Padres Prospects Week in Review: May 6 -11

Key Roster Moves: The Padres made their first wave of pitching moves to open the week, as Jackson Wolf went up to El Paso, Enmanuel Pinales headed to San Antonio, and Miguel Mendez took his spot in Fort Wayne. All three responded very positively. The club traded outfielder Connor Joe to Cincinnati in exchange for reliever Andrew Moore, who will join the Missions this week. Last night, it was reported that Ethan Salas will be sidelined until July due to stress reaction in his lower back. Salas originally injured his back on April 17 and hit the Missions 7-day IL on April 26.

El Paso Chihuahuas  (Won series vs Round Rock Express, 5-1)

Top Performers: Eguy Rosario bounced back with a big week, posting a 1.122 OPS as he hit .389 and reached base 10 times in 21 plate appearances to get his average above the Mendoza Line. The 25-year-old also stole three bases in as many attempts. Rosario, who became the Chihuahuas’ all-time home run leader – a rather dubious honor – will look to put a dismal April behind him and play for another opportunity at the big league level. … Jackson Wolf, 26, didn’t have a great time in his first time around in El Paso in 2024, as the 6-foot-7 left-hander posted a 7.08 ERA in 89 innings.  This year, after starting strong in San Antonio with a 3.24 ERA in five starts, he earned another crack at Triple-A. He celebrated by posting his best outing since last June, going six innings and only allowing three hits and one run. He struck out six against only a single walk.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: While outfielder Oscar González, 27, struggled in his 61 plate appearances in the big leagues, he quickly got back on track as he returned to Triple-A, hammering the Express for seven hits, including two doubles and a home run in three games. For the season, he is batting .356/.396/.733 in the PCL, but after chasing at a league-worst 57.5% of pitches out of the zone in the big leagues, he probably will need to be more selective to earn another chance in San Diego. … Clay Dungan, 29, had a nice week, posting a 1.119 OPS while playing in all six games, reaching base 10 times in 19 plate appearances. The left-handed hitter has seen time at second, third, shortstop, and center field on the year. … While lefty Kyle Hart, 32, isn’t blowing anyone away with his peripheral numbers, he is getting through innings in the PCL, which is an accomplishment. At the start of this week, he went five innings and gave up two runs, keeping his team in a game while allowing four hits and three walks against four strikeouts.  Reliever David Morgan, 25, took the Chihuahuas’ only loss this week, but he only allowed a single hit and run while striking out six in three innings and three appearances.  The converted outfielder from Hope International University has risen very quickly since signing in 2022 and is one of the better athletes in the system. … Reiss Knehr, 28, another collegiate two-way player, picked up a win and a save in three scoreless appearances. On the season, Knehr has a 2.57 ERA and seven saves in 14 innings. (John Conniff)

San Antonio Missions (Split series vs. Frisco RoughRiders, 3-3)

Players of the Week: Braden Nett made two strong starts on the week, delivering arguably his best start of the 2025 season Sunday. The 23-year-old right-hander worked five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk while punching out five. Nett’s arsenal was on full display as he generated 14 whiffs, good for a 40% whiff rate on the afternoon. Nett’s fastball once again displayed excellent vertical ride while sitting 95-97 mph for most of the day and topping out at 98. Nett overpower MLB Pipeline’s number nine prospect Sebastian Walcott all afternoon, punching him out on three occasions. Walcott swung and missed at Nett’s slider five separate times. The pitch continues to display tight sweeping life with solid depth. In his two starts this week, Nett posted a 0.87 ERA and 1.69 FIP on a 28.6% K rate and 33.1% whiff rate, all while walking just 4.8% of the batters he faced. Nett’s command has improved to a 30 grade this season. By removing his head knock, there is reason to believe the command will continue improving as the year progresses. …Brandon Valenzuela continues to see the ball exceptionally well in 2025. The 24-year-old stayed locked in, going 6-for-17 with two doubles, a home run, and five walks. In five games this week, Valenzuela posted a 235 wRC+, .522 wOBA, and 1.169 OPS. Valenzuela’s plate discipline has been excellent since April 20, posting a 13.7% walk rate over his last 17 games.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Jagger Haynes put together a second consecutive solid outing for San Antonio, going 5.2 innings, allowing two runs, only one of which was earned, on three hits and two walks. Haynes’s fastball-slider combination was solid, with his four-seam topping out at 97 mph. Overall, he generated 12 whiffs, good for a 28.5% whiff rate on the day. In his 10.1 May innings , Haynes owns a 36.6% strikeout rate, fueling a 1.74 ERA and 1.67 FIP as opponents are hitting only .135. … Henry Baez continues to fly a bit under the radar this season. Baez’s command was not at its best as he walked for across 5.1 innings while allowing one run on four hits and punching out six. In 32 innings this year, he owns a 3.16 FIP and 3.66 ERA. His fastball still sits mostly 92-95, but this season he has more frequently touched 97 than he did a year ago. Baez’s splitter has a solid shape, as it still flashes solid vertical movement and arm-side fade. Baez has also continued to keep the ball on the ground, posting a strong 52.4% ground ball rate against a 26.8% fly ball rate…Romeo Sanabria provided the week’s most exciting hit for the Missions, crushing a walk-off two-run home run on Saturday before unleashing a solid 9.4/10 bat-flip. Outside of the long-ball, though, it was a quiet week for the Indian River State College alumni, who went 2-for-18. Still, Sanabria continues to be succeed on the year, as he owns a 127 wRC+, .450 slugging percentage, and .353 wOBA. That’s a rather impressive jump from the .333 slugging percentage he posted in 32 games in San Antonio last year. He’s been more aggressive at the dish, swinging at 52.8% of the pitches he’s seen after swinging just 42.3% of the time in 2024. … Bradgley Rodriguez made three scoreless appearances on the week. Since allowing five runs in an outing he left with back soreness on April 22, Rodriguez has been lights out. In eight innings since, he’s posted a 0.00 ERA, 1.53 FIP, and held opponents to just a .074 batting average. He owns a 32.1% strikeout rate and stellar 3.6% walk rate in that span. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won series at South Bend Cubs, 4-2)

