San Diego Padres Week in Review: May 27 – June 1

El Paso Chihuahuas (Won at Sacramento River Cats 4-2)

Top Performers: Have yourself a week, Tirso Ornelas. The Tijuana native went 10-for-23 with six doubles and two home runs, including one of the inside-the-park variety to finish the week hitting a healthy .435/.480/.826. He scored four runs and drove in nine. That pushed his OPS for the month up to .856 as he continued to post a strong 19% strikeout rate. The 25-year-old has played almost exclusively left field since being optioned to El Paso. … In his last outing before rejoining the big league club for a start this week, Ryan Bergert tossed four masterful innings. The righty allowed a two-out single in the first and then proceeded to retire the next 10 in a row. Over his last three outings, Bergert has not allowed a run in 11 innings, giving up only five hits and three walks while striking out 10.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Bryan Hoeing saw his first Triple-A action of the year as he continued his rehab and it did not go great. In his first game, he only retired one batter, walked two, and allowed a hit, though he did not allow a run. He was not as lucky in his second appearance when he was charged with two runs on four hits over an inning. The Padres will have to make a decision soon on activating Hoeing. … The club did decide on Matt Waldron, who was activated from the IL and optioned to Triple-A.  Making his first Triple-A appearance of the year, Waldron allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits in four innings.  He walked three and struck out six.  Of the 75 pitches Waldron threw, 47 were knuckleballs, while only four were fastballs.  He generated seven whiffs in his four innings, four on the knuckler. … After being optioned earlier in the week, Omar Cruz started Saturday for El Paso and looked just as good as Bergert. The lefty also went four scoreless innings, although he allowed two hits and walked a batter.  The 26-year-old struck out a season high of six batters. On the season, PCL batters are hitting just .148 off of Cruz. … Speaking of being optioned, Alek Jacob was optioned this week after giving up 10 earned runs over his last two appearances with San Diego. In his first outing in Triple-A, he worked a perfect inning with one strikeout to earn the win as he looks to rebound. … Jackson Wolf made two starts, striking out a career-best total of 15 over 9.2 innings in one week. During that time, he allowed one earned run, although in his start Sunday, he allowed four unearned runs. He generated a season high 15 whiffs in 4.2 innings on Sunday. … Wolf goes into the same “crafty lefty” boat as Kyle Hart, where he relies more on movement than on speed.  While the 26-year-old struck out 15, he also walked five. … The only reliever on the 40-man roster who could join the big league club is Ron Marinaccio.  If there was ever a time to make a case for a promotion, Marinaccio showed it this week. The 29-year-old threw 3.1 scoreless innings in two outings, allowing only one runner as he struck out four.  Since allowing five runs on May 13, Marinaccio has allowed one over 7.1 innings on two hits, striking out eight. … After missing a week, Mason McCoy restarted his rehab assignment in El Paso. He got into two games and went 3-for-8 with a home run.  The shortstop has been on the IL with the Padres since April 28 when he sprained a finger on his left hand. … Trenton Brooks tied Ornelas with 10 hits on the week, including three doubles and a home run. The 29-year-old first baseman also walked five times and scored seven runs. Brooks, who made his MLB debut with the Giants last year, is hitting .297/.406/.538 for the Chihuahuas. (Ben Davey)

San Antonio Missions (Won Series at Arkansas Travelers 4-2)

Top Performers: Marcos Castañon continues to be a pleasant surprise in his latest pass through the Texas League. The Missions third basemen had yet another powerful week at the dish, going 8-for-23 with two home runs and two doubles that helped him post a .470 wOBA and 198 wRC+ for the week. Castañon’s swing-happy approach has proven effective this year. With a 54% swing rate, Castañon leaves the zone perhaps more than you would like and rarely walks, but he has made contact on a respectable 81.0% of his swings at pitches in the zone even though he’s swinging at 74.2% of them. After 177 plate appearances this season, Castañon owns a 140 wRC+ and a .851 OPS, up 163 points from last year. … Jagger Haynes put together his most complete outing of the 2025 season on Wednesday. The left-hander worked six innings, allowing one run on just one hit as he walked three and struck out six. Haynes’s fastball sat 93-95 mph for most of the outing and topped out at 96. The slider, as it always does, flashed solid tilt. Overall, his arsenal generated 13 total whiffs and a 40.6% whiff rate in the start. After a rough start to the year, Haynes looked much more like the pitcher we saw in the second half of 2024 through May. The left-hander posted 3.55 ERA with a 28.7% strikeout rate that backed up a 3.61 FIP. He still needs to find more consistent command; even with the success of the past month, Haynes still posted a 12.2% walk rate for the month.

