MadFriars Week in Review: June 11 – June 16

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost series at Albuquerque Isotopes 4-2)

Top Performers: Óscar Mercado, 29, only had 17 plate appearances on the week, but was outstanding as he posted a 1.347 OPS. He collected a triple and his team-best 10th home run of the year while drawing five walks. The former top prospect with the St. Louis Cardinals is having his best month so far with a 1.023 OPS in 40 plate appearances. … Tom Cosgrove continued to bounce back from a rough start to the year in the big leagues, throwing 2.1 perfect innings with three strikeouts across a pair of appearances. After getting pounded in his first 10 days in Triple-A, Cosgrove has not allowed a run in his last seven appearances, and has yet to give up a hit this month.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Nate Mondou, 29, had another strong week, leading the team with eight hits, four of them doubles, and three walks for a slash line of .333/.407/.500. …Eguy Rosario, 24, pounded a pair of home runs to fuel a slugging percentage of .619 and .983 OPS.  … Bryce Johnson, 28, reached base at a .480 clip, pushing his line to .297/.429/.448 on the season. The switch-hitter only has a .695 OPS on the road, but he’s been a strong table-setter, stealing 16 bases in 18 attempts. The former Giant also offers strong defense in center if the Padres need an outfield option at some point this summer. … Brett Sullivan, 30, had five hits in five games, with two doubles and a pair of home runs for a .923 OPS. … It was a tough week for the Chihuahua starters as none came out of the series with an ERA below 6.75. … Reliever Paul Fry, 31, earned one of El Paso’s two wins this week. In two appearances, the lefty didn’t allow a run while striking out four in four innings. Fry is having his best month, holding the opposition to a .231 batting average. (John Conniff)

San Antonio Missions (Won series with Corpus Christi Hooks 4-2)

Players of the Week: The Missions claimed a series win in a showdown of the Texas League’s two least productive offenses. Victor Lizarraga made a pair of starts in the series. After giving up three runs in five innings in the opener, the 20-year-old delivered a gem Sunday, throwing six innings for the first time this season and striking out a career-high 10 batters. The former Montgomery High School Aztec has allowed one or fewer runs in four of his last six starts. Lizarraga has been consistently pitching up in the strike zone, generating nearly a 42% fly ball rate and a career-low 28% groundball rate. … Robbie Tenerowicz once again led the way offensively. The 29-year-old had nine hits on the week, including a home run. His 4-for-4 game on Sunday clinched the series for the Missions and lifted his line for the month to .350/.413/.500.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: For the first five innings of Saturday’s start, Robby Snelling, 20, looked every bit the prized top 100 prospect. Only one runner had reached second, and that was courtesy of a bunt. Then he allowed five hits to the first six batters of the sixth inning and had to settle for a quality start. He has now gone six three-run innings in back-to-back starts, striking out 11 but allowing 14 hits.  … After a three-week rehab stint, flame-throwing reliever Cole Paplham returned to San Antonio and did not allow a hit or walk over two scoreless appearances.  He struck out three. … Jared Kollar, 25, allowed one run over six-innings for his second consecutive outing.  In addition to lowering his ERA to a team-leading 3.10, Kollar has walked one or fewer in four straight starts and has issued only 10 free passes in 52.1 innings on the year. Kollar is primarily a flyball pitcher and has taken full advantage of the friendly confines in San Antonio. … Ryan Bergert had allowed six earned runs over 16.2 innings in his three previous starts, but Corpus got to him for that many in just 2.2 frames this week. He allowed a pair of homers among eight hits – one off of his season high. With his fastball flattening out this year, the righty has struggled to a 6.26 ERA, with a 1.57 WHIP as opponents are hitting .315 on the season – more than 100 points higher than they managed last year. While the five homers he’s allowed aren’t unreasonable after 12 starts, that surpasses last year’s total. … Lefty Omar Cruz, 25, allowed three runs over 6.1 innings without walking a batter and striking out a team-high 12.  He has a 12.67 K/9 rate and a stellar 2.48 BB/9 on the season. … Carter Loewen did not allow a hit over two scoreless innings, striking out the side after coming with loaded bases and no outs.  The Canadian, who attended the University of Hawaii, has a 2.11 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 21.1 innings. … Five different Missions hitters had an OPS of at least .800 on the week despite getting no-hit on Saturday.  Ray-Patrick Didder reached base nine times in 20 trips to the plate and Ripken Reyes reached 8 times in 19 tries as the duo of versatile fielders each had strong weeks. … Brandon Valenzuela had three hits in four games, including his fourth home run of the year and a double. The backstop also had four RBI and three walks. After a slow start, the 23-year-old caught fire in June. He is hitting .282/.408/.462 on the month after a .540 OPS in May.   (Ben Davey)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost Series at Lake County Captains 4-2)

