San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: July 3

Chihuahuas 7, Albuquerque Isotopes 4

Key Stats: LHP Wes Benjamin 4 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K; RHP Francis Peña (W, 3-1) 2 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 1 H, 2 BB, 4 K; RHP Sean Reynolds (S, 1) IP, 2 K; C Luis Campusano 2-for-4, BB, 2 R; LF Brandon Lockridge, 1-for-4, HR (1), BB,  2 R

Prospect Watch: El Paso had to wait about 40 minutes to get underway because of rain, but claimed victory once they got to play Thursday night. Starter Wes Benjamin worked four solid innings, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk, and struck out six. In total, Benjamin generated nine whiffs and a 21.4% whiff rate. He leaned heavily on his curveball, using it 36 times among 85 total pitches. Isotopes batters chased it at a 37.5% clip and swung-and-missed at a 26.3% rate. Sitting at 79.1 mph, the big breaker averaged 47 inches of vertical movement, which is nearly a foot off his average on the year. The decreased movement served Benjamin well because it’s slightly harder to identify out of his hand when it isn’t quite as loopy. … Francis Peña was impressive in his two innings of work even as he gave up his first runs in over a month. The right-hander allowed a pair of runs on one hit and two walks, though only one was earned. He punched out four. Isotopes batters swung at his offerings 16 times and whiffed on 10 of them. Peña’s short, tight slider was his most impressive offering of the night. It sat 86-87 mph and averaged just -0.3 inches of induced vertical break and -3.5 inches of horizontal movement. He got seven whiffs on 12 offerings and also landed it for four called strikes. … Sean Reynolds locked down the win with a 1-2-3 ninth inning of work, punching out two of the three batters he faced. All seven of Reynolds’ fastballs came in between at 96-97 mph and five were in the zone. That helped set up his slider, which continues to be his best pitch. Coming in at 86-88 mph with 0.4 inches of induced vertical break and -3.8 inches of horizontal break, it drew a 33.3% chase rate. … As he seems to do most every night these days, Luis Campusano logged yet another multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. His OPS for El Paso sits at 1.047 for the season and the batted ball data backs up that performance. His 15.6% barrel rate, 55.1% hard-hit rate, .441 wOBA, and 0.433 xwOBA are all in the 100th percentile among Triple-A hitters. … Brandon Lockridge connected on his first home run of the year and drew a walk. The speedy outfielder’s long ball was aided by the conditions in Albuquerque. It left his bat at only 95.9 mph with a launch angle of 45 degrees. … Yonathan Perlaza went 1-for-4 at the dish with an RBI and walk. The right fielder has been on a heater since June 1, posting a 136 wRC+, .989 OPS, and .431 wOBA over his last 26 games. Those aren’t empty numbers, either. Perlaza’s 91.3 mph average exit velocity and 113.7 max exit velocity rank in the 80th and 92nd percentile among Triple-A hitters this season.  

Corpus Christi Hooks 2, Missions 0 (SUSPENDED in the fifth inning)

Prospect Watch: The Missions trailed 2-0 when the skies opened up before the bottom of the fifth inning. The umpires tried to wait out the storm for more than an hour before eventually suspending it for the night. The clubs will travel to Corpus Christi Friday and finish this one before playing their regularly-scheduled match-up. Jagger Haynes gave up two runs on three hits over 4.2 innings as he walked five and punched out six. In total, he needed 90 pitches, with 50 of them going for strikes. Haynes did rack up 10 total swings and misses, good for a 27.7% whiff rate.

Off-field news: The Texas League announced that Henry Baez was the pitcher of the month for June. The righty finished the month with a 1.13 ERA across five starts, posting a 23:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 24 innings while holding opponents to a .175 average. … The Padres transferred Albert Fabian to San Antonio. He returned to Fort Wayne briefly after completing his knee injury rehab, but the 23-year-old needs the opportunity to work in Double-A now that he’s healthy.

TinCaps 2, Lansing Lugnuts 0

Key Stats: RHP Miguel Mendez (W, 5-2) 6 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 9 K; LHP Bodi Rascon 2 IP, BB, K; Cole Paplham (S, 1) IP, 2 BB; SS Leo De Vries 1-for-4, 2B, RBI; 3B Ryan Jackson 1-for-4, RBI; 1B Jack Costello 3-for-4, 2B