Top Prospects and Others Of Note: A third of the way through the 2025 minor league season, Romeo Sanabria simply refuses to stop hitting. In six games against Arkansas, Sanabria went 8-for-20 with a double, four runs scored, and just one strikeout. For this season, his .340 batting average ranks first in the Texas League. 22 points higher than his nearest competition, recent MLB call-up Jac Cagilanone. His 151 wRC+ and .885 OPS rank second and third, respectively, among active Texas League hitters all while he strikes out a career-best 15.3% rate. … Brandon Valenzuela played in four games, and while he totaled just five hits in 23 at-bats, four went for extra bases. That included home runs in back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday. For the season, he owns a 136 wRC+ and .815 OPS. … After struggling to find his footing in his first three Texas League outing, Enmanuel Pinales had a much-needed bounce-back in a piggyback appearance on Friday. The right-hander worked five innings and allowed only two runs on two hits and three walks while punching out eight. The swing and miss that he became accustomed to in Fort Wayne reappeared as he tallied 16 total whiffs, good for a whopping 45.7% whiff rate on the afternoon. … Eduarniel Núñez dominated out of the bullpen striking out eight of the ten batters he faced across three innings. In his multi-inning outing on Saturday, the righty’s fastball hit 98 and his curveball and slider once again each showcased plus depth. His arsenal generated seven whiffs and a 53.8% whiff rate in that outing. On the year, the minor league free agent signee owns a 41.2% strikeout rate that ranks second among all Texas League pitchers with at least 20 innings pitched. He’s working to improve on an 11.8% walk rate. … After getting an extended rest period as he faces the largest workload of his career this season, Braden Nett returned to the Missions rotation Saturday. The outing lasted just 2.2 innings, as he battled command all afternoon and walked four batters. Still, even in a less-than-specular outing, the stuff flashed. In total, his pitch mix generated a 34.7% whiff rate. Perhaps most notably from the start, Nett’s split-finger/kick change showed good arm-side fade. … Victor Lizarraga worked a season-high 5.1 scoreless innings on five hits and three walks, punching out five times. Lizarraga’s slider was once again the headliner of his arsenal, flashing good depth with a tight spin. Henry Baez also joined in the fun for a pitching staff that allowed only 10 total earned runs on the week. The righty worked around traffic all day to throw 4.1 scoreless innings and lower his ERA on the year to 2.45. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost at Great Lakes Loons 2-4)

Top Performers: The TinCaps offense stalled as only two players who logged at least five games posted an OPS over .750. Brandon Butterworth, the slim infielder from North Carolina State, led the club with a .917 OPS with two triples and a home run. Butterworth, 22, in his first full professional season after being selected in the 12th round of the 2024 draft, leads the league with four triples and has stolen eight bases in nine attempts. On the season, he has a .762 OPS, while turning in stellar infield defense. We will have an interview with him later this week. … Josh Mallitz, 23, an undrafted minor league free agent from the University of Mississippi, appeared in two games tossed a team-high 5.1 innings and didn’t allow a run while striking out seven against two walks.  After struggling to a 9.42 ERA in April, he put together a stellar May with a 1.23 ERA in 14.2 innings. Mallitz dominated in his sophomore year in 2022 with a 1.45 ERA in 31 innings with 48 strikeouts against 12 walks, but missed his entire 2023 campaign with an injury and struggled with a 4.28 ERA and a 30:20 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Braedon Karpathios, 22, did what he does best; he got on base at a .435 clip, tying for the team lead with five hits in 23 plate appearances, though he only garnered one extra-base hit. … It was a tough week for uber-prospect Leo De Vries, 18, as he managed only four hits in 24 plate appearances for a .174/.208/.217 slash line. After he posted an OPS of 1.003 in April, it returned to Earth in May at .600. … Kai Roberts, 24, who shows plus tools, is still adjusting to the Midwest League and struggled in his first full week with 11 strikeouts in 22 plate appearances as he managed only four hits. The Padres will give the talented former Utah Ute plenty of time to adjust. … Jake Snider, 27, a minor league Rule 5 draft selection by San Diego, came off of the Development List on fire with four hits and three walks in three games for a 1.250 OPS. Snider, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the University of Louisville in 2019, had a .933 OPS for Low-A Fresno in the Cal League last year. The left-handed hitter can play all three outfield positions. … On the mound, Clark Candiotti, 24, had another solid start, going five innings and only allowing an earned run and still taking a loss.  He also led the team in strikeouts with six against only one walk. (John Conniff)

