2024 San Antonio Player and Pitcher of the Year

Summary: San Antonio battled most of the year, finishing 31-37 in both the first and second halves with a vastly diminished team compared to what they believed they would have coming into the season. The depletion of the Double-A roster was a big reason for the big league team’s success.

Coming into the year, the Missions may have had the most talented pitching staff the Padres had ever assembled, then the trade for Dylan Cease, which included Jairo Iriarte and Drew Thorpe, who were expected to be significant parts of the rotation. Then, a month into the season, San Diego acquired Luis Arraez, which included two of the Missions best position prospects in Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella. Finally, at the trade deadline, San Antonio lost lefty Robby Snelling and righty Adam Mazur – who had been promoted to El Paso and made his major league debut for Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing.

Still, the Alamo City did see some strong pitching this year, but the Mission’s offense struggled to score, with only one player posting an OPS over .700.

Level: Although not the final stop for top prospects in quite the same fashion that the Padres used it for before the pandemic, Double-A still finds itself as the last long stint a future big league may enjoy before their debut. For the first time, prospects regularly face players in their mid-to-late twenties and even players with big-league experience. The diversity of ages, abilities, and backgrounds makes it one of the most exciting levels to watch and one of the most difficult to appraise play from.

Player of the Year: 1B/3B Robbie Tenerowicz  .230/356/.366 10 HRs 40 RBI (John, David, Mark);  3B/2B Marcos Castañon  .227/.316/.373 13 HR 54 RBI (Kevin, Ben)

Robbie Tenerowicz,29, was released from the Arkansas Travelers, the Seattle Mariners Double-A affiliate, and he found a spot with the Missions when incumbent first baseman Nathan Martorella was traded. It was a good fit for the 29-year-old from the University of California-Berkely, whose wife worked in the San Antonio area. All players with over 400 plate appearances, in OPS at .722, were tied for second in home runs with 10 and showed some defensive versatility in moving back to third base to make room for Romeo Sanabria when he was promoted from Fort Wayne.

Marcos Castanon, 25, led the team in home runs and RBI and was second only to Valenzuela in slugging percentage. He finished strong in his last 13 games and 58 play appearances in September with a .869 OPS, which beat his best month by over 100 points. His overall numbers were the lowest of his career, and he should hit much better in the more hitter-friendly environments of the Pacific Coast League. Defensively, he continued to show improved arm strength at third base and moved better laterally at second.

Others of Note: LF/1B Cole Cummings and Brandon Valenzuela

Cole Cummings, 26, was one of the Missions’ power threats, but mainly on the road, where he posted a .783 OPS instead of a .518 one in Nelson Wolff Stadium. The former University of California-Sanat Barbara Gaucho hit nine of his 10 home runs before August 1. Switch-hitting catcher Brandon Valenzuela had an up-and-down season at the plate, posting a .924 OPS in June after a .540 OPS in May as he posted an overall line of .241/.317/.381 before moving to El Paso in early August. As always, he earned raves for his ability to call games and handle a staff.

Pitcher of the Year: RHP Jared Kollar  9-3 3.04 ERA 83 IP (David, John, Kevin, Mark) LHP Austin Krob 4-11 4.43 ERA 124 IP (Ben)

Jared Kollar, an undrafted free agent from Rutgers, had the best season of anyone in the Alamo City as he led the team in wins and posted a better ERA than any starter other than Adam Mazur before he was promoted to El Paso and eventually traded to Miami. Kollar has an unorthodox, over-the-top delivery without much velocity but quite a bit of separation between his four-seam fastball and cutter. He struck out 77 in 83 innings and only allowed 18 walks. The 25-year-old was promoted at the end of July to El Paso and put a 4.72 ERA in 47.2 innings, which was in the PCL, and was particularly strong in four games in September, holding the opposition to a .591 OPS.

Austin Krob, 25, led the team in innings pitched and strikeouts with 124. The former TCU star suffered a lot of bad luck this season, but at times, including one stretch in August when he posted a 1.67 ERA in six starts and 32.1 innings, his sinker/slider combination was nearly unhittable.

Others of Note: RHP Victor Lizarraga, RHP Ryan Bergert, and LHP/RP Omar Cruz

Victor Lizarraga, 20, missed all of Spring Training and half of April coming back from an oblique injury but still made 21 starts with a 4.03 ERA while being over four years younger than his competition. He was particularly good in June and July when he had a 3.39 ERA in 53.1 innings. He’s a different pitcher in that he counts on landing his secondary pitches – particularly his slider – early in the count and then will try to finish hitters off with the plus command of his fastball, which usually sits in the low 90s. … Ryan Bergert, 25, was much better than his 2-10 record, especially in August/September, with a 3.06 ERA in eight starts. Bergert, as we have reported here many times, throws a rising fastball, and right now, it’s more of a question of finding the appropriate secondary pitches and when to use them. He will be someone to watch next year in El Paso. … Finally, Omar Cruz, 25, had a tremendous season coming over from Pittsburgh as part of the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft with a 5-0 record and a 3.78 ERA. He struck out 70 in 47.2 innings against only 13 walks, and, until he had a few rough outings in El Paso in September, he nearly earned himself a big league call-up.

Top Position Prospect: Brandon Valenzuela (unanimous)

Brandon Valenzuela is only 23 and will get a chance to be the everyday catcher in El Paso next year. At one point this past season, El Paso had five catchers on the roster. Look for him to improve significantly on his subpar offensive of .526 in 2025.

Top Pitching Prospect: Victor Lizarraga (John, David, Mark), Austin Krob (Kevin), and RHP/RP Francis Pena (Ben)

Lizarraga is the pitcher who should do much better in San Diego than he will in El Paso because the altitudes of the park in the PCL will significantly affect the movement he can generate on his pitches. Still, the Tijuana native is one of the best in the system at reading player’s swings and seems to have a knack for throwing pitches in areas that batters don’t like to swing. … Krob threw the most innings of his career, and, depending on how much movement he can generate in the altitudes of El Paso and the rest of the PCL, he could be someone to watch. … Francis Pena, 23, moved up three levels this season and sometimes flashed some electric stuff. He finished the season throwing 63 innings with 64 punchouts against 17 walks for a 2.43 ERA. He hit a bit of a speed bump in El Paso, but then again, having bad outings in Reno and Las Vegas, where he gave up five of his six runs in September for a 7.04 ERA in 7.2 innings, should give anyone a mulligan. Look for him to return in 2025 with better secondary pitches.