San Diego Padres Week in Review: July 1 – July 6

El Paso Chihuahuas (Split with Albuquerque Isotopes)

Players of the Week: Brandon Lockridge looked great in his return to El Paso after spending the first part of the season with the big club. After a brief time away from the club for the birth of his child, the 28-year-old led the team with a 1.163 OPS. He reached base 13 times, with four extra-base hits, while spending four games in center field and one in left. Lockridge will work to hone his baserunning and improve his defensive routes to earn a trip back to San Diego. … Despite being being designated for assignment and then outrighted to El Paso, Logan Gillaspie, 28, shined in his one game of action, throwing four shutout innings in one of the best places to hit in the minor leagues, allowing only two hits, while striking out three against two walks. Gillaspie has spent parts of four major league seasons with the San Diego Padres and Baltimore Orioles, compiling a 4.63 ERA in 33.2 innings.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Forrest Wall, 29, finished the week with a strong .381/.435/.571 slash line. Wall, a first-round selection by the Colorado Rockies in 2014, is in his eleventh season and his eighth different organization. After signing with San Diego in the offseason as a minor league free agent, he has an .801 OPS, while seeing the majority of his time defensively in center field. … Mike Brosseau, 31, and Yonathan Perlaza, 26, both had solid weeks, posting an OPS of .934 and .914, respectively.  Brosseau, who signed in the offseason from the Mets’ organization, struggled in his first three months in the Padres’ system, is off to a good start in July.  Last year in Triple-A Syracuse, he had an .809 OPS while mainly playing first base. Perlaza continues to lead the Chihuahuas in hits (90), and the switch-hitter has a .849 OPS on the season. … Omar Cruz bounced back from a rough June, allowing one run over  4.1 innings while striking out seven against a pair of walks. In 11 starts, he has a 5.28 ERA, which is just behind Matt Waldron (5.24), Ryan Bergert (4.20), and Kyle Hart (4.67). … Bradgley Rodriguez allowed one hit in 2.1 scoreless innings despite not collecting a strikeout. The righty has made four appearances since losing two weeks to arm soreness. (John Conniff)

San Antonio Missions (Lost to Corpus Christi 2-4)

Players of the Week: Nerwilian Cedeño undoubtedly had his best week since his promotion to the Missions. The speedy converted center fielder went 5-for-17, collecting three doubles and a home run, while scoring seven runs in his five starts. All told, he torched Corpus Christi pitching to the tune of a 1.015 OPS and .445 wOBA on the week. … Tyson Neighbors was excellent coming out of the bullpen, making two scoreless appearances of two innings each. He didn’t allow a hit, walked one, and struck out three. Getting swings and misses has not been an issue for Neighbors since his promotion as he’s posted a 31.9% strikeout rate. In his outing Sunday, the Kansas State alum’s arsenal yielded a 36.3% whiff rate, with his four-seamer topping out at 98 mph.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: After being named the June Texas League pitcher of the month, Henry Baez made a pair of appearances to open July. He threw nine total innings on the week, posting a 4.00 ERA. His second start of the week, though, was quite impressive. The right-hander threw five no-hit innings on Sunday, striking out six against three walks as his sinker topped out at 97. His results continue to trend ahead of his whiff rate as he posted just a 17.3% swing-and-miss rate Sunday. Baez’s league-leading 2.23 ERA is backed up by a 3.13 FIP, and 3.64 xFIP which rank fourth among qualifying pitchers. … Left-hander Jagger Haynes made just one start on the week, working 4.2 innings and allowing two runs on three hits. While he struck out six, he issued five free passes, needing 90 pitches – only 50 of them for strikes. Haynes did rack up 10 total swings and misses, good for a 27.7% whiff rate. Since May 3, Haynes owns a 3.57 ERA and 24.9% strikeout rate. While there have been positives, there are still blips to watch for with Haynes, who has allowed at least one home run in each of his last four starts. While he has been able to navigate traffic, Haynes has walked 12.9% of the batters he has faced in his last 10 appearances. … Braden Nett hit a bump in the road for the first time in over a month. The right-hander surrendered four runs on five hits, walked two, and struck out two before being pulled after just an inning and a third. Only 27 of his 48 pitches were thrown for strikes. Even with the hiccup, his 3.63 FIP, 3.33 ERA, and 3.73 xFIP all rank inside the top 10 among qualified Texas League pitchers. … As a whole, Romeo Sanabria’s prolonged struggles continued. While the first baseman did swat a pair of home runs, he went just 4-for-20 on the week that saw him strikeout nine times. Sanabria’s OPS has dropped over 100 points since the start of June. In his last 30 games he’s hitting .195 with a .533 OPS, 55 wRC+, and 29.8% strikeout rate. … Ripken Reyes flashed some pop in his five starts. While he went 3-for-15, two of those three hits went for extra bases and included a home run and a double. Since coming back to San Antonio, Reyes is hitting .293 with a 166 wRC+, .940 OPS, and .420 wOBA. … Brandon Valenzuela started all six games for San Antonio this past week. While the big backstop had some big hits, including a home run and a 104 mph exit velocity walk-off double on Tuesday, the rest of his week was quiet as he went 4-for-24. Still his 120 wRC+ and .425 slugging percentage this year are his best run production and power numbers since he was in High-A in 2023. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Split with Lansing Lugnuts)

