San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: May 23

Sacramento River Cats 11, Chihuahuas 7

Key Statistics: C Brett Sullivan, 2-for-4, 2 R, HR (6), 2 RBI, BB; 3B Matthew Batten, 1-for-5, R, HR (3), 2 RBI; LF Tirso Ornelas, 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI; SS Mason McCoy, 3-for-4, R; CF Bryce Johnson, 2-for-3, R; LHP Jackson Wolf (L, 1-5) 2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB; RHP Sean Reynolds, 2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 K; RHP Logan Gillaspie, IP, H, BB

Prospect Watch: The El Paso offense performed well, notching seven runs on 13 hits but the River Cats had three homers in a 17-hit attack to defeat the Chihuahuas. … A night after his 12-game hitting streak came to an end, Matthew Batten started a new streak by blasting his third homer of the year. The 28-year-old has been red-hot in May, hitting .395/.435/.579 in 76 at-bats. … Brett Sullivan had a pair of hits including his sixth homer of the season. The left-handed hitting catcher has flashed impressive power in May, connecteing on five long balls this month for a 261/.333/.565 line. … Shortstop Mason McCoy singled three times and scored a run Thursday night. After a slow April, the veteran of three other organizations has heated up in May, hitting .328/.368/.422 with three doubles and a homer. … Lefty Jackson Wolf had another rough outing and took the loss. Wolf lasted just two innings, allowing five runs on six hits. He walked three and failed to notch a strikeout. After a solid stretch of starts, Wolf has struggled mightily in his last two outings, allowing  12 runs on 16 hits over six innings – good for an 18.00 ERA. The West Virginia alum has strung together a few good outings in his first taste of the PCL but he will need to find some more consistency. 

Wichita Wind Surge 8, Missions 0

Key Statistics: CF Clay Dungan, 2-for-3, BB, SB (3); LF Cole Cummings, 1-for-4; LHP Robby Snelling (L, 1-3) 4 IP, 8 H, 6 R (5 ER), 2 BB, 4 K; LHP Jason Blanchard, IP, BB

Prospect Watch: The Missions never put anything together offensively and lost against the Twins’ Double-A affiliate in Kansas. … Lefthander Robby Snelling had one of his worst starts as a professional and took his third loss of the season. Snelling, 20, lasted just four innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits. He walked two and struck out four. Snelling has had a few rough outings in his career but he’s typically been able to bounce back in his next outing. On April 26, also against Wichita, Snelling allowed four earned runs in 2.2 innings. He then worked into the sixth in each of his next three starts, never allowing more than three runs. It will be interesting to see if he can continue his trend of resilience next week. … Center fielder Clay Dungan did a nice job at the plate, with two singles, a walk, and his third stolen base of the season. The former Royals prospect is learning center field on the fly (sound familiar?) although he does have some previous experience in the outfield. Dungan played exactly one game in center field in 2022, while with Triple-A Omaha. Since being moved down to San Antonio, Dungan has exclusively played center field. Coming into Thursday’s game, he was 3-for-31 with the Missions. … Lefty Jason Blanchard pitched a scoreless inning to extend his run of success. The 26-year-old was drafted way back in 2019 and is one of the few Tri-City Dust Devils left in the system. The Lamar University product got his first taste of Double-A in 2022 and he struggled last year, pitching to a 7.36 ERA. This season, Blanchard has a sparkling 0.96 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 18.2 innings. 

Lansing Lugnuts 8, TinCaps 2

Key Statistics: C Ethan Salas, 2-for-4, R, SB (5); LF Tyler Robertson, 1-for-4, HR (4), RBI; LHP Miguel Cienfuegos (L, 3-4) 5.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, BB, 2 K; RHP Tyler Morgan, IP, K; RHP Joan Gonzalez, IP, H, ER, 3 K

Prospect Watch: The TinCaps saw their seven-game winning streak ended with a tough loss at home to Lansing. … Ethan Salas had two singles, extending his streak to six games. The 17-year-old backstop got off to a slow start but he seems to be adjusting to the Midwest League. Over his last six games, Salas is 9-for-21 with three doubles and a homer. He’s also drawn five walks while striking out just four times during the hot stretch. … Going into Wednesday’s game, TinCaps outfielder Tyler Robertson was mired in a 5-for-47 stretch. However, things appear to be turning around for the 24-year-old. After a 2-for-3 line with a double and homer as a mid-game replacement on Wednesday, he homered again on Thursday. It was Robertson’s fourth homer of the season. After a solid campaign last season in Lake Elsinore, Robertson has struggled to a .196/.295/.375 line this season as he works to incorporate some mechanical changes. … Starter Miguel Cienfuegos allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits to take the loss. The lefty from Laval, Quebec pitched 5.2 innings, walked one, and struck out a pair. Overall, Cienfuegos has a 4.15 ERA in eight games (six starts) for the TinCaps this season. 

