San Diego Padres Week in Review: September 2-September 7

El Paso Chihuahuas (Split Series at Salt Lake, 3-3)

Players of the Week:  Marcos Castañon, 26, made the most of his Triple-A debut on the road in Salt Lake City with four extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs in five games for a .412/500/.882 slash line.  The former UC Santa Barbara Gaucho had spent most of three seasons in Double-A San Antonio, where he was a much better hitter away from the winds of Nelson Wolff Stadium. With the Missions, he logged time at second, third, and even four games at first base, but so far in Triple-A, he has only been at third base. … Lefty Jake Higginbotham, 29, appeared in two games, pitching 4.1 scoreless innings. Higginbotham, who signed as a minor league free agent in the off-season, spent the majority of his time this year in Double-A, where he had a 2.21 ERA in 40.2 innings, but has struggled in the PCL with an 8.55 ERA in 20 innings.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: As is the norm, Luis Campusano, 26, had another big week, with a batting average of .450 and nine hits, along with two walks, in five games and 22 plate appearances. Campusano leads the Pacific Coast League with a .336 batting average, .439 on-base percentage, and .606 slugging percentage, and is second in the league with 24 home runs. With two more six-game series remaining, it’s unlikely he will be called up to the big club. … Bradgley Rodriguez appeared in three games and only allowed one run, scattering two hits, walking two, and getting a single strikeout. The 21-year-old Venezuelan has been good, but has only thrown 8.2 innings since first experiencing arm discomfort on June 8. … Logan Gillaspie, 28, got a start on Thursday and pitched three shutout innings, striking out four and allowing one walk. On the year, he has thrown 49.1 innings for the Chihuahuas with a 6.39 ERA.  He’s been much better coming in as a reliever, with a 3.71 ERA in 17 innings, compared to starting with a 6.59 ERA in 41 innings. Lefty JP Sears made a short start while staying on a starter’s schedule, giving up one rune over just 3.2 innings. The Padres’ trade acquisition sports a 3.72 ERA across 9.2 PCL innings, but has been hit hard in two of his three starts for the big league club. (John Conniff)

San Antonio Missions (Split Series with Corpus Christi 3-3)

Players of the Week: For the second time in his last three outings, Enmanuel Pinales completed six strong innings for the Missions, allowing just one run on three hits, while he walked three and struck out six. Pinales had his swing-and-miss stuff Thursday, generating 13 whiffs and a 31.7% whiff rate. While the right-hander’s stint in Double-A has been a mixed bag, in eight starts since July 24, the 24-year-old owns a solid 3.05 ERA with a 19.6% strikeout rate while holding opposing hitters to a .190 batting average. … While the Missions looked very much like the the Texas League’s least-productive offense, newcomer Damon Dues‘ .771 OPS was the best on the club for the week. Dues went only 1-for-10, but drew an eye-popping seven walks, and his lone hit was a triple. Since signing out of Mexico last month, the 27-year-old has served as the Missions’ primary center fielder.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Ryan Och logged yet another quality week of work out of the Missions bullpen. In his three scoreless innings of work, the left-hander allowed one hit, walked two, and struck out two. After a tough start to the season, Och has rebounded to post a 2.70 ERA, 3.76 FIP, and 22.9% strikeout rate since June 1. Opposing hitters are hitting just .215 against him in that same time period. … Eric Yost turned in one strong start and one rough one in the series. Tuesday, the 22-year-old allowed only one unearned run on four hits over six innings. He walked a pair and struck out six batters. His arsenal generated six whiffs and a 20% whiff rate. He came back Sunday and struggled with command, walking a season-high five batters while surrendering four earned runs over 4.2 innings. While his 2025 season has been an impressive one, Yost has struggled since his promotion to Double-A, posting a 4.58 ERA, 4.26 FIP, and just a 15.5% K% in 35.1 innings. … Garrett Hawkins towed the rubber twice against the Hooks and did not allow a hit over 2.2 innings, issuing only one walk, and striking out three. While he hasn’t been quite as impressive as he was in Fort Wayne, the right-hander has still posted a strong 2.25 ERA and 3.35 FIP, with a 27.5% strikeout rate in 12 innings since joining the Missions. … Since his promotion on August 20, left-hander Harry Gustin has yet to be charged with an earned run. The University of Hawaii alum worked 3.1 innings across two appearances, allowed one unearned run on three hits, striking out five without a walk. In 2.1 innings Tuesday, he got four swings and misses and a 28.5% whiff rate. Gustin’s 2025 has been one of the strongest under-the-radar seasons in the San Diego system. In 59 innings between High-A and Double-A, he owns a 29.2% strikeout rate, 1.98 ERA, though his 3.01 FIP and  3.18 xFIP aren’t more solid than exceptional. … While not as explosive as the weeks prior, Braedon Karpathios yet again showed balanced skills in San Antonio. The 22-year-old former UDFA went 5-for-25 against Corpus Christi with a double, two RBIs, a pair of walks, and his third home run since his promotion in mid-August. While still a relatively small sample size, Karpathios’ swings and bat-to-ball skills have remained strong at the higher level, where he is posting an 87.5% in-zone contact rate, and just a 20% whiff rate and 23.2% chase rate in 57 plate appearances. … Devin Ortiz went 7-for-23 with a double, two RBIs, a pair of walks, and a stolen base. Despite the handful of base knocks, the 26-year-old has struggled to find much power while playing just down the road from his high school this season, slugging only .322 with a .077 isolated power rate in 500+ plate appearances. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost at West Michigan Whitecaps, 1-5)