Player of the Week: It was a great week to be smooth like butter. Brandon Butterworth collected nine hits, including three doubles and two home runs to hit .375/.400/.750 on the week. After not hitting a home run in his professional debut last year, the North Carolina native has seven home runs and a .773 OPS this year to rank second on the TinCaps. The 22-year-old also made his professional debut at center field as he looks to add to his defensive versatility. … Another week, another stellar week of pitching from Miguel Mendez.  The 23-year-old tossed six scoreless innings, allowed two hits, walked two, and struck out nine.  Even in his final inning of the start, Mendez was still regularly hitting 98 mph with his fastball.  Mendez has not allowed more than one earned run in a start since May 23, and is 5-2 with a 1.87 ERA in High-A.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: After a dismal six-week stretch, Leo De Vries looks to have snapped out of it.  He hit his first home run since June 10 on Sunday and over five games, the 18-year-old had six hits, scored five runs, drove in five as he slashed .300/.391/.650 for the week. … It was another week of walks for Rosman Verdugo as the team’s home run leader walked three more times to give him 30 over his last 28 games. The 20-year-old also added seven hits for a solid .333/.429/.389 week. Encouragingly, he only struck out three times in 22 trips to the plate … Speaking of walks, Kai Roberts drew eight over five games to fuel a .333/.565/.400 line.  The 24-year-old has raised his OBP across two levels on the year to .404. … It was another tough week for Sean Barnett as he tries to settle into the difficult work of performing as a two-way player. Barnett went 0-for-10 with a walk at the plate and is now hitting .220/.354/.319 on the season.  On the mound, last year’s 11th-round pick gave up five runs on five hits in 0.2 innings on Wednesday before coming back with a scoreless outing on Sunday.  The 22-year-old has a 19.96 ERA in his first 7.2 professional innings. …  Luis Gutierrez had another solid outing and has now allowed exactly one earned run in each of his first four games since being promoted to Fort Wayne.  The 21-year-old was dealing early before a 45-minute rain delay.  After coming back, he started missing location more, including making a throwing error leading to an unearned run.  Still, the lefty finished his outing with four strikeouts in 4.1 innings.  In 67 innings this year between Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne, Gutierrez has a 2.69 ERA with 59 strikeouts. …  Garrett Hawkins picked up two multi-inning saves allowing just one of the 10 batters he faced to reach base.  Hawkins still has not allowed a run since April 23, a stretch of 26 innings in which he has allowed only eight hits and five walks while striking out 28. …  After giving up 17 runs over his previous three starts, Ian Koenig had one of his best professional starts, pitching into the seventh inning and allowing just two runs on two hits. The 24-year-old earned his second win since May 6. … After being roughed up his previous time out, Isaiah Lowe rebounded to have one of his best starts of the year. Lowe also pitched into the seventh for the first time this season, allowing three runs on eight hits, striking out four.  More impressively, it was his first start all year that the 22-year-old did not walk a batter. Lowe has a 5.86 ERA on the season. (Ben Davey)

Lake Elsinore Storm (Beat Inland Empire 66ers 4-2)

