San Diego Padres Week in Review: July 23-28

El Paso Chihuahuas (Swept at Salt Lake Bees)

Players of the Week: El Paso had a brutal week, losing all six of their contests in Utah to extend their losing streak to 10 games going back to the final game before the All-Star break. They were outscored 41-24 and now head home to face the Dodgers’ Oklahoma City affiliate. Despite the team’s overall struggles, Tirso Ornelas had a monster series, hitting .417/.462/.667 with three doubles and a homer. The 24-year-old continued a season in which he’s finally put things together as he’s more consistently practiced ‘elevate and celebrate.’ Impressively, he’s posting a career-best 17% strikeout rate while pulling the ball in the air more than ever before. After topping out as the club’s 12th-ranked prospect heading into the 2021 season, Ornelas’s star had faded coming into the season because he was grounding out far too often. This year’s resurgence positions him for a long-awaited big-league debut. … The pitching staff had a rough week, but lefty Omar Cruz had a big performance in his first start in more than an opener role in over two years. The 25-year-old struck out seven while allowing a pair of runs on three hits as he worked five innings for the first time this season. Cruz struck out 35.4% percent of Texas League batters while posting a stellar 6.6% walk rate prior to his promotion earlier this month in an impressive return to the Padres system. He’ll have the chance to start out into a starting role over the final six weeks of the season.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Jose Azocar enjoyed the offense-friendly confines of Smith’s Ballpark, connecting on a pair of homers as part of a 6-for-22 week. While the defensive specialist’s calling card will never be power, Azocar is looking to reverse a two-year trend of declining exit velocities. … Eguy Rosario had the rare quiet week, going just 5-for-21 without a walk. While he’s generally shown better patience at the plate for El Paso this season, Rosario struck out four times on the week and will likely finish July with his lowest strikeout-to-walk ratio of the year. … While he was saddled with a loss when a dropped fly ball plated two unearned runs, righty reliever Lake Bachar had an otherwise strong week, giving up just one earned run and striking out nine in 4.2 innings across three appearances. While the righty has issued too many walks on the year, this week, he allowed just one free pass. If he can keep the ball in the zone that effectively, the 2016 fifth-round draft pick could finally get a big league opportunity. … Nabil Crismatt gave the club five strong innings in a start on Friday, allowing just a pair of runs. The 29-year-old big league vet will be asked to continue to eat innings for El Paso in his second stint in the organization. (David Jay)

San Antonio Missions (Lost series at Midland RockHounds 2-4)

Players of the Week: San Antonio only picked up a pair of wins in the series, but one came in grand fashion as Victor Lizarraga spun seven innings of two-hit ball in his longest career outing. The 20-year-old righty had fought his command over his three other starts this month, but he’s held Texas League hitters to just a .169 average in July as he’s continued to induce a high percentage of pop flies working with a fastball at the top of the zone. After a pair of extended bouts with respiratory viruses last year limited his stamina, Lizarraga is on pace to top 100 innings for the first time in his career. … Cole Cummings had another solid week at the plate, going 6-for-19 with three extra-base hits for a .632 slugging percentage. The 2021 undrafted free agent has produced above league-average offensive numbers despite being hampered by a home ballpark that punishes left-handed power hitters. While he’s limited to left field or first base defensively, the 26-year-old continues to do enough damage to position himself for triple-A next year where he could put up some extreme counting stats. Encouragingly, his strikeout rate is down to 23% this month.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Switch-hitting catcher Brandon Valenzuela was 6-for-19 on the week while collecting his ninth homer of the year. For the second straight year, the 23-year-old has done much more damage from the left side, with all but one of his homers coming off right-handers. After a stellar June, the streaky hitter has posted a .614 OPS this month. … Ripken Reyes reached base in all six games of the series, using six hits, two walks, and three hit-by-pitches to post a .478 on-base percentage. The switch-hitting utility man has been hit 90 times in 1,127 plate appearances in Double-A over the last two-plus seasons. … Ryan Bergert showed encouraging progress as he looks to turn around a brutal 2024 campaign. The righty made a pair of abbreviated starts on the week, allowing just one run over five innings. Most encouragingly, Bergert struck out six while only allowing one walk. After posting a strong 28.8% strikeout rate with the Missions in the second half last year, he’s seen that number dwindle to 19.2% this year as his fastball flattened out and he’s struggled to get the same life on his sweeper. The 24-year-old has looked much better since returning from a month spent working on the side. … Henry Baez looked very much like he belonged in his first Double-A start. The 21-year-old gave up a pair of runs over 5.1 innings, walking only one. The right-hander has asserted himself as one of the top starters in the organization this season. (David Jay)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost series at Lansing Lugnuts 2-4)

