San Diego Padres Week in Review: July 15-July 21

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost at Tacoma Rainiers, 1-2)

Players of the Week: Yonathan Perlaza, 26, destroyed Rainiers pitching in the three-game series with a double and three home runs to go along with seven RBI and a pair of walks. The 5-foot-9 switch-hitting outfielder from Venezuela has reached base in each of his last 22 games, raising his OPS to .902 on the season. He leads El Paso with 32 doubles and has hit equally well from both sides of the plate. The 26-year-old has seen most of his time in right field, but with San Diego in search of a bat off the bench, he may have earned an opportunity. The former Cubs prospect is yet another player the Padres have grabbed out of the KBO.  Last year with the Hanwha Eagles, he hit 24 home runs and had an OPS of .850. … Jackson Wolf, 26, had the lone win of the series and recorded nine strikeouts against one walk in five innings. The left-hander benefited from being out of the altitude of El Paso and some of the more notorious PCL parks, which inhibit movement on his assortment of sinkers and sliders.  Wolf pitched well in April and May, before a hiccup in June with an 11.57 ERA. He struggled in his first outing in July, giving up six earned runs in four and two-thirds innings, but seems to have gotten back on track in his last two starts as he’s just two combined runs.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Brandon Lockridge had another solid week with five hits in three games, including a double and a home run.  He also walked twice and stole a base. He hasn’t missed a beat since he was optioned to El Paso, posting posting a .950 OPS in 15 games. … Nate Mondou, 30, who continues to play all around the field, also had a big week with four hits in the three-game series, including a pair of doubles. On the season, he has a .296/.395/.391 slash line. … Omar Cruz threw three innings out of the bullpen and didn’t allow a run.  The diminutive lefty from Mexico has pitched well this season, except, as with Wolf, a bad June where his ERA ballooned up to 9.50.  He still represents the best left-handed option for the big league squad in the El Paso bullpen.  (John Conniff)

San Antonio Missions (Lost to Amarillo Sod Poodles, 1-2)

Players of the Week: After a handful of struggle-filled outings after his promotion, Tyson Neighbors now seems to have made the adjustment to Double-A hitters. In his lone appearance of the weekend, the right-hander worked 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three. His fastball topped out at 97 mph, while his arsenal, as a whole, generated five whiffs and a 31% whiff rate. Over his last eight innings of work, Neighbors hasn’t allowed a run and has struck out 25% of the batters he’s faced. His ERA across 11 appearances for San Antonio now sits at 3.38 with a 30.8% strikeout rate … After an extreme cold streak in June, Romeo Sanabria has shown signs of turning a corner here in late July. In his three games over the weekend, the big first baseman went 3-for-8 with three walks and an RBI. Over his last 10 games, Sanabria is hitting .417 with a 196 wRC+ and 1.107 OPS. Even in this brief hot streak, he has been limited to just three extra-base hits and he has had just six since June 1st.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Jagger Haynes worked four scoreless innings in his start Sunday. The southpaw allowed just two hits, walked two, and struck out four to lower his ERA to 4.04. As he so often does, Haynes’ stuff generated plenty of swings in misses. In his short start, he posted 10 whiffs and a 31.% whiff rate. Over his s last eight starts and 43 innings pitched, Haynes owns a 3.14 ERA and 24.0% strikeout rate. Still, during that solid run, Haynes has struggled with walks and the long balls, allowing six home runs and yielding a 13.7% walk rate in that stretch. … It wasn’t a perfect outing, but Victor Lizarraga was solid on Saturday. The right-hander worked four innings, allowing four runs, only three of which were earned, on five hits, one walk, and six strikeouts. In total, his stuff generated six whiffs and a 20.6% whiff rate. Since May 21, Lizarraga has been vastly improved, posting a 2.30 ERA, 2.84 FIP, and 20% strikeout rate over 27.1 innings. Walks though, remain an issue as he has given 15.7% of the batters he has faced in that stretch a free pass. … On a weekend when the Missions were shut out twice, Francisco Acuna Acuña led the way offensively for San Antonio, going 4-for-12 with a double and two RBIs in the series. The 25-year-old free agent signee continues to impress this season. In 72 games, he owns a 121 wRC+, 10.1% walk rate, and a .349 wOBA. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost at Lake County 1-2)