Top Performers: The Storm won four of six. The first three games were in Lake Elsinore before the series shifted to San Bernardino to give both organizations the benefit of scheduling a game around the Independence Day holiday. At 8-7, the Storm are tied for first with Visalia in the second half after Rancho Cucamonga cruised to a first-half title. … Yendry Rojas had his best week of the season, leading the Storm with a 1.047 OPS, four doubles and eight RBI in six games. The 20-year-old capped off the week with a 5-for-5 performance Sunday night. Even with the strong week, Rojas has managed just a .584 OPS in 2025. … Righty Kleiber Olmedo pitched well in a pair of appearances, tossing 4.1 scoreless innings, including three dominant innings last Wednesday. The 20-year-old allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out six 66ers. The young righty has struggled this season, but last week was certainly a step in the right direction. In 14 outings for the Storm, Olmedo has a 6.55 ERA. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: It was a rare off-week for Lamar King Jr., who hit just .200/.273/.200 in five games. The reigning Cal League Player of the Month hit .408/.505/.579 in June. The 21-year-old catcher has delivered an .815 OPS for the Storm this season. … Kavares Tears had a nice week at the plate, producing a .929 OPS. The power-hitting outfielder had two doubles, a triple, six walks, and five RBI. The former Tennessee outfielder leads the Storm with nine homers in 2025. … Chase Valentine went 6-for-18, playing in all six games last week. The versatile utilityman scored six runs and socked three doubles. Thanks to several injuries, the 23-year-old has been pressed into duty in the outfield. In 44 games for the Storm, the Denver native has produced a .553 OPS. … Shortstop Cobb Hightower produced his first homer last week, which capped off a Storm comeback in dramatic fashion. While the 20-year-old hit just .188 for the week, he did deliver a solid .756 OPS, thanks to five walks. In 117 plate appearances, the North Carolina native is hitting .202/.359./.287 for the Storm. … Victor Figueroa had a .788 OPS, but led the team with nine strikeouts. He also supplied three doubles, five walks, and four RBI. … Righty Humberto Cruz certainly didn’t disappoint in his Single-A debut last Tuesday. The prized righty pitched three innings, allowing just one hit. Cruz added four strikeouts to his ledger before departing. The 18-year-old struggled briefly in his tuneup in the ACL but looked dominant in his Cal League debut. … Boston Bateman failed to complete five innings last Thursday but certainly pitched better than the numbers would indicate. The big left-hander allowed four in 4.2 innings, but only one was earned. He walked two and struck out five. In 60 innings, Bateman has an excellent 3.41 ERA that is largely backed up by an xFIP of 3.45. … Kash Mayfield pitched two scoreless innings, walking three and striking out three. The 20-year-old has dealt with some shoulder issues this season but has largely looked dominant. In 30.2 innings, he has an outstanding K/9 of 14.23. (Kevin Charity)

ACL Rangers 15, ACL Padres 9 (0-5 on the week)

Key Stats: 1B Kale Fountain 1-for-3, BB, HBP, SB (12); C Yoiber Ocopio 3-for-5, 2B, HR (4), 2 RBI; SS Jose Sanabria 3-for-5, 3B, 3 RBI; CF Jesmaylin Arias 3-for-5, 2 2B, 2 K; LF Gustavo Marquez 1-for-3, 2 BB; RHP Jesus Lopez 0.1 IP, 2 H, 5 ER, K, 3 BB, 2 WP; RHP Jordan Valenzuela 2 IP, 3 K

Prospect Watch and Top Performers: The rookie league Padres dropped their 12th straight game in familiar fashion Monday, giving up a double-digit run total. The club has posted an 8.09 ERA on the year. With 13 games remaining in the ACL season, the club is at risk of matching the worst record in the history of rookie ball in Arizona. … Yoiber Ocopio was a triple short of the cycle on Monday, pushing his OPS for the week to .862. The 20-year-old backstop is hitting .252/.359/.387 in his first season of domestic baseball, which is slightly above league average. … Gustavo Marquez had a single and two walks on Monday to cap a .438/.500/.500 line for the week while playing all five of the club’s games. He has hit in six straight and has now raised his OPS for the year 65 points in the last two weeks. … Righty Jordan Valenzuela tossed two scoreless frames on Sunday to staunch the bleeding briefly. Over 2.2 innings, on the week he punched out five.