Summary
The Storm opened the year with a couple of top prospects in the rotation in Kash Mayfield and Boston Bateman. The bullpen was remarkably inexperienced, with several international players who signed for $10,000, and they unsurprisingly struggled. The Storm finished tied for last in the Cal League with a 5.00 team ERA. The pitching staff had the circuit’s second-worst walk rate and WHIP, at 1.50
Overview
Our approach to eligibility remains straightforward. Players are considered at whichever affiliate they logged the most service time. So, while lefty Luis Gutierrez was very impressive with the Storm to open the year, you’ll read about him in our Fort Wayne wrap-up. We recognize the top contributor to this year’s team as the top player, while the top prospect is based on our expectations based on his production, age, projectability, and potential impact in the major leagues.
Kash Mayfield delivered in his professional debut. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Level
Low-A is the first level out of the complex leagues and is the bottom rung of full-season ball, so it can be challenging to gauge how meaningful a prospect’s performance is. Some pundits focus primarily on the raw ability and potential demonstrated, while others focus on the consistency of performance.
We lean toward more of a middle-of-the-road evaluation relying on a couple of questions to filter through it: (1) how old is the prospect compared to the competition; (2) how raw or developed is the prospect heading into a full-season ball, and (3) is he making the necessary adjustments during the course of the season.
Lake Elsinore Storm Pitcher of the Year
LHP Kash Mayfield (unanimous) 19 G, 1-5, 2.97 ERA, 60.2 IP, 46 H, 22 BB, 88 K
Mayfield, 20, had a very successful professional debut in 2025, despite a one-month precautionary shutdown with shoulder soreness. After returning in early June, he was brought back slowly, pitching four innings or less in nine consecutive starts, before gradually building up to five innings in August. Before the shut-down, Mayfield had a 4.87 ERA in six early-season starts. However, when he returned, he looked like a different pitcher. Over his final 13 starts, his ERA was 2.01, and he had a sterling 2.79 FIP. Although the ERA was very good, his performance was even better.
Over those final 13 starts, Mayfield punched out 36% of the batters he faced and allowed just one homer over 40.1 innings. If there is a knock on his 2025 season, it is that his 11% walk rate is a cause for concern. The former first-round pick’s stuff played in Low-A, but he will need to command the zone better at the higher levels. His fastball, which sat in the 91-95 mph range, doesn’t have premium velocity, but his change-up was dominant for much of the season. Mayfield will look to prove that he can can throw 75-90 pitches consistently in 2026 — something he wasn’t asked to do in 2025.
Top Pitching Prospect
Kruz Schoolcraft is one of the Padres’ top prospects.. (Photo: Robert Esclanate)
Kash Mayfield (John Conniff, David Jay, and Ben Davey)
LHP Kruz Schoolcraft (Kevin Charity and Clark Fahrenholdt)
Schoolcraft made a late-season cameo in Lake Elsinore, pitching 1.2 innings in the penultimate game of the 2025 season. He allowed a pair of earned runs before departing; however, that is hardly the story. The 25th pick in July’s draft, Schoolcraft is an intimidating presence on the mound, a 6-foot-8 lefty who touched 99 mph with his fastball in instructional league play and paired it with a low-90s change-up. In addition to his pitching potential, Schoolcraft showed enough as a hitter in high school that he could have gotten draft interest as a hitter, but he will develop exclusively on the mound as a professional. He has a case for being the Padres’ number one prospect heading into the 2026 season.
Others of Note: Not counting position players, 41 different pitchers toed the slab for the Storm in 2025. Lefty Boston Bateman was one of the high-profile arms to see time with the Storm in 2025. He had a 4.08 ERA in 15 starts before headlining the trade that brought Ramon Laureano and Ryan O’Hearn to San Diego. … After making his professional debut in the desert to open the season, righty Kannon Kemp pitched in 13 Storm games (seven starts) and pitched to a 5.87 ERA. While the ERA wasn’t impressive, he showed some high-octane stuff, touching 98 mph with his fastball. He’ll head into 2026 two years removed from shoulder surgery and looking to show that his performance can match the physical traits that make it easy to understand how he earned third round money to sign with the Padres out of high school in 2023. … Tucker Musgrove returned from a slow recovery from Tommy John surgery to make his professional debut for the Storm this season. He pitched to a 5.40 ERA with 26 strikeouts in 20 innings. Finally healthy, he’s getting an opportunity to show his stuff in the Arizona Fall League and will be a key name to watch next spring. … Top prospect Humberto Cruz dealt with an offseason shoulder injury and opened the season in the ACL before finally getting to Elsinore in July. His results across 20.2 innings for the Storm were not especially impressive, but he showed very well for an 18-year-old in full-season ball before going down with an elbow injury in August. He ultimately underwent an internal brace surgery rather than a full Tommy John replacement procedure, and will likely miss all of next season. The organization hopes he can add significant weight and strength as part of his rehab process. … Reliever Vicarte Domingo tossed 63 innings out of the Storm bullpen and pitched to a 3.86 ERA while striking out 86 batters. His 32% K-rate was impressive, but he will need to improve his 12% walk-rate. He was the organization’s second-best reliever out of the University of British Columbia, behind Missions’ righty Garrett Hawkins. … Righty Abraham Parra led the Storm with 81.2 innings, tossing at least five frames in seven of his final eight appearances. His 5.19 ERA didn’t impress, but as a 19-year-old, he was at least a dependable source of innings. … Righty Bryan Balzer was a popular breakout candidate heading into the year, but the 20-year-old native of Japan struggled mightily to turn the intriguing stuff he’s shown in bullpens into game performance. Opponents hit the ball hard off of him in his first taste of full-season ball, posting an .850 OPS. The organization will continue to give him plenty of opportunities to show that the upper-90s fastball and high-tilt breaking pitch can get outs.
You can click here to view all our level wrap-ups as they are published.
