San Diego Padres Week in Review: July 22 – July 27

El Paso Chihuahuas (Beat Sugar Land Space Cowboys 4-1)

Players of the week: Jackson Wolf tossed a six-inning gem at home, allowing just one unearned run on five hits while striking out eight. The 26-year-old lefty has had an up-and-down season, but has been on quite a roll this month. Over his last three outings, Wolf has given up just two earned runs over 17 innings with a stellar 23:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. … Infielder Clay Dungan paced a relatively tepid Chihuahuas offense, posting a .375/.444/.500 line across four games. In his second season since the Padres selected Dungan in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft, the versatile infielder has an .820 OPS for El Paso.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: After a torrid month, outfielder Yonathan Perlaza cooled off against the Space Cowboys, batting just .250 with a pair of doubles in five contests. The switch-hitter did draw four walks and only struck out once in 20 trips to the plate. … A number of pitchers who could contribute to the big league club over the final two months of the season had a good showing at home. Ryan Bergert tossed four innings in a tune-up to stay ready to return to the Padres, giving up one earned run on two hits. The righty struck out four but did walk three. Relievers Eduarniel Núñez and Sean Reynolds each had two scoreless appearances, combining to work six innings without surrendering a hit. Núñez has pitched four times since being optioned back to El Paso, allowing just one hit while striking out seven against three walks in five innings. Fellow righties Alek Jacob and Brian Hoeing each made one multi-inning relief appearance without allowing a run. Hoeing struck out four in his two innings of work while Jacob recorded two punchouts among the four batters he faced in a perfect 1.1 innings. (David Jay)

San Antonio Missions (Lost to Midland RockHounds 1-5)

Players of the week: Henry Baez continued his incredible 2025 season, as the right-hander was stellar in both his Tuesday and Sunday evening starts. Over 10 combined innings, Baez allowed one run on five hits. He walked one, and struck out six. While his strikeout numbers have not been stellar, the 22-year-old has induced a league-best 53.6% ground ball rate. Baez’s outings lowed his season ERA to 1.96, which also ranks first on the circuit. To go along with that, his 3.04 FIP and 3.63 xFIP rank second and fifth among qualified Texas League pitchers. … Albert Fabian has not skipped a beat since returning from injury. In his five games this week, Fabian proved a jolt for the Missions offense, going 7-for-19 with a pair of doubles, three RBIs, and two runs scored. In 13 games since finishing a rehab assignment after a full year on the Injured List, Fabian has posted a 175 wRC+, .430 wOBA, and a .565 slugging percentage for the Missions.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Tyson Neighbors extended his scoreless innings streak to 11.2 innings with a pair of clean multi-inning relief appearances on Wednesday and Saturday. Over a combined 3.2 innings of work Neighbors didn’t allow a hit while striking out four against two walks. In total, he generated six whiffs and a 27.3% whiff rate with his fastball topping out at 98 mph on the weekend. Since arriving in San Antonio, Neighbors has shown he can still be a strikeout artist at the higher levels, posting a 31.2% punchout rate in 19.2 innings for San Antonio … After a rough start his last time out, Victor Lizarraga rebounded with a solid outing. The right-hander worked five innings, allowing one run on five hits and two walks, and punched out five. Lizarraga didn’t have his typical swing-and-miss stuff, with his arsenal garnering only six whiffs and a 14.6% whiff rate. Still, he continued what has been a strong month-plus of pitching. Over his last 32.1 innings, Lizarraga has posted a 2.23 ERA, 3.62 FIP, and 20.3% K% even as command has remained an issue. In this same stretch of success, he walk rate has hovered at an extremely high 14.5%. … Jagger Haynes was effective in his Saturday start, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks over five innings as he punched out six. Despite struggles once again with his command, Haynes’ stuff still flashed and he racked up a total of 11 whiffs, and an impressive 32.3% whiff rate. Since May 28, Haynes has posted a 3.19 ERA and 24.6% strikeout rate, though again, it’s come with a worrying 13.8% walk rate over his last nine starts. … It was a slower week for Romeo Sanabria as the Missions’ first baseman went 4-for-19 with a home run and two RBIs in five starts. After an extremely cold month of June, Sanabria has once again started to heat up. Since July 1, he owns a 126 wRC+, .354 wOBA, and is hitting .296. Sanabria’s bat control, even with some elongated struggles, remains solid. In 345 plate appearances, he owns an 82.8% in-zone contact rate and just a 23.3% whiff rate. … Third basemen Devin Ortiz quietly had a nice offensive showing against the RockHounds. The 26-year-old went 6-for-19 with five singles and a double. Ortiz also drew five walks in his six starts for San Antonio. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Split at Cedar Rapids Kernels, 3-3)

Player of the Week: While it wasn’t a stellar week for the offense, Ryan Jackson went 8-for-21 with a double, triple, four RBI, and three walks for a team-best .982 OPS.  The former USC Trojan was the only TinCap to hit safely in all six games. The 23-year-old is hitting .289/.431/.395 across two levels this season. … Making his first start in two weeks due to the All Star Break, Miguel Mendez did what Mendez has done all year; dominate. The 23-year-old flame thrower tossed five more frames and now has not allowed an earned run since June 26. He was charged with an unearned run on two hits and one walk over five innings as he struck out six.  In 11 starts with the TinCaps, Mendez is 7-2 with a 1.46 ERA, and has 63 strikeouts in 55.1 innings.