Player of the Week: Finally, a new face as the player of the week as Nerwilian Cedeño led the team with eight hits, scored five runs, drove in seven, walked three times and doubled twice. The 23-year-old has worked on putting the ball in play more lifting his batting average nearly 50 points from last year to .275, while his K rate has dropped from 26.4% to 17.9%. … Fresh off being promoted to replace TinCaps ace Enmanuel Pinales, who was promoted to Double-A, Miguel Mendez immediately made a huge impression in his first start. The Dominican native struck out seven over five scoreless innings.  Most impressively, he did not walk a batter while only allowing three baserunners. He topped out at 97 mph and showed a really good slider that had Cub batters flailing all day. Clearly the new level didn’t phase the 22-year-old who now has 25 strikeouts in 16.1 innings on the year.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: After lighting the world on fire for the first four weeks of the season, Leo De Vries was human, going 5-for-23 with a double, two walks, and eight strikeouts. Despite the down week, El Mutante is still second in the league with a .519 slugging percentage. … Rosman Verdugo reached base safely in every game in the series, going 6-for-22, with three doubles and two walks. Verdugo’s .504 slugging percentage is ninth on the circuit and he has a share of the league lead with six home runs. … Despite only playing in half the games, Sean Barnett reached base five times and drove in five runs.  The 21-year-old has been limited to DH-only duties while he continues to prepare to take the mound, but his bat has spoken for itself. In 18 games across two levels, Barnett is hitting .313/.429/.493. … Jacob Campbell had a career night on Wednesday, going 5-for-5 with a double and triple. The 24-year-old was unable to replicate his success the rest of the week but had a very respectable 6-for-14 with two doubles and a walk. The one game raised his OPS from .638 last Monday to .768 today. … While Campbell might have had the best game, Braedon Karpathios delivered the biggest hit. The 21-year-old crushed a grand slam to punctuate a five-run first inning on Sunday. He came through with his second home run of the game in the fifth to give the TinCaps a 10-run lead and claim his first multi-home run game. The 2022 undrafted free agent hit more home runs Sunday than he had in his entire first full season with the Storm and he is already only three away from his career high. … Tyson Neighbors gave up his first home run as a professional, allowing the first run he had surrendered since April 20. The good news was that it was a solo shot. Neighbors now has 25 strikeouts in 13.2 innings (16.46 K/9), and after walking five batters in his first 5.2 innings, has only walked one over his last eight innings. … After a solid bounce-back start at home, Isaiah Lowe was hit hard once again this week. The 22-year-old allowed five earned runs over 3.2 innings.  On the year, Lowe has now walked 13 and hit three batters in 17.1 frames. His walk rate has jumped to 15.3% while his strikeout rate has plummeted to 17.6%. … As has been the case the last few starts, Clark Candiotti struggled to find the plate consistently, but he was able to minimize the damage and pick up his first career win. The former Arizona Wildcat allowed one run over five innings despite walking two and hitting two more batters. He was helped by a South Bend team that would chased all week. His six strikeouts are his second-best total. … Ian Koenig also earned his first win of the season, allowing two runs over five innings while striking out a season-high six batters. The 24-year-old did hit three batters, but like Candiotti, he was able to escape jams consistently. … Garrett Hawkins faced seven batters over two appearances and struck out six of them. After missing all of last year, Hawkins has struck out 35.8% of the batters he’s faced in relief while posting a 3.10 xFIP.  … Fresh off a career-best seven inning, 11 strikeout performance, Eric Yost once again allowed only one earned run and pitched into the sixth.  This time he walked three, hit a batter and struck out three. The TinCaps starter lowered his ERA to 1.86, though his xFIP is a more pedestrian 3.45. (Ben Davey)

Lake Elsinore Storm (won series at San Jose Giants, 4-2)

