El Paso Chihuahuas (Swept at Reno Aces, 6-0)
Luis Campusano continues to mash while stuck in purgatory in El Paso. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Players of the week: The dynamic catching/designated hitter tandem of Luis Campusano and Rodolfo Durán continued to terrorize the PCL as they went on the road to Reno. Campusano, 26, had 11 hits, including four home runs and a double, to go along with four walks in 24 plate appearances for a ridiculous .550/.625/.1.200 slash line. Durán, 27, wasn’t far behind with eight hits in four games for a .500 batting average and a 1.119 OPS. Neither is likely to get called up when rosters expand to 28 in September, so they could conceivably propel El Paso on to a PCL title or even the Triple-A National Championship. … Logan Gillaspie, 28, impressed in a start at one of the best hitting parks in professional baseball, throwing five shutout innings to get the win. He scattered three hits, walked three, and had five punchouts. Gillaspie, who pitched well in a brief stint in San Diego’s bullpen before hitting the IL this year, transitioned to El Paso’s rotation last month and has posted a 7.27 ERA as a starter. He got much better results in relief for the Chihuahuas, with a 3.71 ERA in 17 innings.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Yonathan Perlaza, 26, continued his strong season, hitting .389 with five extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs. The switch-hitter’s .891 OPS on the season is third on the club among batters with at least 300 plate appearances behind Campusano and Trenton Brooks. … Tirso Ornelas had a pair of home runs among six hits and he walked four times for an OPS of 1.190 in Reno. He’s still only 25, but injuries this year have limited him as he has worked to an .812 OPS in 54 games and 244 plate appearances. … Alek Jacob had a hiccup in his first outing of the week, allowing two runs, but bounced back with a pair of scoreless appearances and locked up his first save of the year. He finished with five strikeouts against only two hits and a pair of walks in 3.1 innings. Jacob, 27, could be in contention for a call-up when the roster expands. … Lefty JP Sears, 29, got the win in his one start, going five innings and allowing two runs on a home run. Sears was 7-9 with the Athletics this year with a 4.95 ERA in 111 innings. Pitching his home games for them in Sacramento, he had an ERA of 5.48, compared to a 4.56 mark on the road. … Omar Cruz, 26, didn’t allow a run in five innings across two innings despite walking six. He controlled the damage by only allowed one single and striking out five. (John Conniff)
San Antonio Missions (Lost at Tulsa, 1-5)
Victor Lizarraga was dealing on Sunday. (Photo: Sara Crosley)
Player of the Week: While his Tuesday night outing was rough, Victor Lizarraga turned in one of the organization’s best starts of the season on Sunday as the Imperial Beach native tossed a no-hitter over 6.2 scoreless frames. He did walk five while striking out four. It’s Lizarraga’s longest outing of the season. His previous high-water mark was 5.1 IP back on June 1. In total, the 21-year-old induced an 18.1% whiff rate. It was a much-needed bounce-back outing for Lizarraga, as he had allowed 19 earned runs over 8.2 innings in his three previous starts and now owns a 6.08 ERA, 5.19 FIP, and 20.3% strikeout rate on the year. … In an otherwise uninspiring week for the Missions offense, Francisco Acuña had an explosive week in Tulsa. The 25-year-old went 9-for-17 across his five starts, logging four RBIs, four runs scored, six walks, and three stolen bases. The month of August has been a good one for Acuña, as he’s walked at a 17.2% clip to fuel a .413 on-base percentage that translates to a 130 wRC+, and .363 wOBA.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: After dazzling in his Double-A debut, it was a different story for Miguel Mendez in his second career start for the Missions. In what was his first truly bad outing of the year, the right-hander allowed a career-high eight earned runs over 3.2 innings. Command was the biggest issue for Mendez, as he allowed five walks, four of which came in the fourth inning. Even with the struggles, Mendez’s stuff did flash. He generated 10 total whiffs on the afternoon. Despite the rough start, Mendez still owns a 2.40 ERA, 30.2% K%, and 3.45 FIP in 82.1 innings across three levels. … Garrett Hawkins‘ 38 scoreless innings streak came to an end on Tuesday as he allowed a pair of hits and three walks in his inning of work. It was the first time since April 23 that the 25-year-old had yielded a run and the first outing this season in which he allowed three walks. The big righty bounced back nicely in a perfect inning of work Saturday when he struck out one. … Devin Ortiz continued a solid second half as the 26-year-old undrafted free agent went 5-for-18 with a pair of doubles, two RBIs, and six walks in five games. Since July 21, Ortiz has posted a 121 wRC+, 14.1% BB%, and .349 wOBA. Ortiz has shown solid plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills for the majority of the season, posting a 23.1% whiff rate, 28.9% chase rate, and 80.4% in-zone contact rate. (Clark Fahrenthold)
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost to West Michigan, 2-4)
Ian Koenig has gone at least five innings in his last seven starts. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Player of the Week: New level, but same results. After leading the Storm multiple weeks, Lamar King Jr. took home the honors with the TinCaps for the first time. The backstop had six hits, including a double and two walks and stole his 20th base of the season. With the TinCaps, King is hitting .297/.366/.351 and has a .772 OPS through his first 41 plate appearances. … After throwing seven innings in a game for the first time last week, Ian Koenig followed it up with another seven inning outing. This time, he allowed one run on five hits, striking out a career high seven batters. Over his last six starts, Koenig has thrown 37.1 innings on his way to three wins and a 2.89 ERA.
