Welcome back to our weekly wrap-up of the Padres’ minor league system. Each Tuesday morning, we give you a summary of what occurred on the field and updates on the rest of what’s happening at MadFriars. San Antonio, Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore only debuted on Friday, so this is something of a short week, but there were still some notable performances at every level.
Before we cover each affiliate, a few housekeeping items that will be part of each weekly review:
Oscar Gonzalez will look to get back in a Padres uniform quickly in 2025. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Key Roster Moves: Eguy Rosario and Tyler Wade both cleared waivers and were assigned to El Paso. Oscar González and Logan Gillaspie were selected to the 40-player roster, while Tom Cosgrove was designated for assignment to create a spot. Reiss Knehr, who wasn’t quite built up in his return from Tommy John surgery when the Chihuahuas broke camp, joined El Paso on the road and made his first appearance in 18 months.
MadFriars site updates: In addition to each of the free affiliate previews (linked below for each squad), we had plenty of content for subscribers in the first 10 days of the season. You can read up on top prospect Leo De Vries, 2024’s top Padres draftee Kash Mayfield (and, if you missed it fellow Storm starter Boston Bateman from earlier in the spring), and last year’s Padres Pitcher of the Year, Henry Baez, all of whom land in the system’s top 10. We also have more in-depth profiles on Wes Benjamin‘s return from Korea and the hardly-overnight breakout of Bradgley Rodriguez. If all that’s not enough to get you to subscribe now, we’ve also got interviews with top relief prospect Tyson Neighbors and and second-generation starting pitcher Clark Candiotti.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost series at Oklahoma City 2-4)
Ryan Bergert has been strong in the earlygoing. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Top Performers: It wasn’t a great week for the Chihuahuas as they dropped four out of six on the road to the Dodgers affiliate, the newly named Oklahoma City Comets. Oscar González, 27, had a monster week with five extra bases hits in five games, three of which left the park for a .381/.458/.952 slash line. González, who many fans wanted to go west to San Diego to start the year, had an .802 OPS for the New York Yankees’ Triple-A club Scranton last season and can play both corner outfield spots. At 6-foot-5, 240 pounds, he could put up impressive numbers as long as he is in the Sun City, which might not be for long. … Long-time readers know that we believe Ryan Bergert, 25, can be very good when his arm angle is right and with the appropriate secondary pitches. This week, we saw it as he struck out 11 batters in five innings of work against no walks in a no-decision. The right-hander gave up one run and allowed six hits, a marked improvement from a 9.82 ERA in 14.2 innings in the Arizona Fall League.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: San Diego native Trenton Brooks, 29, leads the team in hits with 13 in eight games. This week, he continued his torrid start, hitting .368 with seven hits and reached base 12 times for a .462 average. The left-hander who played his college ball at the University of Nevada, posted an .863 OPS for Triple-A Sacramento in the Giants organization. … Clay Dungan, 29, was one of the more underrated players in the Padres’ system last season. He can play nearly any position on the field, and his left-handed bat usually produces a professional at-bat. This week, he posted a .524 on-base percentage, with a double, home run, and stole four bases without getting caught in six games. … Luis Campusano, 26, only hit .222 but still had a .500 slugging percentage with three of his four hits for extra bases, including a home run and five RBI. … Wes Benjamin, 31, one of many Padres offseason signees from Asia, had an impressive start throwing seven innings and only allowing one earned run in two starts. Two arms in the bullpen stood out; Kevin Kopps, 28, got in three games and threw 4.1 innings without allowing a run while striking out five against three walks, and Reiss Knehr, 28, made his return from Tommy John after missing all of last year with five strikeouts in two games and 1.2 innings against only a single walk. (John Conniff)
San Antonio Missions (Won series over Amarillo Sod Poodles 2-1)
Miguel Cienfuegos has been a key contributor in the Padres system. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Top Performers: While three starters took the ball this weekend for San Antonio, the most complete performances came from reliever Miguel Cienfuegos. The 28-year-old left-hander worked four scoreless innings on Saturday, allowing three hits and one hit batter without a walk. He punched out seven, his highest strikeout total since he recorded 10 last July 13. … Marcos Castañon led the way offensively as the 26-year-old UC Santa Barbara alum put together a 5-for-11 opening series against Amarillo that featured a pair of doubles and a home run.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Journeyman Moisés Gómez put together a line similar to Castañon, as the 28-year-old posted a 4-for-14 weekend featuring his first home run. Gómez is no stranger to the long-ball; three years ago, as a member of the Cardinals organization, he posted back-to-back 30 home run seasons. … Last year’s offensive player of the year, Romeo Sanabria, picked up where he left off, piecing together a 5-for-13 weekend that featured a double and one stolen base. … It was a slow first weekend for number two prospect Ethan Salas. Fortunately, it ended on a high note, as in his final at-bat against Amarillo, Salas laced a 1-1 fastball into right-center for a two-run single, his lone hit in a 1-7.
