San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: April 9

Albuquerque Isotopes 6, Chihuahuas 1

Key Stats: RHP Matt Waldron 5 IP, 2 H, 3 K, BB; LHP Jackson Wolf IP, 2 K, BB; DH Jose Miranda 1-for-3, 2B; SS Mike McCoy 1-for-4, R

Prospect Watch: Matt Waldron continued his impressive run through a rehab assignment by tossing five scoreless innings, but the rest of the night went poorly for the Chihuahuas as they dropped their fourth straight. Waldron gave up only two hits and a walk and has now thrown 12 innings without surrendering a run. The righty continues to see a spike in his velocity across his repertoire, with his four-seamer and sinker now sitting 92-93. He continues to use his knuckleball about a quarter of the time as he’s now mixing in a true five-pitch mix. After throwing 61 pitches in four frames last time out, Waldron only needed 58 to get through five. The Padres don’t have to take immediate action to activate Waldron, but his performance certainly seems to make it unlikely that they’d be successful optioning him out to the minors. … Immediately after Waldron exited, Albuquerque put up six runs against Justin Yeager and Ethan Routzahn in the sixth inning, putting the game out of reach. El Paso’s offense managed only four hits on the night, plating their only run on a Jose Miranda double. After a strong spring training, the long-time Twins prospect and player is hitting .226/.226/.355 through his first 31 trips to the plate with El Paso.

Corpus Christi Hooks 10, Missions 3

Key Stats: RHP Victor Lizarraga 0.1 IP, 3 H, 7 ER, 5 BB; RHP Johan Moreno 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 3 K; RHP Andrew Moore IP, K, BB; RF Tirso Ornelas 2-for-4, HR (1); 1B Braedon Karpathios 1-for-4, 3B, 2 K; DH Romeo Sanabria 1-for-5, 2B, 2 K; C Ethan Salas 0-for-4, BB, R

Prospect Watch: Victor Lizarraga had a nightmare start, as he allowed the first six batters to reach base safely and walked five total batters, including the last three he faced before being removed after recording only one out. He wound up being charged with seven earned runs as he also hit a batter, uncorked a run-scoring wild pitch, and pushed another across with a disengagement violation. The righty has now issued 11 free passes in just 5.1 innings in his first two starts of the year. Lizarraga has posted double-digit walk rates in each of the last two seasons, which he’s also spent at Double-A. Now 22 years old, Lizarraga has been unable to coax any more velocity out of his delivery as he’s gotten older, still sitting right around 90 mph. … With the game well out of hand already, Tirso Ornelas got the Missions on the board with a solo homer in the sixth as part of the club’s only two-hit night. After spending much of the spring in big league camp even after he was outrighted off the 40-player roster, the Tijuana native was held back in Arizona to open the year as he dealt with a minor injury. He’ll likely had back to El Paso, where he already has more than 1,000 career at-bats, sooner than later. … Ethan Salas went 0-for-4 and drew a walk. He’s now 2-for-16 with seven strikeouts in the early going.

Roster Move: Per the San Diego Padres, the organization has released outfielder Joshua Mears.  Mears returned from the voluntary retirement list this year, but was off to a slow start in his first 10 plate appearances with six punchouts.  The former second-round pick in 2019 has incredible power, but never made enough contact to make it play.

TinCaps 2, Lansing Lugnuts 1

Key Stats: RHP Carson Montgomery 4 IP, 2 H, R (0 ER), 3 K, BB; RHP Kleiber Olmedo 3 IP, H; RHP Igor Gil 2 IP, 2 H, 2 K, 2 BB; C Lamar King Jr. 1-for-3, 2B, BB, RBI; RF Kavares Tears 1-for-3, 3B, HBP

Prospect Watch: Having managed just five hits and one run that came across on a wild pitch through the first 8.2 innings, Fort Wayne claimed a walkoff win when Rosman Verdugo slapped a single to left to plate Oswaldo Linares. The well-timed hit takes some of the sting off the club having scored just 10 runs through the first six games. The club is dead last in the Midwest League in every offensive category, with a team .152/.277/.230 line. … With the TinCaps offense continuing to struggle, Carson Montgomery and a pair of relievers turned in a stellar performance to help the home club to their second win of the season. Montgomery, making his first regular season appearance in nearly two years, gave up a hit, walk, and committed an error to load the bases before he recorded an out, but then bounced back impressively. He allowed a sacrifice fly before inducing a double play to escape further damage. He then gave up just one infield hit over his final three innings, while striking out three. Montgomery, whose command has long led to a gap between his stuff and his production, tossed 38 strikes among 55 pitches. The Padres’ 11th-round pick out of Florida State in 2023 is now 23 years old and looking to assert himself as a viable starting prospect. … Kleiber Olmedo and Igor Gil followed and worked five scoreless frames. Gil, 25, was a key contributor in the Lake Elsinore bullpen last year. The lefty, who signed out of Venezuela for $10,000 late in 2023, has punched out 97 in 80.1 professional innings.

Storm 21, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 0

Key Stats: CF Ryan Wideman 2-for-4, 2B, 4 RBI; RF Kale Fountain 4-for-5, HR (1), HBP; C Victor Duarte 3-for-5, 2B; 2B Bradley Frye 4-for-6, 2 2B; 3B Kerrington Cross 1-for-2, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 3 R, 3 RBI; LF/CF Conner Westenburg 2-for-5; LF George Bilecki 1-for-3, HR (1), 4 RBI; RHP Bryan Balzer 5 IP, 2 H, 4 K, 3 BB; LHP Javier Chacon 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K; RHP Nick Falter 2 IP, H, K, BB

Prospect Watch: After taking a couple of lopsided defeats in the first week of the season, Lake Elsinore turned the tables as they completely dominated Rancho. The Storm put up nine runs in the second inning, then had an even bigger outburst in the eighth when they plated 11 runs as the first 11 batters all reached base safely. Kale Fountain had the loudest night at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a two-run homer, but he was just one of six different Storm hitters who reached base at least four times. Fountain entered the night just 1-for-17 despite multiple triple-digit drives off the bat. Thursday, those balls began to fall and he now has a respectable .755 OPS. … Infielder Bradley Frye also came in with only one hit, but came through with four, including a pair of doubles. Signed as an undrafted free agent out of Mercer College, the 22-year-old had only one extra-base hit in 14 games with Lake Elsinore at the end of last year. … Jorge Quintana finally got his first hit of the year as he went 1-for-4 and drew a pair of walks. While the switch-hitter has had a rough start, he’s drawn seven walks against five strikeouts in 23 trips to the plate. … Ryan Wideman had a double among his two hits in four trips to the plate before giving way in the seventh inning. His replacement, George Bilecki, put a cap on the stellar offensive night, clubbing a grand slam in the eighth inning. … Luke Cantwell was the only Storm batter not to collect a hit, but still scored twice and drove in two thanks to a pair of walks and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch. … Even with all the offensive fireworks, perhaps the most important performance of the night came on the mound, where righty Bryan Balzer tossed five scoreless innings. He still sprayed his pitches a bit, walking three, but he allowed only two singles and struck out four. The 21-year-old has made big improvements since last year, when his performance lagged well behind his impressive stuff. In two outings, he has allowed just one run while holding opponents to a .138 average and striking out 11 in nine innings of work. If he can continue to stay in the zone with his high-90s fastball and developing split-fingered offering, he could be in Fort Wayne by mid-Spring.