Top Performers: The Storm won both games over the weekend to claim their second straight series and are now 8-4 over the last two weeks. … Ryan Jackson began the year as the Storm’s everyday shortstop but since the arrival of Cobb Hightower, the former USC infielder has scooted over to second base. It hasn’t had an impact on his offense as Jackson had another productive series, leading the Storm with a .989 OPS. He had two doubles, a homer, and six RBI while drawing five more walks. In 33 games this season, Jackson leads the Cal League with 41 free passes, while his .487 on-base percentage ranks second. At 23, Jackson is one of the older players on the Storm roster but his patience at the plate has been a big reason why the Storm offense has a .372 on-base percentage that is second in the league. … Righty Will Varmette made a pair of appearances out of the bullpen for the Storm and threw 4.2 scoreless innings. Varmette started the year on the injured list before making his season debut on April 20. The Alabama native had a pair of nightmare outings, allowing nine earned runs in 3.2 innings. Since then, the 22-year-old has been perfect. In his 4.2 innings of work against the Giants, he did not allow a baserunner. However, he also failed to notch a strikeout. Varmette sat in the low-90s in his outings last week, showing a solid slider that kept teams off-balance. While he’s not missing bats, he hasn’t allowed a baserunner in his last 7.2 innings of work. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Kasen Wells continued to play well, as the speedy center fielder hit .346/.414/.423 with two doubles, five RBI, and three stolen bases in six games against the Giants. The Storm center fielder ranks sixth in the league with a .415 on-base percentage and he’s stolen a league-high 23 bases while being caught just once all season. … Outfielder Kavares Tears had a productive week, leading the team with nine RBIs. He smacked three doubles on the week, producing a solid .828 OPS despite not homering. He’s been able to produce a 117 wRC+ in 22 games despite striking out nearly a third of the time coming into the series. He cut that to 25% for the week. Tears has homered just twice this year but he has a penchant for delivering clutch RBIs for a Storm team that has played well after an 0-7 start. … Lamar King Jr. had a quiet week, hitting .056/.227/.222, but he did connect on a homer. Overall, King has a wRC+ of 105 for the Storm this season. … Shortstop Cobb Hightower posted a .389 on-base percentage, drawing four walks and striking out just twice in 18 plate appearances. … Kash Mayfield had the pleasure of making an 11 am start Tuesday and pitched pretty well even though the numbers don’t necessarily show it. In five innings, Mayfield walked just one while punching out seven batters. Last year’s first-rounder has a 5.12 ERA through his first 10.1 innings. … Lefty Boston Bateman pitched into the sixth inning for the second straight start but the Giants scored four runs in the fourth inning, skewing his overall numbers a bit. Bateman has shown the ability to miss bats in his first full professional season and his command has been good his last two times out. Over his last two outings, he’s walked just one batter. … Adam Conrad made two more scoreless outings, allowing just one hit as he struck out six over four innings and picked up his first career save. The undrafted free agent has not yet allowed an earned run on the year. (Kevin Charity)

ACL Brewers 19, ACL Padres 9 (1-4 on the week)

Key Stats: SS Yimi Tovar 2-for-5, HR (1); 1B Victor Figueroa 3-for-5, HR (3), SB (1); LF Luis De Leon 2-for-5, 2B; RF Jesmaylin Arias 3-for-5, E (2), OF Assist; RHP Kannon Kemp 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 K, 2 WP, HBP, Balk; C/RHP Jesus Castro 0.2 IP, H

Prospect Watch and Key Performers: There’s hot, and then there’s what Victor Figueroa is doing. The big first baseman went 0-for-4 in the first game of the season, but since then has six straight multi-hit games. For the week, the 21-year-old slugger went 12-for-19 with six extra-base hits for a ridiculous .632/.667/1.316 line. The big man homered for the third straight game and even picked up a stolen base on Monday night as he logged his third three-hit game of the season. … Kale Fountain, who reached base two more times Monday, is off to a fast start as he works back from Tommy John surgery last fall. The big corner infielder, who is still limited to DH duties, went 5-for-13 with two doubles on the week, good for a 1.009 OPS. … Switch-hitter Luis De Leon, who gives away eight inches to Fountain, nearly matched him offensively on the week. going 6-for-15 with two doubles and a pair of walks. The 19-year-old is splitting time defensively between second base and the outfield. … Kannon Kemp set down the first two batters of the game, but then hit a batter, allowed a stolen base and a single, uncorked a wild pitch, and then gave up a three-run homer. The big righty from Texas rebounded from that rough start, allowing just one more run over the next four innings. Coming off shoulder surgery last spring, his velocity hasn’t fully come back, but he did punch out three. … For the fourth time in seven games, the club had to resort to having a position player pitch after the bullpen allowed runs in each of the final four frames. On the week, the club surrendered 48 earned runs in 40.2 innings. Only Humberto Cruz, who worked one inning in his season debut, Igor Gil, who tossed 3.2 innings of relief, and infielder Ismael Javier, who was pressed into service for a frame, got through the week without allowing an earned run. (David Jay)