San Diego Padres Week in Review

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost to Reno Aces 2-4)

Player of the Week: Wes Benjamin had the longest and best start of the week for the Chihuahuas, holding Reno to one run over 5.1 innings in a game El Paso would ultimately lose. The 31-year-old lefty has been on quite a roll over his last five outings, posting a 2.00 ERA with 23 strikeouts against 10 walks in 27 innings. It’s an impressive turn-around after his ERA had swollen to 8.39 by mid-May in his return from the KBO. … Mason McCoy had a stellar week, blasting three homers on his way to a 1.244 OPS. The infielder, who was with the big league club until he dislocated his pinky diving back to first base in April, has hit in 16 of 17 games since getting fully underway with the Chihuahuas.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Infielder Clay Dungan nearly matched McCoy for the week, hitting three homers of his own on his way to a 1.042 OPS for the week. The 29-year-old is in the midst of his best month since joining the Padres organization in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft, hitting .284/.378/.537 with five stolen bases. … Luis Campusano returned to El Paso and hit .300/.391/.450 across five games for El Paso. After another rough stint getting limited playing time and poor results for the big league club, Campusano is working at both catcher and first base in the PCL. … Outfielder Forrest Wall hit .364 with four doubles in the week to log a 1.007 OPS. … Eduarniel Núñez spearheaded a strong week for the Chihuahuas bullpen. The hard-throwing righty, who signed as a minor league free agent at the start of last winter, made two scoreless appearances, striking out four. After opening the year in Double-A, Núñez hasn’t allowed a hit in four games with El Paso, but has walked three. If he can keep the command in check, he has played his way into consideration for a big league opportunity this year. … Bryan Hoeing got one final two-inning rehab appearance in before rejoining the Padres bullpen. The righty gave up a single and walk, but no runs. As he departed, fellow rehabber Logan Gillaspie got in two perfect innings of work of his own, striking out two. He’ll look for another opportunity to rejoin the big league club shortly. (David Jay)

San Antonio Missions (Beat Frisco RoughRiders 4-2)

Player of the Week: In his lone start of the week, Henry Baez looked as dominant as he has all season for the Missions. The 24-year-old worked 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while matching his career high with 10 strikeouts. Baez collected a season-high 14 swings and misses with a sinker that sat 94-95 mph for most of the evening and topped out at 98.1. The pitch was getting anywhere from 11 to 17 inches of horizontal break. Baez’s changeup sat in the mid-80s and showcased good late arm-side fade. The stellar outing lowered his ERA to a league-leading 2.06 on the season. Over his last 38 innings Baez has allowed just three runs. … In a quiet week for the Missions offense, Francisco Acuña had a productive week at the plate with a 6-for-19 performance that featured a pair of doubles. The shortstop, who has provided a spark at the top of the Missions lineup all week, drew six walks and got hit by a pitch, pushing his on-base percentage for the week up to .500. As a whole, Acuña has been excellent in 18 games this month, posting an .858 OPS good for a 159 wRC+ and .405 wOBA.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Braden Nett continued his stretch of dominance this week, almost matching Baez in his his start Wednesday. Nett also worked 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing six hits, two walks, while striking out 10 batters. He posted a 17 whiffs, good for a 36.1% whiff rate, with his fastball topping out at 97 mph. The start marked his third straight outing where he generated 15 or more swings and misses. Over his last three starts, he owns a 1.62 ERA, 2.06 FIP, and 35.8% strikeout rate. His 28.3% K rate and 3.59 FIP this season rank third and sixth among Texas League pitchers this season. … Southpaw Jagger Haynes, 22, worked six innings, allowing just one run on four hits and a walk, and struck out five. Haynes generated 10 total swinging strikes, resulting in an excellent 29.4% whiff rate on the night. His sinker sat 92-93 mph, getting anywhere from 11-14 inches of horizontal run. Haynes’s changeup was also effective running away from right-handed hitters. It sat at 82-83 and continued to flash an ample arm-side fade. Over his last five starts, Haynes has a 1.98 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 27.1 innings of work. … Ryan Och made a trio of appearances and, over six scoreless innings, yielded one hit while striking out seven of the 14 total batters he faced. After a brief stint on the development list, Och has looked much more like the pitcher we saw in 2024. Over his last nine appearances, Och has posted a 0.87 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate, and 2.18 FIP. … Brandon Valenzuela’s had a bit slower of a week offensively for San Antonio going just 5-for-24. However he did provide the Missions with a walk-off on Saturday night, and lunched a 105.3 mph exit velocity home run. Valenzuela continues a career-best offensive season from both a power and run production standpoint. Through 60 games he owns a career high .463 slugging percentage and 138 wRC+. … After a blistering first month and a half of the season, Romeo Sanabria has hit a extended cold stretch. The first baseman went just 3-for-22 with nine strikeouts. Since the calendar flipped to June, Sanabria is hitting just .194 with a .489 OPS. He has just one extra-base hit in his last 19 games. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won at Dayton Dragons 3-2)