Lake Elsinore Storm (Beat Stockton Ports, 5-1)

Top Performers: The Storm had one of their best series of the year, winning five of six against Stockton at home. The 5-1 week propelled their overall record to 24-27; they still trail first-place Rancho Cucamonga by nine games. … Outfielder Kavares Tears had his best week as a professional, displaying the immense power he flashed in college. Tears led the Storm with a 1.213 OPS in the six-game series. He had three doubles, two homers among his 11 hits and drove in eight. Perhaps more importantly, he struck out just three times last week. The 22-year-old has showed growth in his second full season as a professional. In ten April games, Tears struck out in a third of his plate appearances; in May, he knocked that number to 24.3%. Overall, Tears finished May with a .310/.383/.510 slash-line – offensive production 41 percent above the league average. … While Will Varmette (more on him later) won California League Pitcher of the Week, lefty Luis Gutierrez turned in the performance of the year by a Padres farmhand on Sunday. Gutierrez completed eight innings, allowing just five hits. He walked one and struck out seven. The excellent outing capped off a wonderful month for the 21-year-old southpaw. In 21.2 May innings, Gutierrez pitched to a 1.66 ERA. He walked just 8% of batters and struck out 25%. The left-hander has put himself in the conversation for a promotion to Fort Wayne in the not-too-distant future. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Lamar King Jr. had a great week at the plate, delivering a 1.006 OPS, including three doubles. The 21-year-old catcher got off to a bad start in May, driven by an incredibly low BABIP, but his numbers have picked up over the last two weeks. Despite producing a 13.2% K-rate in May, his overall offensive production was 20 percent below the league average for the month. Assuming King continues to make frequent contact, he’s an excellent bet to put up solid offensive numbers in June. … Outfielder Ryan Wilson hit .333/.444/.467 with two doubles and four RBI on the week. Much like last season, the former Davidson outfielder has shown solid on-base skills but has not flashed much power. He slugged just .270 in May and is slugging .327 overall. Thanks to a solid 12% walk rate, he’s supplied offensive production just above the league average. … Cobb Hightower did not play last week as he continues to deal with a knee injury. … As mentioned above, righty Will Varmette rode an excellent start Tuesday to California League Pitcher of the Week honrs. The 22-year-old righty tossed six sterling innings, allowing just one hit. He walked one and struck out four. The Alabama native had a terrific May, pitching to a 2.95 ERA. Outside of one poor outing (six earned runs in 2.1 innings), he allowed just one run in his other 19 innings in May. While Varmette is due for some regression (opponents hit .130 on balls in play in May), his development into a viable starter is a storyline to watch in June. …  Lefty Boston Bateman returned to his Thursday rotation spot and pitched well, earning the victory. In five innings, he allowed a run on four hits, walking two and striking out six. Bateman finished May with a 3.18 ERA and a very solid 3.22 FIP. He walked just seven percent of batters, showing better command than expected. … Former outfielder Ruben Salinas had a nice week, throwing 3.2 shutout innings over a pair of outings. He walked two and struck out five. … Reliever Bernard Jose pitched 4.1 scoreless outings, allowing just one hit. He struck out five and did not allow a walk. (Kevin Charity)

ACL Padres (0-4 on the week)

Top Prospects and Others of Note: With an odd number of clubs in the ACL, the Padres drew the off-day Monday. In the short week, they had a rough go, getting outscored 38-17. Humberto Cruz was pushed back a few days with an illness and allowed a homer in his two innings of work. The 18-year-old righty will look to stretch out beyond two innings for the first time in professional career as he builds up to join Lake Elsinore at some point this summer. Righty Tanner Smith, who had Tommy John surgery before the Padres drafted him out of Harvard last year, made two appearances on the week as he gets stretched out to begin his career. The 22-year-old was charged with three unearned runs, but struck out four in 2.2 innings. … Infielder Ismael Javier went 5-for-10 with a walk across three games. The 19-year-old switch-hitter has shown strong swing speeds in his second season in the desert. … Kale Fountain, who has been dealing with a lingering hamstring issue, got back into action in two games on the week, going 1-for-9. He’ll look to get ramped up to a full hitting load this week and is still working toward playing first base in June. (David Jay)