The San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: April 12th

Albuquerque Isotopes 19, Chihuahuas 12 (10 innings)

Key Statistics: RHP Triston McKenzie 1.2 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 2 K; RHP Alek Jacob 1.2 IP, K; RHP Logan Gillaspie (L, 0-1) IP, 6 R (4 ER), 3 H, 2 BB; 2B Sung-Mun Song 2-for-5, BB, RBI, 2 R; 3B Marcos Castañon 2-for-6, 2B, 2 RBI, R; 1B Nick Solak 2-for-4, HR (1), 2 RBI, 2 R; C Rodolfo Durán 1-for-4, HR (2), BB, 2 R

Prospect Watch: El Paso had another classic PCL showdown Sunday, but, unlike Friday, dropped the contest after yielding 10 runs in the top of the 10th inning. Sung-Mun Song‘s rehab stint continued, as the utility man went 2-for-5 with a pair of singles and two runs scored while playing second base. Song’s base hits logged exit velocities of 99.1 and 80.1, respectively. Through 50 at-bats in the PCL, Song has posted a 35.7% hard-hit rate, and has yet to record a barrel. Add in a troubling 30.6% strikeout rate and a below-average 76.8% in-zone contact rate, and the club will need to decide whether to add him to the big-league squad when his rehab assignment comes to an end at the end of the week. … Marcos Castañon collected another multi-hit night, going 2-for-6 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. His double clocked an exit velocity of 110.0 mph. The UC Santa Barbara alumni continues to feast on PCL pitching and post quality batted ball data, including a 13% barrel rate, 47.8% hard-hit rate, and 110.5 max exit velocity. He owns a .933 OPS and 136 wRC+ this season. Originally a 12th-round pick in 2021, Castañon’s bat will have to carry him, but the 27-year-old has continued to hit enough that he could play his way into a big league opportunity. … After making a pair of relief appearances, Triston McKenzie made the start on Sunday, and struggled. He went only 1.2 innings and allowed six runs on five hits, walking three, and punching out two. His four-seamer sat 94.6 mph and saw 17.1 inches of induced vertical break. While that helped yield a 38.5% whiff rate, Isotopes made loud contact when the did hit it, yielding a .772 xwOBA. Without question, though, the biggest concern remains McKenzie’s command. Sunday, only 20 of 41 offerings were in the zone. He has now walked two or more batters in three of his four outings this season and has allowed a total of 20 baserunners in 7.1 innings of work. … Alek Jacob worked a scoreless 1.2 innings, punching out one and allowing just one runner on a hit batter. In 7.1 innings of work, the 27-year-old has yet to allow a run, and has given up just four hits. His pitch mix has generated a 36.7% whiff rate on the year.

Missions 1, Corpus Christi Hooks 0

Key Statistics: LHP Luis Gutierrez (W, 1-0) 5 IP, H, 2 BB, 6 K; RHP Francis Peña IP, 2 K; RHP Johan Moreno IP; 2B Carson Tucker 1-for-2, R, BB; DH Braedon Karpathios 0-for-4, K; 1B Romeo Sanabria 0-for-4, 2 K 

Prospect Watch: The two clubs combined for just four hits in a game that was the exact opposite of El Paso’s night. The game’s lone run came when the Missions strung together a pair of walks and an infield single before a passed ball in the second inning. … Left-hander Luis Gutierrez continues to build on a strong 2025 season early this year. In Sunday’s win, the 22-year-old worked five scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and two walks while punching out six. His four-seamer, which saw an uptick of velocity last season, topped out at 97 mph as he logged 11 whiffs and a 34.3% whiff rate on the day. Gutierrez’s greatest strength, though, is his command within the zone. He does an exceptional job of working inside and to the upper third of the zone with his four-seamer, which, in turn, allows him to utilize the rest of his pitches, which include a mid-80s changeup that shows decent arm-side fade and a mid-80s slider that flashes good two-plane tilt. Gutierrez has allowed only three hits while striking out 11 in nine innings of work this season… After a disaster in his last outing, Francis Peña rebounded on Sunday by working a perfect sixth inning with two strikeouts. Peña needed only 14 pitches to retire the side, throwing 71.4% of them for strikes, and generating a 40% whiff rate. … Carson Tucker, the 23rd overall selection in the 2020 MLB draft who signed with the Padres after being out of affiliated baseball since the middle of 2023, had the only hit as the Missions rallied for their run  he beat out slow chopper behind the mound. A former top 15 prospect in the Guardians system, Tucker has started the season strong with the Missions, posting a 1.029 OPS in a minuscule 17 at-bat sample size. … After delivering the walk-off winner Saturday, Braedon Karpathios went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. It’s been a slow start to the year for the Padres’ 2025 minor league hitter of the year, with Karpathios posting a 44.4% K% in his first 40 plate appearances with an anemic 51.7% contact rate. If there is a positive in the slow start, Karpathios has pulled 56.3% of the balls he has put in play, something he has tried to improve within his game over the past few months. … Romeo Sanabria also put up an 0-for-4 with two punchouts on Sunday as he also struggles through a slow start. The 23-year-old has limited the strikeouts for the most part, but is hitting .189 with only two extra-base hits through 41 plate appearances.