Player of the Week: Eric Yost dominated enough to earn Midwest League Pitcher of the Week honors. The 22-year-old allowed two baserunners over seven scoreless innings, striking out nine. It was his first shutout of over five innings this year.  Since the Padres drafted him in the 17^th round in 2023, Yost has steadily improved his results. In 2023, batters hit .347 off him in limited action in Lake Elsinore. Last year, they hit .291 between Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne.  Now in 2025, he has allowed 52 hits in 63 innings, good for a .219 average against. He ranks third in the Midwest League with both a 2.43 ERA and 67 strikeouts. … Rosman Verdugo reached base 11 times over four games and connected on his team-leading tenth home run of the season, while drawing seven walks.  The 20-year-old from Baja California has already tied his career high in home runs.  While he is still struggling to get his average above .220 this month, his patience at the plate has fueled  a .443 on-base percentage for June, and a .363 mark for the season that is more than 20 points above his previous career high.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: While it was far from a great week overall for Leo De Vries, he did end the week with back-to-back two-hit games. He collected four RBI in those two games and walked three other times on the week.  He and the organization will hope that the weekend marks the start of a rebound for De Vries, who is hitting .175/.325/.254 in June. … After hitting .298/.442/.418 with Lake Elsinore, Ryan Jackson received a well-deserved promotion to High-A.  In his first week, the former USC Trojan went 4-for-15, with five RBI and three walks.  The 23-year-old only struck out once in his first four High-A games. … With Jackson promoted, the TinCaps’ other middle infielder picked a great time to have his best week of the season.  Brandon Butterworth came into the week with three home runs all season before connecting on two more this week.  The 22-year-old went 9-for-24 and also had a double as he scored eight runs and drove in three. The strong week boosted his OPS from .714 to .760. …  Braedon Karpathios continues to mash.  The former undrafted free agent signee went 7-for-21 with two home runs, seven runs scored, three walks, and five RBI. The home runs were his first since May 15, but he is still hitting .281/.361/.438 for the month. … Kai Roberts capped his 4-for-16 week by homering in back-to-back games. The former Utah Ute outfielder did not steal a base all week for the first time this season. He still has a team-leading 17 steals in 18 attempts despite not joining the club until late May.  …  Jacob Campbell had three straight multi-hit games as the 25-year-old went 6-for-15, with a double, a home run, five runs, and four RBI on the week.  The home run was his first in three weeks and only his third on the season. …  It was not the greatest week for two-way player Sean Barnett.  At the plate, he only played twice, going 1-for-6 with a walk. On the mound, after a strong first appearance, Barnett was hammered for the first time in his career, giving up five runs over 0.1 innings to triple his ERA.  … For one of the few times all season, Miguel Mendez struggled. While Mendez allowed just one run over 5.1 innings, he did walk five while only striking out one batter. The system’s breakout star sat 97 mph with his fastball but could not consistently locate it.  The 22-year-old has a 2.74 ERA and 11.4 K/9 on the season. …  For the first time all season, Isaiah Lowe was able to complete six innings. The 22-year-old scattered seven hits, allowing two runs and striking out three.  Lowe’s kryptonite all year has been wildness, but the Dragon players kept swinging early, keeping Lowe locked in. … Garrett Hawkins worked two more scoreless innings, giving up the first hit he allowed since June 8 in the second outing. It has officially been two months and 19.1 innings since Hawkins allowed a run as he has lowered his ERA to 2.13 for the season. … After having his first truly bad outing of the year, lefty Fernando Sanchez was back to tossing shutout baseball. The 24-year-old did not allow a hit over 3.1 innings, striking out two. He has a 2.33 ERA in 27 innings for the TinCaps this season. (Ben Davey)