Players of the Week: After dealing with numerous injuries and shaky starts, Braden Nett gave up just one hit as he threw five scoreless innings for the first time in 2024. The hard-throwing 22-year-old entered the week with an 8.71 ERA after failing to get out of the first inning in his previous outing. Nett worked around a season-high four walks, inducing six grounders. … Romeo Sanabria was the only TinCap batter to have a hit in every game.  On the week, he went 9-for-24, with three doubles and his first High-A home run.  Sanabria, 22, has shown an ability to hit for a high average, but the power part of his game has been missing since his promotion in mid-June.  His three extra-base hits this week nearly matched his production over his first four weeks in High-A. Sanabria is hitting .280/.368/.380 in Fort Wayne as he looks to turn things up over the final month.

Top Prospects and Others of Note:  Ethan Salas had his best game of the year on Saturday, coming up a triple shy of the cycle and collecting his first home run since May 21. Unfortunately, he went 0-for-4 in the next contest and finished the week 5-for-22. He has a .572 OPS in July. … Salas’ backup, Anthony Vilar, had five hits, including three doubles on the week.  He is hitting .317/.449/.508 in July. … After consecutive poor starts for the first time since April, Jagger Haynes bounced back nicely, allowing two earned runs over five innings while striking out nine.  Haynes has struck out 48 batters over his last 41.2 innings. … Add another 3.1 scoreless innings for Bradgley Rodriguez, who has not allowed a run since June 27. The flame-throwing 20-year-old struck out seven batters while walking only one. Since being promoted to Fort Wayne, Rodriguez has a 2.75 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 39.1 innings. … As July is about to end, Manuel Castro has had a career month.  Over seven appearances (9.2 innings), the 22-year-old Castro has not allowed a run while striking out 15. Overall, the righty with a riding fastball has a 3.35 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 40.1 innings. …  For the first time all season, Enmanuel Pinales allowed five earned runs while tying his career high with four walks allowed. The outing comes off the heels of a 14-inning scoreless streak, which ended in the first. The 23-year-old fell back to seventh in the Midwest League with a 3.53 ERA across 79 innings in his second season stateside.  (Ben Davey)

Lake Elsinore Storm (won series over Visalia Rawhide, 5-1)

Top Performers: The Storm had a terrific week at home against the Rawhide, winning five of six, including the final five games of the series. … Lake Elsinore received another standout performance from shortstop Leodalis De Vries, who continues to show impressive power from both sides of the plate. The 17-year-old played in five games last week, hitting a ridiculous .450/.500/.900 with three doubles, two homers, four walks, and just three strikeouts. In 19 games in July, De Vries is hitting .333/.447/.718 with a 16% walk rate, and a 15% strikeout rate with eight homers. He has easily been the best player in the system this month. … Jose Luis Reyes turned in one of his best outings of the season Wednesday, pitching 5.2 innings to earning the win. Reyes allowed just one run on six hits, walking two and striking out three. The 21-year-old has been inconsistent in his second season in the Cal League. In 17 games (15 starts), the Mexicali native has a 6.92 ERA. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: J.D. Gonzalez had a nice week in his final series as a Padres prospect. He went 3-for-10 with three walks and a pair of RBI. He is headed to Tampa Bay as part of the deal for reliever Jason Adam. … The versatile Wyatt Hoffman had a nice week at the plate, delivering an .808 OPS. He had a double, four walks, and two RBI. The 25-year-old is in the midst of his best offensive season as a professional, delivering a wRC+ of 93, including an on-base percentage of .356. Hoffman has developed into a useful player but the lack of power, a troubling K-rate of 33%, and his advanced age (25) prevent him from being considered a prospect. However, he’s clearly valued for speed, versatility, and leadership. … It was a rare “slow” week for Rosman Verdugo, who cooled off against Visalia. The 19-year-old infielder produced a .698 OPS. On a positive note, he struck out just three times in 22 at-bats. Like De Vries, Verdugo broke out loudly in July, posting a 1.042 OPS this month. He’s also cut his K-rate to 18% after it hovered around 30% in the first three months of the season. … The Storm got another excellent start out of Isaiah Lowe, who pitched Sunday. Lowe worked five innings and allowed just one run on three hits. He walked three and struck out four. The 21-year-old has had a successful and healthy season thus far. Lowe has pitched 72 innings this season and should approach 100 before the season ends.