El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost to Tacoma Rainiers, 1-5)
Jackson Wolf is finishing the year strong. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Players of the Week: With a 1-5 series against the club they were battling for a second-half playoff spot, the Chihuahuas fell to 4.5 games back and likely closed the books on their postseason chances. … Tim Locastro, 32, had one of the best weeks of his career as he pounded nine hits, including a double and two home runs for a .500 batting average and an OPS of 1.480. Over the year, he’s seen time in all three outfield positions along with first base. At the plate, he has a slash line of .264/.368/.425. … For the second straight week, Jackson Wolf, 26, anchored the pitching staff with five shutout innings, allowing just one hit without a walk and four strikeouts. After allowing seven runs in 3.1 innings in an ugly outing on August 8, the former West Virginia Mountaineer has been superb, allowing only two earned runs in his last three starts and one over the last 12.2 innings.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Ripken Reyes had his best week in Triple-A, with eight hits including four doubles and a triple in six games. The switch-hitter from the University of San Diego and Cal Berkeley, who is working on his Ph.D. in his spare time, had a 1.324 OPS for the week as he pushed his line in 82 El Paso plate appearances to .288/.382/.409. … Rodolfo Durán, 27, continued one of the best seasons of his career as he hit two more home runs to go along with a pair of doubles for a .350/.381/.750 slash line. The 5-foot-9, 185-pound native of the Dominican Republic has 15 home runs on the year and is three away from tying his career high from way back in 2018 when he was at Low-A in the Phillies organization. … Reliever Manuel Castro, 23, got in three games and didn’t allow a run in 4.1 innings while striking out three and allowing one walk. The Mexican native opened the year in San Antonio, where he posted a 4.39 ERA despite a 2.85 FIP in 26.2 innings. Since reaching El Paso, his strikeout rate has crashed, his walk rate has skyrocketed, and his FIP has climbed to 5.45 – yet he has navigated damage and managed a 2.82 FIP. … Wes Benjamin, 32, piggybacked behind Matt Waldron and was able to throw five shutout innings, inducing bad contact to get the lone win of the series while allowing only two hits and one walk against a single strikeout. (John Conniff)
San Antonio Missions (Lost at Frisco RoughRiders, 2-3)
Marcos Castañon has been a steady contributor for the Missions all year. (Photo: Vashaun Newman)
Player of the Week: Marcos Castañon had a big week in Frisco, going 8-for-21 with a pair of home runs, a double, six RBIs, and even stole two bases. The 26-year-old remains one of the most consistent bats in the San Antonio Lineup, posting a 120 wRC+, .348 wOBA, and .757 OPS of the year. Castañon’s has maintained an aggressive approach also season, logging a well above-average 52.3% swing rate and 74.4% in-zone swing rate. That aggressive nature has its drawbacks as he’s chased 36.2% of the time and has only a 7.6% walk rate 431 plate appearances into the season. … Jared Kollar came on in a piggyback role and turned in the best pitching performance of the week. The righty tossed six innings of one-run ball, allowing only four hits and one walk. The 27-year-old had a rough start to the year in El Paso and carried over the struggles when he was demoted to San Antonio, but has gotten back on track over the last month. He sports a 3.76 ERA this month despite only 18 strikeouts in 26.1 innings.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: The Braedon Karpathios show rolled on as the 22-year-old once again made an impact in Double-A, going 4-for-15 with a pair of long balls, a double, and three walks. Karpathios has looked comfortable in his short time with the Missions, posting a 151 wRC+ and .396 wOBA, on an .888 OPS in nine games since his promotion. Karpathios has continued to show stellar plate discipline in the Texas League, posting a 13.2% walk rate in 38 plate appearances. He also continues to be aggressive where he should be inside the zone, posting an 87.5% in-zone swing rate. … Romeo Sanabria was unable to shake his cold stretch, going 4-for-20 with a double, two walks, and six strikeouts. Since July 1, Sanabria is hitting just .228 with an 80 wRC+ and .286 wOBA. In that time, Sanabria has only nine extra base hits in 187 plate appearances. … Miguel Mendez is definitely in his first rough patch of the 2025 season. Mendez looked to be getting on track a bit before his Sunday start was erased from the record books by rain after four innings. That left him with only his Tuesday appearance, when he managed to punch out three batters, but he walked three and allowed a pair of earned runs while laboring through 49 pitches. Mendez was still able to generate swings and misses, tallying eight whiffs and a 36.3% whiff rate during his Tuesday start while his fastball topped out at 99 mph. Command has eluded him so far in Double-A. After issuing just 24 walks in 61.1 Midwest League innings, he’s walked 14 in his first 16 innings with the Missions. … Garret Hawkins made a pair of appearances, working just one full inning. He didn’t allow a run, but he gave up two hits, walked three, and struck out none. In 9.1 innings since his promotion to Double-A, Hawkins owns a 2.89 ERA, 3.63 FIP, and 4.85 xFIP. He’s still racked up the strikeouts pretty regularly, posting a 25.6% strikeout rate. However, command has been an issue as he sports an 18.6% walk rate since making the jump to San Antonio. … Ryan Och concluded an excellent month of August, working a combined three scoreless, hitless innings, working around three walks as he struck out three. In 12 innings last month, he posted a 2.25 ERA, 3.50 FIP, and 25.5% K%. It continues to be a strong summer for the 27-year-old. Since June 1, he has a 2.94 ERA and 3.71 FIP (Clark Fahrenthold)
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Swept by Dayton Dragons, 0-6)
Luis Gutierrez has made big strides with his arsenal this year. (Photo: Courtesy of Fort Wayne TinCaps)