Top Performers: The big star of the week was Jagger Haynes, 21, who had the best start of his career, throwing 6.2 innings and fanning 11 against three walks. He’s now posted a 2.45 ERA across his last seven starts. While in Fort Wayne, we talked with Jagger about what he did to bounce back from April, when he had an ERA of 21.21. His batterymate Anthony Vilar, 25, had a .950 OPS with two of his five hits going over the fence to add on to five walks. Defensively, Vilar caught three games, was at first for two, and started the series playing second base. Last Sunday, Vilar was coming off two night games at first base and was catching for the Sunday day game series finale. He did a ten-minute interview with us, then ran down to catch Haynes’s bullpen – he has insisted on seeing every one of the young lefty’s bullpens because he catches all his starts – and then warmed up that day’s starter. He could easily have blown off the interview with us and the bullpen with Jagger, but that’s not the type of person he is. That day, he threw out two of the three runners that tried to run against him, and at the plate, he was 2-for-3, with a pair of walks and two RBI. Sometimes karma does work.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Nerwilian Cedeño only hit .173, but two were home runs, and he drew five walks, giving him a .893 OPS for the week. He has a ton of talent and had a solid year in Lake Elsinore in 2022, but the switch-hitter has yet to tap into his talent consistently in High-A, even as he’s finally healthy . … Kai Murphy hit .353 with six hits in five games. This season, he is second on the TinCaps in hits, with 47 and a .697 OPS. … As well as Haynes pitched, this week’s more significant news was a much-needed quality start by top prospect Dylan Lesko. The 20-year-old delivered the best outing of his career, throwing six shutout innings with only three walks in an efficient 83-pitch outing. In our interview with pitching coach Thomas Eshelman, he discussed the TinCaps’ staff’s work in getting him to be more aggressive in the zone with his fastball and changeup. … Enmanuel Pinales and Henry Baez both made strong starts in the Cleveland suburbs. Pinales, 23, who is leading the TinCaps with 55 strikeouts and 51.2 innings pitched, threw seven innings in his start this week with seven strikeouts and didn’t walk anyone. Baez, 21, second to Pinales in both innings and strikeouts, threw five and two-thirds and allowed one run with three strikeouts and four walks. … Tyler Morgan threw more innings than any other non-starter, logging five and two-thirds in two appearances, and didn’t allow a run. … In his first outing this week, David Morgan collected his third save of the year as the right-hander from Orange County needed just eight pitches to get three outs, including a punchout. In his second appearance, he took a blown save and the loss even though he got four strikeouts in an inning and a third; he also gave up four hits and two runs as he walked a batter. Morgan, 24, only threw 9.1 innings in his career at Hope International College, where he was mainly a center fielder. He has been one of the Padres’ more impressive undrafted free agents. His fastball can touch 98, sits in the upper 90’s, and is someone to watch. We’ll have an interview with him later in the week. (John Conniff)  

Lake Elsinore Storm (Split series with Stockton Ports 3-3)