Player of the Week: Maikel Miralles spun an absolute gem in his second start since his promotion to Fort Wayne, tossing 6.2 scoreless innings against the team that finished with a .702 winning percentage that was the minors’ best in over a decade. Mirales scattered five hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out six. It was a great finale of a strong season when the 20-year-old got his first extended exposure to full-season ball. … The TinCaps only scored 18 runs in the series, averaging just more than one extra-base hit per game. Kai Roberts led the way with six hits, four walks, and three steals, going .316/.417/.316 to finish a disappointing 2025 campaign on a high note.  The 24-year-old finishes with a .660 OPS, five home runs, and 35 stolen bases including his rehab stint in the desert to open the year.

Top Prospects and Others of Note:. Eguy Rosario finished a wildly disappointing year, not with a bang but with a wimper. After doubling twice and driving in three in the first game of the series, Rosario finished 0-for-14 with seven strikeouts and four walks. He hit just .145/.242/.327 in his three-week stretch with the TinCaps after coming to spring training with hopes for a big league breakout. … Lamar King Jr. finished his year with four hits in four games. He doubled, walked twice, but struck out seven times in 15 at-bats. King finishes his five weeks in Fort Wayne hitting .233/.289/.300, but a solid .737 OPS with 21 stolen bases across two levels. … Nineteenth-round pick Jonathan Vastine has been with with the club for a month but ended on a high note. He made his first professional home run especially memorable as he connected on a grand slam for his only four RBIs of the week. He finished the week with a .857 OPS.  The shortstop from Vanderbilt ended the season reaching base safely in six of his last seven games. … Luke Cantwell, the Padres’ 20^th-round selection in July went 0-for-5 in his professional debut before going 5-for-15 with a home run over the rest of the week. … Luis Gutierrez gave up four earned runs over five innings, but struck out seven to finish his season with a career-high 115 innings, 105 strikeouts, and .229 opponents’ average in his best campaign since signing in 2019. The 22-year-old lefty posted a 3.37 ERA and 1.23 WHIP across two levels. … Braian Salazar showed both his upside and his flaws in two appearances. In his first outing, he walked four and gave up three hits in 1.1 innings.  Three days later, no Whitecaps batter made contact has he recorded five strikeouts over 1.2 innings with a pair of walks. The 20-year-old lefty, who spent most of the year in Lake Elsinore, finishes the year with a strong 29.3% strikeout rate, but also walked 45 in 55.2 innings. … Nick Wissman finished his season with three scoreless innings, striking out three.  While the overall numbers on the season are not terribly impressive (4.64 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 6.7 K/9), the 24-year-old sidearmer finished the campaign by allowing one run over his final 13 innings as he walked one and struck out 11. (Ben Davey)