Top Prospects and Others of Note:. Jack Costello went 5-for-16 in the series with a hit in each of his five games to break out of a 3-for-25 slump. The former USD Torero has a .612 OPS on the season. … Catcher Brendan Durfee went 3-for-11 in the series with two doubles. His .243/.275/.378 mark in August is his best month since April (.753 OPS). … Harry Gustin earned the win on Saturday, throwing three scoreless innings. For the week, the lefty went four scoreless innings, allowing one baserunner and striking out five. The 23-year-old has allowed two hits over 7.1 innings since coming off the IL earlier this month, and he has a 2.36 ERA on the season. … The good news is that lefty Luis Gutierrez did not allow a run over four innings, allowing just one hit. The bad news is that Gutierrez walked four and hit two batters as his command collapsed. He landed just 38 of his 71 pitches for strikes. The 22-year-old has a 3.21 ERA over 98 innings this season. … After allowing more than one run in an outing for the first time in six weeks, Fernando Sanchez was back to dominance. The lefty allowed one run over 4.1 innings, his longest appearance of the year. He did not walk a batter and struck out three. The Sonora, Mexico native has a 2.50 ERA over 54 innings with the TinCaps. (Ben Davey)
Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost to San Jose Giants, 2-4)
Kash Mayfield picked up his first professional victory. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Top Performers: It was a rough week for the Storm, as they dropped another series and fell five games out of a playoff spot with three weeks left to play. They do play six games each against Rancho Cucamonga and Inland Empire, the two clubs ahead of them. … Outfielder Alex McCoy had another monster week, hitting .522/.607/.783 with four doubles, a triple, and five walks. McCoy has battled injuries this year, but he’s been dynamic since returning to action. The 23-year-old outfielder has an excellent wRC+ of 158 with the Storm this season in 165 plate appearances. Since July 12, the former Hofstra outfielder has hit .361/.448/.649 with a 10% walk-rate and a K-rate just above 20%. McCoy is a bit old for the level, but he looks to be another undrafted find for an organization that has had success at uncovering gems that have been overlooked. … Lefty Kash Mayfield looked sharp Wednesday night. The 20-year-old lefty earned the first victory of his professional career. It was just the second time this season, and the first time since early May, that Mayfield tossed five innings. He allowed just one hit and three walks, striking out seven in the process. Last year’s first-rounder dealt with minor shoulder soreness earlier this season, but when he has been on the mound, he’s generally pitched well. In 49.1 innings, Mayfield has a 2.94 ERA and 34.3% strikeout rate for the Storm.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Catcher Carlos Rodriguez got into four games and was second on the club with a 1.215 OPS with six walks and just two strikeouts. The left-handed-hitting backstop has taken advantage of more playing time with Lamar King’s promotion. In 30 games with the Storm, the 22-year-old is hitting .297/.444/.440 for a wRC+ of 149. … Infielder Dylan Grego connected on his first career homer – the only home run all week for the Storm. The former Ball State infielder delivered a .782 OPS for the week while settling in as Jorge Quintana’s double play partner. … Kale Fountain failed to notch an extra-base hit, but he was still productive. Fountain went 5-for-17 with seven walks and led the team with six RBI. Overall, Fountain has struggled with the Storm, as he looks to build back strength after having Tommy John surgery last fall. … Seventh-rounder Kerrington Cross drew nine walks over five games and had a .478 on-base percentage. The rest of the 2025 draft class had slow weeks at the plate; Ryan Wideman had a .492 OPS, Cardell Thibodeaux went 0-for-11, and George Bilecki had a .692 OPS. … Jorge Quintana made a few highlight-worthy plays in the field, but he struggled offensively, notching just a .407 OPS. … After Kannon Kemp exited his start on Thursday after being hit with a line drive, lefty Braian Salazar took over and pitched effectively, striking out six in 3.2 innings of work. He did allow two earned runs, but they were unearned. … Righty Humberto Cruz pitched last Tuesday and allowed three earned runs in 2.2 innings. He did notch five strikeouts. (Kevin Charity)