Player of the Week: Jack Costello was the only TinCaps to collect a hit in all six games, finishing the week 7-for-21, with three walks, a double and a home run. After hitting five home runs through the first four months of the season, Costello has had four in the past three weeks. Last year’s 10th-round pick has had a tough first full season in the minors, posting a .640 OPS after coming out on fire with a .917 OPS in 25 games for Lake Elsinore last year. … For the first time in 12 High-A starts, Luis Gutierrez was able to finish the seventh inning. The lefty navigated sloppy defense in the first inning to allow only two earned runs on seven hits over the seven innings. He walked one and struck out seven. With one start left in his fifth career season, the 22-year-old has career highs with 110 innings and 98 strikeouts.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Eguy Rosario struggled until he didn’t, and then he came back in a big way. After striking out 10 times over a four-game span, like clockwork, Rosario found his swing and became clutch. The 26-year-old, working back from a sports hernia repair surgery, hit two massive home runs on Sunday giving him four RBI. He hadn’t had a round-tripper since May 6 in El Paso. Rosario finished the week 6-for-22 with a pair of doubles and a stolen base. The home runs nearly doubled his slugging percentage and he now has a .620 OPS over 10 rehab games. … Lamar King Jr. went 2-for-20 over the week, with a double, walks and RBI. After having seemingly endless success in Lake Elsinore, King has had a rocky start with the TinCaps after blowing by career highs in playing time. He finished his first month in High-A hitting .227/.275/.293. … Happy Birthday to Clark Candiotti, who prepared to celebrate turning 25 on September 2 by striking out a career-high eight batters as he allowed three runs on three hits over four innings. He has labored to a 5.21 ERA in 46.2 innings, but he carries an impressive 29.2% strikeout rate. … Ian Koenig is finishing his year strong. The 24-year-old allowed two runs over five innings as he walked one and struck out six. In 25.1 innings this month, Koenig has only walked three batters. The lefty has already set career highs with 98.1 innings, 68 strikeouts, and five wins. … Josh Mallitz continues to find success out of the pen. The 23-year-old threw three more scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out four. Mallitz has not allowed a run in 11 straight innings and has only been scored upon in one of 10 outings since coming off the IL. The UDFA is posting very strong 27.6% strikeout and 6.0% walk rates. … Maikel Miralles delivered a quality start in his first appearance for Fort Wayne. The 20-year-old allowed three runs on eight hits as he matched a career high with six innings. He walked one and struck out five. Across three levels this year, Miralles has a 4.95 ERA with 55 strikeouts in 63.2 innings. … Fernando Sanchez tossed another four scoreless innings in relief this week. Over his last three outings the 24-year-old has allowed one run on seven hits over 13.1 innings. The lefty has a 2.30 ERA in 66.2 innings for the TinCaps. (Ben Davey)
Lake Elsinore Storm (Beat Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, 4-2)
Kannon Kemp showed off a stronger arsenal as he turned in his best start of the year. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Top Performers: The Storm wrapped their home schedule with a series win over the Quakes. The club will wrap up its season in San Bernardino this week, taking on the second-half division champion 66ers. … Infielder Dylan Grego had a monster week at the plate, hitting .400/.444/.800 with a pair of homers, a triple, two doubles, and five RBI. The 21-year-old was drafted out of Ball State in the 13th round in July, after a breakout junior campaign for the Cardinals, where he hit13 homers while producing an OPS north of 1.000. Since joining the Storm, Grego has a .737 OPS in 26 games. … Righty Kannon Kemp turned in his finest start as a professional, going six innings for the first time since joining the Padres organization. He allowed just four hits, walked three, and struck out seven. For more on Kemp, check out John Conniff’s on-site coverage from his start last week.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Kavares Tears connected on a pair of homers in the series, including one in the series finale Sunday. The round-tripper put the finishing touches on a week in which he posted a .998 OPS. After a nearly two-month homeless stretch, Tears now has four over his last seven games. The former Tennessee star has power potential, but he’s still struggling to make consistent contact. He punched out eight times in 25 plate appearances. While Tears’ first pro campaign has been a disappointment, he is finishing on a positive note. … Outfielder Cardell Thibodeaux only played in four games, but he impressed nonetheless. The former Southern University star went 4-for-11 with a pair of doubles, five walks, and just one strikeout. His excellent work resulted in a 1.108 OPS. The Louisiana native started his professional career with a multi-hit game, including a walk-off hit, but then he went 1-for-35 before breaking out last week. The Padres drafted him in the 16th round in July. … Ty Harvey was promoted to Lake Elsinore after Kale Fountain was placed on the seven-day injured list. He went 1-for-6 in two games for the Storm. The fifth-rounder signed for $1.5 million – the second-largest bonus the Padres gave out in this year’s draft. … Alex McCoy (.661 OPS), Ryan Wideman (.610 OPS), and shortstop Jorge Quintana (.584 OPS) had slow weeks for the Storm. … Prized lefty Kash Mayfield pitched five strong innings Wednesday night, striking out nine batters and allowing just three hits. With one more week in the season, Mayfield has tossed 59.1 innings over 18 starts. He dealt with shoulder soreness earlier this season but has looked dominant down the stretch. Since June 1, Mayfield has struck out 36.6% of hitters faced while pitching to a 1.62 ERA. John had on-site coverage of his start last Wednesday. … Righty Abraham Parra pitched six strong innings on Sunday, allowing a run on three hits, walking one, and striking out seven. Parra also tied his season-high with seven strikeouts. (Kevin Charity)