TinCaps 5, Lansing Lugnuts 3

Key Statistics: RHP Abraham Parra 4 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K; RHP Kleiber Olmedo (W, 1-1) 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K; LF Alex McCoy 1-for-4, HR (2); RF Kavares Tears 1-for-3, 2B, BB; 3B Zach Evans 2-for-4, 2 2B, R; C Carlos Rodriguez 2-for-4, RBI

Prospect Watch: After back-to-back losses, Fort Wayne managed to salvage the final game of the home stand with a 5-3 victory over Lansing. For a second straight game, Alex McCoy left the yard as the 24-year-old launched a no-doubter 107.1 mph blast that went 375 feet onto the concourse in left-center. Along with the home run, McCoy logged a 119.5 mph exit velocity with his ground-out in the top of the second. The last ball at the big-league level at 119.5 or better off the bat? Shohei Ohtani‘s 120.0 mph missile last September. All the six-foot-five 260-pound McCoy has done since arriving in Fort Wayne is hit the ball hard, already logging eight exit velocities north of 105 mph. McCoy has a 147 wRC+ and a .940 OPS through nine games. … Kavares Tears went 1-for-4 with a double on Sunday, his third extra-base hit of the season. Tears has made a few small mechanical changes to his swing in 2026. The stocky left fielder has ditched his leg kick for a more subtle toe-tap, and he’s become slightly more crouched with his bat lying relaxed on his shoulder in his set-up rather than raised hinged above his head. He’s posted a .802 OPS and .355 wOBA through his first 30 plate appearances, though he continues to punch out a 30% clip. … Third baseman Zach Evans went 2-for-4 with two doubles – his first extra-base hits of the season. Since arriving in Fort Wayne last August, Evans has struggled to figure out High-A pitching, posting a 33 wRC+ and .453 OPS in 115 at-bats. … Starter Abraham Parra turned in another mixed bag of an outing as he worked four innings. He allowed only two runs, but surrendered seven hits and walked two, while striking out just two. Parra’s fastball topped out at 95 mph, but he struggled to get swings and misses, generating just three whiffs. The 20-year-old signed out of Venezuela three years ago, reaching full-season ball for the first time last May.

Storm 14, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 6

Key Statistics: LHP Javier Chacon (W, 1-0) 2.1 IP, ER, 4 H, 2 K; RHP Sean Barnett IP, 2 H, 2 K; LF Conner Westenburg 3-for-3, 3B, 3 R, SB (4); 2B Justin DeCriscio 3-for-5, 3B, 3 RBI, 2 R; SS Jorge Quintana 2-for-5, 2 R; RF Kale Fountain 0-for-5, 2K

Prospect Watch: The Storm scored at least nine runs for the third time in the series as they grabbed Sunday’s finale for a series split. … Conner Westenburg‘s red-hot start to the 2026 season rolled along this Friday, as the Houston native went 3-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs, and three runs scored. In his first 24 professional at-bats, Westenburg has put together one of the more improbable stat lines you’ll see, collecting 13 hits, 16 total bases, and three hit by pitches, without a walk in 29 plate appearances. That translates to a stellar .500/.552/.615 line. The undrafted free agent out of McNeese State has a crazy .619 average on balls in play, so even with his speed, he’s likely to see a regression. … Last year’s 10th-round selection Justin DeCriscio posted a 3-for-5 day that also included a triple, while both driving in and scoring three runs. The 23-year-old has a .959 OPS and .358 wOBA to start the 2026 season. … Jorge Quintana collected his second straight multi-hit game for the Storm, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Still, he punched out three more times on the day, bringing his total to 11 in his first 36 at bats of the season. … Though Kale Fountain went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts in Sunday’s loss, he still made loud contact, sending two line drives to the warning track in right-center that were hauled in for outs. Fountain has consistently hit balls hard to start the season but doesn’t have much to show for it yet, as he’s posted just a .325 wOBA and .586 OPS. … Sean Barnett‘s transition to pitching is still a major work in progress, but the right-hander had one of his better outings on Sunday as he worked around a pair of hits for a scoreless ninth inning. Encouragingly, he punched out two and did nor walk a batter It’s Barnett’s first scoreless outing of the season and just the seventh in his career. Barnett has solid stuff, with his fastball touching as high as 97 with ride, but control remains an area that needs major improvement as he’s posted a career 23.6% walk rate.