MadFriars Week in Review: August 27 through September 1

El Paso Chihuahuas (Won series with Tacoma Rainers, 5-1)

Top Performers: After dropping five out of six in Oklahoma City last week, the Chihuahuas reversed it this week against the Seattle Mariners’ top farm club at home. Four batters recorded a 1.000-plus OPS, but Brandon Lockridge, 27, had a big week, leading El Paso with 11 hits, including two doubles. The outfielder was acquired from the New York Yankees for minor league reliever Thomas Balboni Jr., and Enyel  De Los Santos walked three times and stole six bases in six attempts. He also led the team with eight runs scored and was added to the 40-man roster. Defensively, the former Troy University star has seen most of his time in center since arriving in the Padres organization but can play both corners and even some second base. Not a bad seven-day stretch. … Right-handed reliever Ethan Routzahn, 26,  got one of the Chihuahuas’ wins in his two appearances this week as he threw five innings, the second most on the squad, and didn’t allow a run. He scatted five hits with five strikeouts against one walk. The undrafted free agent signee has performed well since his promotion from San Antonio with a 3.21 ERA in seven games and 14 innings in Triple-A.

Top Prospect and Others of Note: Cal Mitchell, 25, had eight hits in five games, a pair of doubles, and two home runs in 18 plate appearances for a 1.441 OPS. . Mitchell prepped at Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego and came over to the Padres in the offseason as a minor league free agent after spending the first six years of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has a .824 OPS with 15 home runs on the season. … Eguy Rosario had his worst month in El Paso in August with a .711 OPS but finished strong with a .429 batting average against Tacoma, including three doubles, two home runs, and two stolen bases in two attempts. Rosario has a .902 OPS for the season, with 22 home runs and 13 stolen bases. While he has seen the majority of his time in the field at third base, the 24-year-old has gotten more reps in the outfield in the last two weeks. … Brett Sullivan, 30, rounded out the quartet with a .476 on-base percentage with six hits in five games to go along with five walks, a double, and a home run. This season, the left-handed hitting catcher continues to pound right-handed pitching with a .920 OPS but has struggled against lefties, at .454.. … Knuckleball pitcher Matt Waldron, 27, returned to the Sun City, where he had pitched the previous two years and had a good start, throwing four and two-thirds innings and only allowing two earned runs, both on solo home runs off his sinker. More importantly, he struck out four and didn’t issue a single walk. … Right-hander Nabil Crismatt, 29, had his start cut short by rain, so he returned on short rest and threw two innings of relief. In four innings of work, he didn’t allow a run and struck out four. … Lake Bachar’s week started with his first call to the big leagues, but it was only for one day, and he didn’t make an appearance. Unfortunately, it ended with him being designated for assignment to clear space on the 40-player roster. He made two appearances in between and didn’t allow a run in four innings of work. The 29-year-old is second on the team in strikeouts for the season with 85 in only 71.2 innings of work and has a 3.89 ERA. … Jayvien Sandridge, 25, had two clean appearances in three and one-third shutout innings of work as he struck out five against three walks and picked up a win. (John Conniff)

San Antonio Missions (Lost series at Midland Rockhounds, 1-5)

Top Performers: It wasn’t a great week for the Padres’ Double-A affiliate as they only won a single game at home, and only one batter posted an OPS over .820. Ripken Reyes, 27, had four hits, including a double and a home run, in four games to tie for the team lead in extra-base hits on the week. Reyes, who set the minor league record for being hit by a pitch last season, has seen a drop-off in his production in his third season in San Antonio with a .654 OPS after posting a career-high .767 last season. The Missions’ 1888 Podcast has a terrific interview with the current University of San Diego PhD candidate if you can. … Austin Krob, 24, pitched well enough to pick up a win, throwing six innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts, but he settled for a no-decision. The former TCU star closed out a tremendous August when he pitched to a 1.67 ERA in 32.1 innings over six starts. Krob doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, but his sinker/slider combination generates weak contact when he’s on.

Top Prospect and Others of Note:  Ryan Bergert made two starts, and while he allowed five runs over 11.2 innings, he punched out 11 against four walks to close out a solid August. The 24-year-old posted a 2.92 ERA in 24.2 innings across five starts, holding opponents to a .190 average. … Miguel Cienfuegos, 29, earned the team’s lone win this week, going six innings and allowing two runs. The 27-year-old Canadian has pitched at three levels this season as the organization primarily used him as a starter. He’s posted a 4.97 ERA across 112.1 innings in his second season in affiliated baseball. … Fellow Canadian Carter Loewen, 25, was very effective coming out of the bullpen twice. He struck out five in three and a third innings of work and allowed one walk and two hits. Loewen has been one of the mainstays of the Missions bullpen, throwing 47.1 innings for a 4.94 ERA and even making a few appearances as an opener for the club. He has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 60:28 on the season. … Aside from Reyes, only Robbie Tenerowicz managed an OPS above .750 for the week. The 29-year-old bounced back from a week on the IL to slug .500 in four games. (John Conniff)