Players of the Week: Garrett Hawkins pitched two perfect innings to earn the only win of the series. In doing so, Hawkins set a TinCaps franchise record for most consecutive scoreless innings (29) and appearances (22). Both streaks are the longest active streaks in professional baseball this season. The 25-year-old missed 702 days after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but has shown that he is more than healthy this season. The Saskatchewan native has a 1.62 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, and an elite 36.7% strikeout rate on the year. … Hawkins earned the win on Saturday thanks to Leo De Vries putting the TinCaps ahead in the top of the ninth when his RBI double gave the team a 3-2 lead. Sunday, De Vries followed that up with his first home run in two weeks. The 18-year-old has been showing signs of getting back to his white-hot April and is hitting .279/.367/.558 in July.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Braedon Karpathios was one of the few TinCaps who hit over the weekend. The 22-year-old went 4-for-10 with a double, four walks and two runs over the short series. In 14 July games, Karpathios has an .890 OPS. …  Kaden Hollow collected three hits in his three games.  The former undrafted free agent is hitting .295/.407/.386 in July. … Had Hawkins not been record-setting, Eric Yost would have been an easy call as the pitcher of the week. The righty once again dazzled, allowing only one hit over five scoreless innings. It was a nice rebound after allowing a season-high four earned runs in his previous start. The former 17th-round pick has a 2.69 ERA over 83.2 innings for the TinCaps, good for second in the Midwest League. … Fernando Sanchez continued his run of success by throwing two scoreless innings in relief.  The Obregon, Mexico native has allowed one earned run over his last 10.2 innings and has a 2.25 ERA on the season. … Luis German threw a perfect inning on Friday, striking out two. The 23-year-old has allowed one earned run over his last 11.1 innings, striking out 15. … Lefty Luis Gutierrez had his first bad start with the TinCaps as the 21-year-old allowed four runs (three earned) over 4.1 innings. The eight batters he allowed to reach base were his most since his first in Fort Wayne. Gutierrez still struck out six, and has struck out 18 in 13.1 July innings. Between Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne, the Venezuelan has a 2.95 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 76.1 innings. … Isaiah Lowe’s difficult year continued as he allowed four runs (three earned) over 3.2 innings. He surrendered seven hits and one walk, and only struck out one. Over the disappointing season, the former 11th-round pick has a 5.77 ERA and 1.69 WHIP. (Ben Davey)

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost to Rancho Cucamonga 1-2)

Players of the Week: While the club lost two of three to the first-place Dodgers affiliate, there were a number of strong individual performances. None was better than Lamar King Jr., who had two doubles among four hits in eight at-bats and drew a walk. The weekend continues a stellar breakout campaign for the 21-year-old backstop, who is healthy for the first time since the Padres drafted him out of high school in 2022. The big right-handed hitter has a .298/.386/.436 line. While he hasn’t started elevating the ball consistently yet as he approaches the two-year mark after major shoulder surgery, he has an exceptional line drive rate of 23.6%. … Kannon Kemp delivered five innings of shutout ball to pick up the lone win of the series. The big Texan punched out five batters without issuing a walk, though he did hit a batter. The 20-year-old, an eighth-round pick who got third-round money in 2023, has had mixed results in his first healthy season in the organization, pitching to a 5.28 ERA in six outings since joining the Storm.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Kemp barely outperformed Maikel Miralles, who tossed five scoreless frames of his own with four strikeouts. The 20-year-old got off to a rough start, allowing seven earned runs in his first two innings of the year, but has been quite impressive as he has built up. The righty spent a month on the IL, but has allowed only five earned runs on 17 hits in 24.2 innings since the end of April. A $10,000 signee out of Venezuela when he was 18 in 2023, Miralles has shown a tantalizing repertoire in two seasons stateside. … Kemp came into his game Saturday as a piggy-backer to Bryan Balzer, who allowed just one hit over three scoreless innings. The 20-year-old from Japan has showed off a big fastball and feel for spin in his first taste of full-season ball, but has struggled to get strong results consistently. … Infielder Zach Evans had a big series, going 4-for-10 with a pair of doubles and two walks to fuel an 1.100 OPS. The Western New York native, who turned 23 last week, is hitting .296/.367/.384 in his first season after signing as a senior in the ninth round last year. … Catcher Carlos Rodriguez only had five at-bats in two games but, as he has since joining Lake Elsinore, made the most of his limited exposure with a bases-clearing triple. He’s produced a .910 OPS in 58 plate appearances with the Storm. … Kavares Tears encapsulated his season perfectly in the series, collecting two doubles and a pair of walks in eight plate appearances, but striking out in the other four. (Kevin Charity)

ACL Royals 3, ACL Padres 1 (1-4 on the week)

Key Stats: 1B Yoiber Ocopio 2-for-3, 2B, BB, SB (4); C Jesus Castro 2-for-2, HBP; 2B Jose De Leon 1-for-3, BB; RHP Eiker Huizi 2 IP, H, 4 K, BB, HBP, WP, Balk; RHP Luis Maracara 2 IP, 3 K, 2 BB

Prospect Watch and Top Performers: While the ACL Padres outhit their neighbors in Surprise 10-3 Monday night, they went just 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and were only able to push across one run as they dropped further below the .250 mark on the year. Switch-hitting catcher Jesus Castro had two doubles and was hit by a pitch in the seven-inning game to reach base three times for the first time this year. The 21-year-old has a .778 OPS on the year, and has also been pressed into service as an emergency pitcher five different times. … Yoiber Ocopio, who is primarily a catcher but also sees time at first base, had a pair of hits including a double as well. He had an odd .250/.471/.333 line with six strikeouts in 18 plate appearances in four games on the week. … Big Alex McCoy wasn’t in the lineup Monday, but went 4-for-13 with a pair of doubles and a homer as he looked to wrap up his rehab assignment. He struck out six times in three games. … Luis Maracara followed rehabbing reliever Eiker Huizi on Monday with one of the stranger lines of a rough year for Padres pitching in the desert. The 17-year-old did not allow a hit over three innings, but because of three walks, a hit batter, balk and wild pitch, he surrendered a pair of runs. The youngest pitcher in the ACL has punched out 39 batters in 31.1 innings this year, but has also walked 29 on his way to an 8.90 ERA. … Winyer Chourio also took a loss on the week, but turned in a solid outing in the process. The 21-year-old Venezuelan, who only signed his first contract last January, allowed one run over four innings while striking out six. Remarkably, his 6.48 ERA is the fourth-best among the 15 Peoria pitchers who have tossed more than 15 innings this year. (David Jay)