Top Performers: The Storm had an uneven week against Stockton, splitting the series at home. In the three wins, they outscored Stockton, 31-4. In the three losses, they scored just five runs total. Despite the uneven play, the Storm sit at 31-30 with a two-game lead for the first-half title in the South Division. … At the plate Jacob Campbell had an outstanding week. The catcher/outfielder tied for the club lead with a pair of homers and seven RBI while delivering an OPS above 1.000. The 24-year-old started the year in extended spring training but he’s developed into a very valuable contributor for the Storm offense. Overall, he has a 126 wRC+, fueled in part by a robust 17% walk rate. … The Storm received an excellent outing from righty Jose Luis Reyes in a game the Storm lost 4-0 on Wednesday. However, Reyes was not to blame as he turned in his best outing of the season, throwing five shutout innings and allowing just three hits. He walked one and notched seven strikeouts. The 21-year-old saw time with the Storm last year and pitched well but he’s had a harder time in his second stint in the Cal League. In 11 games (10 starts) Reyes has an ERA north of six. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Sunday, the Storm got another dominant outing from Isaiah Lowe, who blanked the Ports for six innings. Lowe allowed just two hits, walking one and striking out six. The 20-year-old righty has completed six innings in four of his last five outings. Sunday’s outing lowered his ERA to 2.86 to go with a stellar 58:17 strikeout-to-walk ratio. … Ryan Wilson only got into three games, but capitalized on his opportunity when his name was called. The former Davidson outfielder went 6-for-13, with a homer, a triple, and five runs scored, all while delivering an OPS of 1.346. After a paltry .567 OPS in May, Wilson has that mark up to a solid .852 mark this month. … Fellow outfielder Nick Vogt continued his excellent work in the June, as the former UC Santa Barbara Gaucho blasted two homers as he put together a .250/.318/.550 line in the series. Vogt has increased his OPS in each month, and in June he has delivered with a .777 OPS. … Wyatt Hoffman had another good week at the plate as he has found ways to deliver value for the Storm. The 25-year-old has played all three outfield positions and bounced around the infield. At the plate, Hoffman connected on his second homer of the year and finished the week with an .871 OPS. Overall, Hoffman is having the best offensive campaign by a wide margin, despite striking out in a career-high 33% of his plate appearances. … Shortstop Leodalis De Vries had a slow week, hitting just .158/.333/.316 with three doubles, four walks, and five strikeouts. In 30 games with the Storm, the 17-year-old has a .648 OPS. (Kevin Charity)

ACL Mariners 13, ACL Padres 7 (1-4 on the week)

Key Stats: LF Spence Coffman 2-for-4; RF L.J. Jones 4-for-5, 2B; 3B Addison Kopack 2-for-5; LHP Braian Salazar 2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 K, BB; LHP Ruben Salinas IP, 2 H, 5 R (4 ER), 3 BB, K; RHP Bernard Jose 2.1 IP, 2 H, 3 K, BB

Prospect Watch and Top Performers of the Week: A five-run fifth inning and a monster night from Mariners uber-prospect Felnin Celesten did in the Padres squad, which fell below .500. … L.J. Jones continued to tune up in the desert with a 4-for-5 night that included a double. For the week, the 24-year-old outfielder was 9-for-17, good for a 1.321 OPS with only two strikeouts. He’s likely headed out to an affiliate ASAP. … Addison Kopack had a pair of hits while continuing to put in work defensively at third base. The 22-year-old signed out of the University of Rhode Island as an undrafted free agent last summer after a collegiate career in which he caught and played every infield position. He had a 1.291 OPS when he went down with a minor leg injury on May 23, but has been slowed a bit since returning. … Spence Coffman had two more hits Monday, extending his hitting streak to five games. He’s 10-for-16 over that stretch, though all 10 hits have been singles. Originally drafted as a shortstop, the 20-year-old has seen most of his action this season in the outfield. … Kaden Hollow, another undrafted free agent who caught in college, had a hit and drew a pair of walks to cap a week in which he hit .421/.542/.684. The left-handed hitter saw very limited action in his first two seasons in the organization, but is owns a .947 OPS as a regular rotating between catcher, first base, and the outfield this year. … Lefty Ruben Salinas, who was activated from the Lake Elsinore injured list and transferred to the ACL as he officially completed his rehab assignment over the weekend, had a rough outing, giving up four earned runs in an inning of work as he walked three and hit a batter. The 21-year-old from Baja California had allowed just one earned run in his first 10.1 innings of work as he returns from Tommy John surgery. … Righty Kleiber Olmedo had a pair of strong outings in an otherwise rough week for the pitching staff. The 19-year-old allowed one run over 5 innings, striking out five. (David Jay)