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost series at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, 1-5)

Top Performers: The Storm had another rough trip to Rancho Cucamonga, losing five of six to their neighbors. Lake Elsinore is 1-8 against the Dodgers’ Cal League affiliate this season. The Storm finished the first half with a 29-37 record, and they are off to a 1-2 start in the season’s second half. … Lamar King Jr. had another tremendous week at the plate, hitting .500/.619/.750 with four doubles, five walks, and just two strikeouts. As the season has progressed, King has emerged as one of the best offensive players in the league. Over his last 29 games, the 21-year-old is hitting .330/.407/.486 with 12 doubles and a sub-10% K-rate. He’s also shown prowess on the basepaths, stealing 11 bases during his hot stretch. … Lefty Boston Bateman pitched well on Thursday, delivering five strong innings in a game the Storm ultimately lost. The 19-year-old allowed just one run on three hits, walking two and striking out six. The 6-foot-8 starter has shown better command than anticipated this season in his first crack at professional baseball. In 11 starts, Bateman has walked 18 batters in 51 innings while delivering a 3.53 ERA. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Kavares Tears has shown tremendous power for the Storm this year, but he’s also been a bit streaky. After a big week two weeks ago at the Diamond, Tears struggled against the Quakes, going 3-for-22 in six games with three runs scored, a homer, four RBI, and 10 strikeouts in 22 at-bats. The outfielder, who remains limited to designated hitter, leads the Storm with eight home runs while carrying a 27% K-rate. … B.Y. Choi delivered an excellent 1.005 OPS with two doubles and a team-high six RBI in four games. Choi struggled mightily in May, but he’s been excellent in June, delivering an .847 OPS while adding outfield play to his resume. … Shortstop Cobb Hightower had a slow week, hitting .214/.313/.286 in four games. The young shortstop missed time with a knee injury but was not placed on the injured list. … Victor Figueroa also struggled on the week, going just 1-for-17, though that one hit left the yard. In 26 games with the Storm, the Florida native has an .830 OPS. … Kash Mayfield looked dominant in his start Tuesday, striking out a career-high eight batters over three innings. He was charged with an unearned run despite not allowing a hit and giving up just one walk in the abbreviated outing. Since returning from a roughly three-week absence, Mayfield has been almost perfect. In three starts, he’s tossed eight hitless innings, walking one while striking out 18 during the hot stretch. … (Kevin Charity)

ACL Royals 11, ACL Padres 8 (1-4 on the week)

Key Stats: CF Donte Grant 2-for-3, 2B, BB, SF, SB (10); 1B Kale Fountain 1-for-5, SB (9); DH Albert Fabian 2-for-5, HR (2), 3 RBI; LF Gabriel Marquez 2-for-4, 2B, SB (2), E

Prospect Watch and Key Performers: The Padres club dropped their final three of the week and finished the first half with a league-worst 10-28 record. The club’s 7.69 ERA is nearly two runs worse than any other team on the circuit. That played out on Monday as the team put up eight runs, but gave up a five-spot in the eighth to fall again. Center fielder Donte Grant, who has flashed intriguing skills and tools while posting inconsistent results, led the club, going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk and stole his 10th base of the year. The 20-year-old, who signed as an undrafted free agent out of high school in 2023, has a .350 on-base percentage on the year, but has struck out at a 25% clip this year. … Kale Fountain had a single and a walk in five trips to the plate, extending his hitting streak to seven straight as he logged the whole game at first base. The 19-year-old has an 1.062 OPS this month as he makes a case to get out of the desert before the end of the ACL season. … Albert Fabian hit his second homer in 11 games as part of a two-hit effort Monday. The 23-year-old posted a 1.090 OPS across four games this week while splitting time between first base and DH. He will look to get to an affiliate before the end of the month.