SAN ANTONIO — On a windy, humid night at Nelson Wolff Stadium, Padres top prospect Adam Mazur gave up six earned runs in the Missions’ 9-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins affiliate.
Mazur, who came into the game having allowed one run total in his first three starts, easily had his worst outing of the season but still showed flashes of dominance at times, sitting in the mid-90s, touching 99 on his fastball and displaying an impressive hammer curve and sweeper to strike out eight batters against no walks in 4.1 innings.
Adam Mazur struggled for the first time on Thursday. (Photo: Vashaun Newman)
“This was his worst outing, but what I like about Adam is that he keeps competing,” said Missions manager Luke Montz. “As good as he’s been, he’s still working on things, seeing what he can tweak, add, and subtract.
“We noticed tonight that his composure stayed the same, the effort stayed the same, and the desire to execute his pitches remained the same.”
Mazur was drafted in the second round of the 2022 draft and shot through the organization in his first professional season with a 2.02 ERA in 58 innings in High-A Fort Wayne and pitched well in 38 innings in 2023 with the Missions.
“I’ve got a different guy than last year when he first came here. Things are sharper, dialed in and he’s a little more vocal this year. He is one of the hardest workers in the club, and it just wasn’t there tonight,” said Montz. “We saw a lot of improvement; now it’s just about consistency.”
San Antonio was held to four singles at the plate. After scoring 39 runs in three games at Amarillo to open the season, they’ve plated just 53 in the next 15 contests and only one batter in the Missions’ everyday lineup now has an average over .250
Nathan Martorella has been one of the bright spots offensively for the Missions in 2024, (Photo: Vashaun Newman)
“You look at where we started in the most hitter-friendly ballpark in the minors, and we did a lot of things well—and not just with the bat. Then we come back here, and the wind blows in, and it’s big, and we’ve hit some balls hard into the wind with nothing to show for it.
“We’ve got some loud contact, and we just need to keep putting in the work. Our guys show up here ready to work. If we keep doing that, things will happen.”
Defensively, the Missions’ three errors didn’t do their pitchers any favors, which again was an aberration from how the team has played defensively.
“The best thing about baseball is it’s right back at it tomorrow. It’s not like football where we have to wait,” said Montz.
“That’s why it’s so important to do things consistently in our work before the game, to talk about it, and to set expectations.
“What happened tonight just wasn’t us.”
Notes: One of the better pitching prospects in the minors, Robby Snelling, will take the mound for San Antonio Friday.
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[…] of the year, getting strong performances from several of their stars. Adam Mazur rebounded from his first bad start of the season to throw six scoreless innings – his third of five starts withoug allowing a run. Mazur did […]