Lake Elsinore Storm (swept at Inland Empire, 0-6)

Top Performers: The 2025 Lake Elsinore Storm concluded the 2025 season by getting swept by Inland Empire in San Bernardino. The Storm went 7-17 down the stretch to finish the campaign with a league-worst 56-76 record. They also had the worst run differential at -94. Inland Empire will play Rancho Cucamonga in the playoffs. … Alex McCoy played four games in the series, leading the team with a 1.181 OPS. He had a double and a homer and drove in five runs to put the wraps on a wonderful debut campaign after signing as an undrafted free agent last summer. In 53 games with the Storm, McCoy hit .318/.394/.513 with six homers. The former Hofstra outfielder will be 24 at the start of the 2026 campaign. … It was a rough week for the Storm pitching staff overall, but lefty Ryan Reed had a pair of scoreless appearances in his first week as a professional. He tossed 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing three hits. He walked one and struck out one. Reed was drafted in the 15th round out of the University of Pittsburgh where he led the Panthers with 73.2 innings. He started 27 games during his final two years in college. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Like McCoy, Carlos Rodriguez also had an excellent final week, hitting .350/.435/.600 with a homer and two doubles. The 22-year-old spent the last three years in the ACL, where he never came close to approaching league-average offensive. After starting a fourth season in Peoria, he was finally promoted out of the complex and became an offensive force down the stretch. In 46 games with Lake Elsinore, he had a 16% walk rate and produced offense 39 percent better than the league average. He tied a career-high with four homers and had a .404 on-base percentage. Generally speaking, spending parts of four seasons in rookie ball is not an indication of a top prospect, but perhaps Rodriguez is a late bloomer. He should start next year in Fort Wayne. … Shortstop Jorge Quintana had his best week in a Storm uniform, hitting .250/.444/.500 with a homer and five walks. In his late-season audition with the Storm, the 18-year-old looked overmatched but showed a glimpse of the tools he possesses. He showed tremendous range at short, good speed, and he has more than enough arm to stick at short. At the plate, he predictably struggled, striking out in a third of his plate appearances and posting a wRC+ of 69. He’ll be back in Lake Elsinore to open the year next spring. … Truitt Madonna and Ty Harvey started the year playing high school baseball and finished in the Cal League. Madonna produced a .623 OPS with a double and a triple, while Harvey struck out 10 times in 17 at-bats, delivering a .540 OPS. … Ryan Wideman had a .681 OPS with four stolen bases in his final series of the year. … Kannon Kemp took the loss Thursday as he worked into the fifth inning. He allowed two runs on six hits in 4.2 innings, allowing three walks and four strikeouts. The outing put the finishing touch on his first career full campaign. Kemp was drafted in 2023, signing for $625,000. After battling injuries, he made his long-awaited pro debut this season. He showed flashes, including touching 98 mph with his fastball, but struggled to find consistency. Kemp had a 5.87 ERA in 53.2 innings for the Storm. … Kruz Schoolcraft hopped over from the complex to make his professional debut on Saturday. He struggled out of the gate but showed the potential that made him a first-rounder this season. He allowed a pair of runs in 1.2 innings, walking three but striking out four. He touched 98 mph with his fastball and unleashed a few filthy changeups. The 18-year-old should open the 2026 season in the Storm rotation. … Kash Mayfield took the loss earlier in the week with an uncharacteristic poor start. He lasted just 1.1 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits. He struck out two. Mayfield finished his first pro campaign with a 2.97 ERA in 60.2 innings with a fantastic 34.1% strikeout rate. (Kevin Charity)