Top Prospects and Others of Note:. Leo De Vries hit his eighth home run of the season on Friday.  It was the high-point of a week in which he went 6-for-26 with a double, home run, and his first two stolen bases since June 7. The 18-year-old top prospect is hitting .261/.346/.493 in July. … Brandon Butterworth hit his sixth home run of July as part of back-to-back multi-hit games.  The 22-year-old middle infielder had six hits on the week and is hitting a very impressive .299/.337/.563 in July. … Pitcher Sean Barnett once again struggled as he did not record an out while facing four batters, but the hitter Barnett had his best week since April.  Barnett went 4-for-12 with his first home run since May 30. … Clark Candiotti returned from the IL this week to throw a scoreless inning.  It was his first time on a mound since June 11. The former fourth-round pick has struggled in his first full year in the organization.  Candiotti has a 5.23 ERA over 31 innings this year. … The TinCaps won three games and Garrett Hawkins pitched the ninth inning each time.  He faced nine batters, struck out four, and closed out all three wins. Enough has been made about Hawkins holding the TinCaps record for most consecutive scoreless innings, but it has now been over a month since Hawkins last walked a batter.  The 25-year-old is having one of the most dominant pitching performances we’ve seen in the Midwest League. … Making his first start in two weeks, Ian Koenig pitched a gem. The 24-year-old threw a five-inning shutout, allowing three hits, walking two, and striking out two. This was his second consecutive shutout. After posting a 6.89 ERA after June, Koenig has a 1.04 ERA in 17.1 July innings. … While the results are far from perfect, there is a noticeable improvement from Isaiah Lowe in the second half. This week he had one of his best starts of the year, allowing one earned run over 5.2 innings.  He allowed five hits, walked two and struck out three.  The 22-year-old has a 5.43 ERA this season but has allowed three or fewer runs in six of his last seven starts. … Also returning from injury was Josh Mallitz.  The 23-year-old was on a stretch of 12.1 scoreless innings with 19 strikeouts before landing on the IL on June 1. He added to his streak, throwing a scoreless 0.2 innings on Saturday. …   Fernando Sanchez continued an impressive July as the 24-year-old lefty did not allow a hit or a walk over four scoreless innings. In 12.1 innings in July, he has a 0.65 WHIP and 0.73 ERA.  Batters went from hitting .293 off of him in 2023 to .203 this year.  … After being one of the best starters in the Midwest League through most of the year, Eric Yost has had a tough July.  The Northeastern grad allowed three runs on two hits and three walks over 3.2 innings.  It was his shortest outing since his first start when pitchers were limited.  Even with a few rough starts, Yost still has a 2.89 ERA for the season.  (Ben Davey)

Lake Elsinore Storm (Beat Stockton Ports, 4-2)

Players of the Week: The Storm won their series against Stockton, moving into a tie for first place with Inland Empire. At 16-14, the two teams will battle in a crucial six-game series in Lake Elsinore this week. … Through the first two months of the season, the Storm offense was paced by center fielder Kasen Wells. After sustaining a foot injury, Wells missed two months. He returned a few weeks ago, and the Storm offense has looked much better as a result. This week was no exception as Wells led the Storm with a .920 OPS, including a .476 on-base percentage. He also added a pair of stolen bases and scored three runs. Overall, the Texas native has a wRC+ of 115 on the year. … Righty Maikel Miralles delivered the best start of his career Friday, throwing a career-high six innings. He allowed just two hits while keeping the Ports off the scoreboard. The young righty has been lights out in July, pitching to an exemplary 1.53 ERA in four starts. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Kale Fountain had his best week since joining the Storm roster. He went 5-for-17 with the team’s only homer of the week. In 12 games for the Storm, Fountain is hitting .200/.294/.311. … Cobb Hightower hit .320 for the week, as the 20-year-old continues to round into form. The Storm shortstop limped through June, delivering just a .550 OPS. This month, he’s at a much more respectable .707 as he continues his first full professional season. … Lamar King Jr. had a rough week, striking out 10 times in 26 plate appearances and hitting just .167/.231/.167. After winning the Cal League Player of the Month in June, King has struggled badly at the plate. In 16 games this month, King is hitting .239/.329/.269 with 21 strikeouts. In May and June combined, King struck out just 21 times total. The 21-year-old has already played in a career-high 78 games this year so perhaps fatigue is playing a role in his struggles down the stretch. … Abraham Parra rivaled Miralles for the best start of the series on Sunday. The young righty completed six innings, allowing just one run on two hits. He walked three and struck out five. … Boston Bateman allowed just a run on five hits in his four-inning start. In 15 outings this season, Bateman has pitched to a 4.08 ERA. (Kevin Charity)