San Jose Giants 6, Storm 5

Key Statistics: SS Leodalis De Vries, 2-for-5, R; C Jacob Campbell, 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB; 1B Romeo Sanabria, 2-for-5, R, 2B, RBI; CF Braedon Karpathios, 1-for-5, 2 RBI; RHP Sam Whiting, 4 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 4 K; LHP Harry Gustin, 3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K; RHP Dwayne Matos (L, 2-3) 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 3 K

Prospect Watch: After a dramatic walk-off win on Wednesday, the Storm lost a tough, one-run game at home against the Giants. … Leodalis De Vries had a pair of hits for the Storm, batting out of the leadoff spot. The 17-year-old has gotten off to a slow start in his professional debut but he’s shown impressive tools at the plate and in the field. As one could expect, De Vries has struggled to make consistent contact against Cal League pitching. In 37 plate appearances this month, De Vries has struck out 16 times. Overall, De Vries is hitting .190/.277/.293 since joining Lake Elsinore. … Catcher Jacob Campbell had a single and two walks in the Storm loss. The former University of Illinois backstop has hit the ball hard frequently for the Storm since being promoted from the ACL, but doesn’t yet have much to show for it. In 11 games with the Storm, Campbell is hitting .231/.400/.282. … Righty Sam Whiting made the start for the Storm and got hit hard. In four innings, he allowed four runs on 10 hits. He did notch four strikeouts without a walk. The 23-year-old out of UC Santa Barbara started the season in the TinCaps’ bullpen but was moved back to Lake Elsinore to work as a starter. In five starts, spanning 13 innings, Whiting has a 4.05 ERA for the Storm. … Lefty Harry Gustin typically works as the piggyback to Whiting and that trend continued Thursday. Gustin pitched well, firing 3.2 innings. He allowed three hits and two walks while striking out six. The University of Hawaii product has struggled with consistency this season but has shown some promise. Over his last 5.1 innings pitched, he’s punched out 10 hitters. Overall, the 22-year-old has a 6.85 ERA this season. 

ACL Padres 9, ACL Royals 5

Key Statistics: B.Y. Choi, 1-for-2, R, 2 BB, 2B; RF Joshua Mears, 1-for-3, 2 R, HR (1), 2 RBI, BB; 3B Yendry Rojas, 3-for-4, R, RBI; CF Kashon Conliffe, 2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI; RHP Jesus Lopez, 4 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 8 K; LHP Adler Cecil (W, 1-1) 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Prospect Watch: We’ve got this live report from David Jay, who’s in the desert for a few days:
The Padres’ rookie league club got a handful of impressive performances as they beat up on the Royals squad. Starter Jesus Lopez carved up the Royals for four innings with an impressive change-up he was comfortable throwing at any time in the count. The 18-year-old, who came stateside at the end of last year, got his fastball up to 92 in the first inning, then saw it settle in at 88-90 over the next few frames before reaching back for 91 on two of his last three pitches. He struck out the side in each of the first two innings and got through three having allowed just a single and a pair of walks while striking out eight. He’ll look to continue building up as the season progresses in the desert. … Maikel Miralles closed out the win by striking out the side as well. The 19-year-old Venezuelan, who saw limited action in the DSL after signing last year, has only allowed one earned run over over his first 9.1 innings of work this year. The righty, who dialed it up to 94 in his inning of work, has a fairly high-intensity delivery, but showed the ability to repeat well. … At the plate, B.Y. Choi continued his strong start to the year, clubbing a double to center and drawing a pair of walks. The 23-year-old, who grew up in South Korea before coming to the U.S. to play collegiately, has put together a .984 OPS from the left side as he works to tap into his power to the pull side. He also showed surprisingly good movement at shortstop for a guy who is every bit of 6-foot-4 and 200-plus pounds. … Joshua Mears got the scoring started with a towering homer to left field in his second game since starting a rehab assignment. The powerful outfielder also reached on a throwing error after he hit a sharp grounder to third and struck out in his three trips to the plate. The 23-year-old looks a little looser at the plate than we’ve seen in past years. … Yendry Rojas had three hits on the night, including two well-struck balls to his pull side. The 19-year-old left-handed hitting infielder struggled mightily last year after signing for one of the larger bonuses in the 2022 international class, but has added some strength this year and has a .324/.390/.378 line while making more consistent contact.