walked more than two batters in a game. Across three levels, the 19-year-old has a 1.90 ERA and 10.1 K/9. … Even with all the new top prospects with San Antonio, the veteran players gave them the win. After Ripken Reyes walked, raising his OBP for the season to .426, Cole Cummings hit a two-out, two-run blast to give the Missions the lead. That was the first home run of the month for the undrafted signee out of UCSB. The two hits were his first multi-hit game in two weeks. … After the Soddies tied it, it was Cumming’s college teammate Marcos Castañon who gave the Missions the eventual game-winner. Castañon led off with a walk, went to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a flyout, and scored on a wild pitch. He also scored San Antonio’s fourth run of the game after leading off the ninth with a double. In 34 games with San Antonio, Castañon is hitting .290/.361/.443. After being second on the TinCaps in home runs with 13 when he was promoted, Castañon has just one home run with San Antonio but does have 15 doubles.  … 17-year-old phenom Ethan Salas held his own in his second start. While he went 0-for-3 with a walk, the strikeout was an eight-pitch at-bat, and he worked the count and swung hard; not much more you can ask from a player that has only been allowed to see rated R movies for three months.

TinCaps 6, Great Lakes Loons 3

Key Stats: RHP Henry Baez 3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, K; RHP Cole Paplham (S, 2) IP, 2 K; 1B Griffin Doersching 1-for-4, HR (1), 2 RBI; DH Carlos Luis 1-for-4, HR (6), 2 RBI; CF Samuel Zavala 0-for-4

Prospect Watch: Despite losing some of their top players, the TinCaps continue to win and push for a playoff spot. Carlos Luis hit his first home run since July 29 to give the TinCaps an early lead. Luis, who signed with the Padres in 2016, tied his career-high with his sixth home run. While his production, across the board, is down from last year when he hit .319 with Lake Elsinore, he is making more contact and striking out at a noticeably lower clip (57 strikeouts in 278 at-bats).  … After the Loons cut the lead to one, Griffin Doersching hit his first High-A home run (12th overall) to replenish the TinCaps’ three-run cushion. For the big first baseman, it was his second home run in August. It’s a welcome sight after hitting five in July and posting a .525 SLG. While Doersching has plus power, his swing gets long, which can lead to strikeouts (five in two games). … Henry Baez made his second start since his promotion to Fort Wayne. While being pulled after three innings was less than ideal for the 20-year-old, it was not due to him struggling. The game’s first three batters saw a combined 24 pitches, and Baez could never really recover. He needed 72 pitches to get through three innings. While he ended up retiring seven of the last eight batters he faced, Baez is already at triple the innings he threw last year. The 20-year-old righty is one of the organizations’ breakout performers this year, going 7-3, 3.24 ERA with Lake Elsinore. The Padres will more than likely limit his innings over the last few starts of the year.  … Speaking of breakouts, after signing as a UDFA last year and not appearing in a game, Cole Paplham has quickly become one of the relievers to watch. After taking over the closer role in Elsinore, Paplham has continued his success with the TinCaps.  The 23-year-old righty has yet to allow a run in four outings with Fort Wayne while collecting two saves and a win. He throws hard and works quickly, two things every manager loves.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 6, Storm 4

Key Statistics: RHP Jose Luis Reyes (L, 0-3) 4.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R (4 ER), 4 BB, 4 K; LHP Javier Chacon 1.1 IP, 1 K, 4 BB; LF Homer Bush Jr 1-for-5, RBI; CF Dillon Head 0-for-4, 2 K; 1B Romeo Sanabria 2-for-4, R, 2 2B; 2B Nik McClaughry 2-for-2, 2B, R, RBI, BB

Prospect Watch: After tearing up the ACL to the tune of a .359/.443/.617 line, Romeo Sanabria picked up where he left off with two more doubles in his second game with the Storm. Last year’s 18^th-round selection led the ACL in nearly every category. This was the 18^th multi-hit game in 52 total games this season. … The only other multi-hit game belonged to Nik McClaughry. The 10th-round selection out of the University of Arizona has had a tough run since joining the Storm. This was just his third multi-hit game of the year and his first walk in over two weeks. This is after hitting .329/.429/.467 in the Pac-12 with as many walks as strikeouts. This was not a stellar offensive performance for the Storm, who were only two over the minimum going into the seventh inning. … 20-year-old undrafted free agent signee Will Varmette struck out the side in his only inning of work. After getting hit hard in one Arizona Complex League tune-up, Varmette has yet to allow a run in three outings with the Storm.

The ACL Season has ended and the ACL Padres finished the year 30-26.