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

Players of the Week: In his first full week back from the IL, Tyler Robertson had one of the best weeks of his career. Robertson hit safely in every game, going 13-for-24. He stole two bases and drove in eight for good measure. For the week, he hit .542/.577/.583. After an abysmal start to the season, the 24-year-old is up to a solid .287/.357/.403 line in his second full season. …  Braden Nett is finishing the season about as strong as any pitcher in the organization. Nett allowed one earned run over five innings this week, striking out five. Over his last five starts, Nett has allowed four earned runs over 25 innings with 33 strikeouts, good for a 1.44 ERA. After missing most of the first two months injured, the hard-throwing right-hander has a career-high with 56.1 innings. He’s maintained a 26.4% strikeout rate while cutting his walk rate down to 12.2%.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: After reaching base safely for 18 straight games, Ethan Salas’ career-best streak finally came to an end in game two of a doubleheader. Salas would add three more hits the rest of the week to finish a respectable 5-for-20 with two doubles and six RBI. He finished August hitting .255/.308/.429, easily his best month of the season. His current.318 SLG is the best since the second week of the season.  … Like Salas, Kai Murphy had a 10-game on-base streak snap in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader. Murphy then rebounded by collecting seven hits and two walks over the next four games. With the hot week, Murphy has raised his OPS to .705. … Over the last four games in the series, Devin Ortiz went 10-for-17, with three doubles and six runs. The former Virginia Cavalier finished August hitting .256/.333/.344. … Two years ago, Enmanuel Pinales had just finished a DSL season with a 7.75 ERA. Now, after another six-inning, one-run start, the 23-year-old is poised to finish the season with an ERA less than half that. This was the 13^th time in 20 starts that Pinales has allowed two or fewer runs in a start. Pinales has a 1.13 ERA over his last three starts as he’s worked past 100 innings for the first time in his career. … Jagger Haynes had one he’d like to forget as the 21-year-old allowed six runs for the first time in his career. On a positive note, he struck out seven for the third straight start and finished with a 31.2% strikeout rate on the month. His 110 strikeouts lead the team and put him eighth in the Midwest League…. Speaking of rough starts, Isaiah Lowe tied his career high, allowing five earned runs in his start. The last four starts for Lowe have alternated between two scoreless outings and two in which he surrendered five earned runs. Despite the tough outings, Lowe still boasts a 3.36 ERA between Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne, with 104 strikeouts in 96.1 innings. (Ben Davey)

Lake Elsinore Storm (Won series vs. the Modesto Nuts, 4-2)

Top Performers: The Storm won another series, taking four of six over Modesto, and now have a league-best 36-24 in the second half. The Storm have one more series on the road against Inland Empire before the playoffs. … Kai Roberts had a fantastic week at the plate, providing the spark that powered the Storm’s potent offense. The 23-year-old center fielder hit .500/.583/.700, scoring eight runs to go with a homer and a double. He was also a menace on the basepaths, stealing seven bases without being caught. The former University of Utah outfielder has enjoyed a successful pro debut after the Padres drafted him in the seventh round in July. Roberts has delivered an excellent wRC+ of 140 in 20 games for the Storm. … 19-year-old Maikel Miralles turned in another gem, tossing five shutout innings on Thursday. The Venezuela native allowed three hits, walking three and striking out five. Miralles has been fantastic over his last three outings, allowing just one run in 15 innings. He’s delivered a 4.19 ERA since joining the Storm from the ACL in his first season stateside.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Infielder Chase Valentine only got into four games but destroyed Modesto’s pitching. Valentine went 8-for-13 with a double, homer, three walks, and just one strikeout. The 22-year-old from Denver signed with the Padres as an undrafted free agent in 2022. He’s generally been an organizational depth piece, bouncing from affiliate to affiliate to fill in when needed. This season, he’s gotten an extended opportunity and has provided roughly league-average offense, including the first five homers of his professional career, while playing in a career-high 75 games, 68 of them with the Storm. … Outfielder Braedon Karpathios had another fantastic week, producing an OPS of 1.037. The 21-year-old had four doubles, scored three runs, and drove in five. Karpathios ranks ninth in the Cal League with a wRC+ of 117, and his 18.4% walk rate is the best on the circuit. … Jack Costello continued his hot hitting with another excellent series against the Nuts. Costello, 23, delivered a .946 OPS with a double, triple, and his sixth homer of the season in just 101 plate appearances. In his senior year at USD, the Simi Valley native hit six in 269 plate appearances. Costello has been terrific in his pro debut, delivering a .962 OPS in 21 games. … Righty Tyson Neighbors made his professional debut at The Diamond, making two scoreless appearances. Neighbors struggled a bit with control, walking three batters, but notched five strikeouts and did not allow a hit. Neighbors was the 118th pick in July’s draft, out of Kansas State. (Kevin Charity)