Braden Nett went just four innings in his start Sunday. While the right-hander took the loss, Nett didn’t allow an earned run on three hits and two walks over three innings pitch. Nett’s arsenal flashed plenty of times on Sunday, generating eight whiffs, good for a 27.5% rate and four strikeouts. … Jagger Haynes got the ball on opening day. The left-hander cruised through his first two innings before running into trouble in the third. The 23-year-old walked two batters and hit one more before being removed. The command issues can be attributed to a steady rainfall that began at the top of the inning. Even with the struggles, Haynes’s stuff looked good as he generated seven whiffs, a 36.8% whiff rate, and four strikeouts in his 2 1/3 innings of work. … Bradgley Rodriguez worked just one inning, and the dominant right-hander ran into a bit of trouble, issuing a walk and hitting a batter. He ultimately settled down and struck out the game’s final batter with bases to lock down his first save of the year. … David Morgan looked dominant in his two back-to-back shutout appearances. In the process, he generated a 50% whiff rate (with seven total whiffs) and four strikeouts. Morgan’s fastball topped out at 98 MPH during his first outing on Friday night. (Clark Fahrenthold)
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won series over Lansing Lugnuts 2-1)
Leo De Vries had plenty to celebrate in week one. (Photo: Adam Gaddy)
Players of the Week: Despite only playing in two games, Leo De Vries reached base safely four times. He went 3-for-8, with a walk, stolen base, and scored three runs. He also played tremendous defense at short, making a few highlight-worthy defensive plays. It’s a good start for the youngest player in the league. … The last time Garrett Hawkins took the mound was May 4, 2023. He missed the rest of 2023 and all of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John Surgery. Nearly two years later, he made his return to the mound in Fort Wayne Saturday and threw two perfect innings, striking out four. For his work, he collected his first win since August 5, 2022.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: The only player with a hit in all three games was Brandon Butterworth. Last year’s 12th-round pick is hitting .400/.455/.600 over his first 11 plate appearances. He leads the team with two doubles and is tied for the team lead with two RBI. … Brendan Durfee had hits in each of the two games he played. He went 3-for-8 with a double and two RBI. The starting catcher drafted out of UC Santa Barbara, hit .288/.413/.479 over the final month in Lake Elsinore … Enmanuel Pinales got the opening day nod and continued right where he left off in 2024. Last year in Fort Wayne, Pinales had a 3.49 ERA over 111 innings. Friday, he threw 3.2 scoreless innings, striking out four. Each of the starters are on a pitch limit early in the year. Pinales hit his and was removed. … The next day’s starter, Isaiah Lowe, was nearly as dominant. Lowe allowed one run on two hits over four innings. The 21-year-old had a 3.33 ERA over 105.1 innings between Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne last year. … The entire relief corps of the TinCaps had a powerful first series. They threw a total of 16.2 innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out 18.
(Ben Davey)
Lake Elsinore Storm (lost series at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, 0-3)
Lamar King has been at the heart of most Lake Elsinore offense. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Top Performers: The Storm opened their season on the road in Rancho Cucamonga, and things couldn’t have gone much worse. The offense struggled, hitting .214/.336/.265 with three extra-base hits. They struck out 37 times in a three-game tilt. On the pitching side of things, the staff struggled mightily, walking an almost unfathomable 32 batters – 11 more than any other team last weekend. The staff had a 9.00 ERA and a 2.54 WHIP. The Storm will open their first home series of the year on Tuesday with Kash Mayfield on the mound. … Lamar King Jr. was the lone bright spot of the weekend offensively. The former fourth-round pick went 5-for-10 with a homer, two runs, five RBI and three walks, and a stolen base. Overall, King produced a slash-line of .500/.615/.800, playing all three games of the series. … Of the 14 Storm pitchers who saw action last weekend, only two survived the series without a run. Jesus Lopez tossed 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball in his lone outing. While he did walk three batters, he was able to mitigate the self-inflicted damage by striking out three. The 18-year-old from Mexico is the youngest player on the Storm roster after pitching last year in the ACL.
Top Performers and Others of Note: Sean Barnett started two games as a designated hitter and struggled, going 1-for-8 with a single, a walk, and five strikeouts. The former Wingate University slugger will play designated hitter most days while he ramps up to try pitching later this spring. … Kaden Hollow went 2-for-7 with two walks and a strikeout while seeing action in two games. The former Utah Tech star should get plenty of playing time, with King and Barnett splitting time at the designated hitter position. Hollow played in 19 games for the Storm last season, producing a .477 OPS in the process. … Daniel Montesino made his full-season debut and struggled mightily. The 21-year-old did notch a double – his only hit in eight plate appearances. In his other seven plate appearance, he punched out. With Kavares Tears waiting in the wings, Montesino must make more contact to avoid being sent back to the complex. He signed for $1 million as an international free agent in 2021. … Luis Gutierrez made his first outing of the season on Sunday and pitched poorly, taking the loss. The southpaw completed three innings and walked a career-high six batters. The outing was a bit odd, considering Gutierrez never walked more than three batters in 17 games for the Storm last season. The lefty will look for better results this week as the Storm return to the Diamond. (Kevin Charity)