Prospect Watch: It was the Miguel Mendez show once again in Fort Wayne on Thursday night. The right-hander was masterful, working six shutout innings, allowing only two hits, walking two, and punching out nine. Mendez’s fastball sat 96-97 mph for most of the night and topped out at 99, while his slider showed exceptional depth while sitting at 86-88 mph. The changeup also had good depth and topped out at 91 mph. In total, Mendez generated 17 total whiffs, good for a very strong 36.9%  whiff rate. He has generated 15 or more whiffs in four of his last five starts. Since his promotion to High A, Mendez has had a dominant 1.88 ERA with a 28% strikeout rate. … Lefty Bodi Rascon and righty Cole Paplham finished the shutout with three hitless frames. Rascon walked one and struck out one over two innings before Paplham worked around a pair of walks to earn his first save of the season. … Leo De Vries continued to ride his current heater, going 1-for-4 with an RBI double. Going into Thursday, De Vries had a .997 OPS good for a 181 wRC+ and .470 wOBA in his last 10 tames. De Vries’s plate discipline has shined through during that span as he had walked in nearly a quarter of his plate appearances. The 18-year-old has shown excellent plate discipline skills across the board all year, chasing just  24% of the time, and posting a 23.6% whiff rate overall. He’s only swung at 69.5% of the pitches he’s seen in the zone, a rate he will likely want to increase. … Ryan Jackson went 1-for-4 with an RBI single. The 23-year-old has been a solid contributor since his promotion, hitting .277 with a .786 OPS. The 17th-round pick has continued to show excellent zone judgement since his promotion, walking at a 16.4% clip against a stellar 12.7% strikeout rate so far in High A. He rarely strikes out, and with a 20.6% whiff rate overall, he’s doing very well with an 86.1% in-zone contact rate. … Jack Costello logged a 3-for-4 night that featured a double. Since June 1, the former USD Torero has posted a 110 wRC+ with a .356 wOBA and .272 batting average.

Inland Empire 66ers 7, Storm  1

Key Stats: LHP Boston Bateman (L, 5-4) 4.2 IP, 4 R (1 ER), 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K; RHP Adam Conrad 1.1 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 K; C-1B Lamar King Jr. 2-for-3, BB; 1B-RF Victor Figueroa 1-for-4, 2B

Prospect Watch: Boston Bateman failed to complete six full innings of work for the first time since May 29 as Inland took advantage of an error to plate three unearned runs in the fifth inning and chase the six-foot-eight left-hander. In all he allowed four runs, just one of which was earned, on three hits, two walks in 4.2 innings while striking out nine. Bateman’s slider continues to make progress, flashing a bit tighter spin and depth. Meanwhile, his sinker yet again topped out at 97. While he only induced a 20% whiff rate, Bateman’s 3.41 ERA ranks fourth among California league pitchers with a minimum 60 IP. … Following Bateman, righty Adam Conrad struggled, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk while recording only four outs. Despite a respectable 2.78 ERA, the 22-year-old has struggled as of late with an FIP north of 5.00 over his last 12.1 innings. … On Thursday morning, MILB unsurprisingly announced Lamar King Jr. as the California League’s Offensive Player of the Month for June. To celebrate, King logged another multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with a walk. Going into the night, King Jr. had posted 183 wRC+, 1.016 OPS, and .484 wOBA in his last 24 games played. Simply put, Low-A pitching isn’t fooling the 21-year-old this season. He owns an 88.1% in-zone contact rate while whiffing on only 20.5% of his swings and striking out just 16.2% of the time. His 133 wRC+ ranks sixth among all qualified California League hitters … The Storm’s lone extra-base hit on the night came from Victor Figueroa, as he went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Figueroa’s power continues to impress. Among California League hitters with a minimum of 100 at-bats, his .278 isolated power and .522 Slug% ranked third and fifth, respectively. Figueroa has also continued to show that he is more than capable of taking his walks when they’re presented, posting a 16.3% walk rate on the year. … Zach Evans logged a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. The 22-year-old has a .739 OPS and is hitting .289 through 291 at-bats. 

ACL Mariners 13, ACL Padres 4

Key Stats: DH Kale Fountain, 0-for-1, 3 BB, R; 2B Luis De Leon, 0-for-1, 3 BB, R; SP Adan Moreno, 3 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 K; RP Winyer Chourio (L, 3-4) 0.2 IP, 5 ER, 3 H, 1 BB

Prospect Watch: After making a string of starts at first base, Kale Fountain was back at DH in the desert. The 19-year-old didn’t log a hit but did draw three walks.  While complex league pitching can be wild, Fountain’s 13.5 walk rate as he continues to prepare to go to the Cal League later this month is encouraging. … Like Fountain, 19-year-old Luis De Leon also produced a three-walk game. Through 140 at-bats, De Leon is hitting .283 with a .751 OPS. … Adan Moreno had a solid start as the 20-year-old right-hander allowed one run on a hit and a walk over three innings as he punched out five. It was a much-needed bounce-back start for Moreno, who allowed seven earned runs in his previous outing. Two weeks remain in the ACL season.