Padres Prospects Week In Review: May 12-17

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost series at Salt Lake Bees 2-4)

Players of the Week: Evan Fitterer gave the Chihuahuas a chance to claim a series split with a strong outing on Saturday, but Salt Lake rallied late against the bullpen. Fitterer, 25, has delivered a 2.43 ERA through his first 33.1 innings in the Padres organization, largely getting results like he did Saturday. The righty only struck out one batter in the outing, but he got Salt Lake to pound the ball into the ground all night. His 56.1% ground ball rate on the year is second in the Pacific Coast League among pitchers who have worked 30 innings. After opening the year in the bullpen, the former Marlins farmhand has stepped into the rotation and given much-needed innings to El Paso. … Nick Solak appeared in all six games in Salt Lake and put together a .381/.480/.524 line. The 31-year-old, who has appeared in the big leagues in six of the last seven years, drew three walks against only two strikeouts and added three stolen bases in as many attempts. On the year, his .442 on-base percentage is good for fourth in the PCL.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Infielder Marcos Castañon had a loud week, hitting .417/.500/.667 across four games. The 27-year-old system veteran has cut his strikeout rate to 19.7% this year in his first extended run at Triple-A, but his production has fallen to below league average. … Jase Bowen, Samad Taylor, and Pablo Reyes, who have fueled the Chihuahuas offense through the first two months, all had relatively quiet weeks at the plate. Bowen was the only one of the trio who managed multiple extra-base hits, coming away with two doubles, but he also struck out seven times in 21 trips to the plate. … Lefty Fernando Sanchez came up from San Antonio to give the Chihuahuas a solid start, working four innings of one-run ball. The 25-year-old out of Sonora, Mexico, spent parts of 2021 through 2024 in Low-A, but over the last two seasons has shown flashes at higher levels of the organization. He struck out 31 Texas League batters in 20 innings before his promotion this season, easily the best rate in his career. … Fellow southpaw JP Sears had his strongest start of the season, giving up a pair of earned runs over five innings while striking out five. The other part of the Mason Miller trade has been underwhelming after failing to claim a spot on the big league pitching staff, posting a 5.59 ERA and walking batters at an 11% clip. … Key relievers David Morgan, Kyle Hart, and Garrett Hawkins, all on the 40-player roster, all had rough weeks. The trio combined to allow six runs over 6.2 innings while putting a total of 15 runners on base. They’ll all look to improve production as they return home this week. (David Jay)

San Antonio Missions (Split series with Wichita Wind Surge)

Players of the Week: A month ago, it appeared more likely Victor Lizarraga would pitch himself out of a job rather than regain his form. The righty had allowed 13 earned runs while only recording five outs in two starts. A month later, Lizarraga had one of the more dominant performances by a Missions pitcher this season. The 22-year-old allowed one run over six scoreless innings, struck out eight and, perhaps more impressively, walked none. It was especially key considering Lizarraga walked 15 batters over his first 10.2 innings. In May, the San Diego native has walked three batters over three starts and has a 1.29 ERA. to drop his ERA from 20.25 to 6.37. … After hitting .175 over the first five weeks of the season, Romeo Sanabria turned a corner. He finished the series against Midland with a hit in each of the last four games, then continued to hit against Wichita. Sanabria went 9-for-20 on the week, with three doubles and his first home run in a month. The big first baseman also walked five times, scored five runs, and knocked in six to hit .450/.560/.750 for the week.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: While Ethan Salas has cooled off since his meteoric three-week stretch from late April to early May, Salas still found ways to contribute against Wichita. While the 19-year-old went just 4-for-21, he had a home run, drew two walks, and stole three bases. He now has swiped nine on the season, just one off his career high set in 2024.  On the season, Salas is hitting .297 with an .881 OPS, and leads the club with six home runs. … Making his first full-season appearance since August of 2024 as he works back from elbow surgery last spring, Jhony Brito pitched four innings without allowing an earned run. He was touched for two unearned runs as he walked two, and struck out one. He sat primarily 94-96 mph with both his fastballs, but location started to wane in the fourth. Brito has one option year remaining and could eventually be ticketed for Triple-A. … Miguel Mendez came back from a two-week stint on the IL with a neck strain on Tuesday and threw two scoreless. The Padres’ #4 prospect allowed onl one baserunner and struck out two. After he missed three weeks, the Padres will slowly build Mendez back up. … Pitching into the seventh inning for the first time this year, Jagger Haynes notched his third quality start in a row. This time he allowed three runs on five hits. He did not walk a batter for the first time all season and struck out seven. After averaging over 5.0 BB/9 in his first four starts, the lefty has lowered his walk rate to just under 2.0 BB/9 in three appearances this month. The 23-year-old is holding batters to a .238 average. …  The offense struggled throughout the entire series.  One of the few batters who produced every game was none other than Tirso Ornelas. The outfielder had seven hits over his five starts, including two doubles and two walks. The 26-year-old has rebounded after a tough April that saw him hit .203 with a .655 OPS. In May, Ornelas is hitting .333 with a 1.015 OPS and has drawn more walks (seven) than strikeouts (six). … Carson Tucker continues to hit. The former first-round pick started four games on the week and reached base twice in all four of them. He collected two walks in game one and then two hits in each of the next three games. Tucker also went 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts and now has nine on the season without being caught.  The nine steals are already more than he had in his three previous minor league seasons combined. For May, the 24-year-old is hitting .395/.442/.500. (Ben Davey)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Split Series at Cedar Rapids Kernels, 3-3) 

Players of the week: In his lone start of the week, Kash Mayfield once again dazzled, as he struck out a career high nine batters in five scoreless innings of work to lower his ERA to 1.52 in 29.2 innings on the year. Perhaps even more impressive is that opposing batters own just a .099 batting average against the southpaw this year, while whiffing at an absurd 37.6% clip. Another encouraging note from his outing is that his fastball topped out at 95 mph three separate times. While the offering saw mainly 13 to 14 inches of induced vertical break during his outing, it topped out with 18.3 inches of ride. His strong showing earned him the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week honors. … After failing to record a hit last week against Beloit, Alex McCoy returned to form against Cedar Rapids. The 6-foot-7 outfielder went 6-for-19 with a pair of home runs, and a double, collected seven RBIs, and walked four times. Even with hitless week on the books, McCoy owns a .921 OPS on the year with a .408 wOBA. The outfielder mentioned in late April wanting to work on taking more walks as the season rolled on, in May he’s done just that, registering a 15.8% BB% since the calendar flipped.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Kavares Tears put up a strong week, going  6-for-18 with a 1.046 OPS with seven RBIs against Cedar Rapids pitching. Tears remains a rather interesting offensive player to watch. While whiffing at nearly a 33% rate this year, Tears also draws free passes at an elite 16.4% clip. Despite hitting just .216, his OPS still manages to clock in at .762. … Lamar King Jr.’s recent hot stretch rolled along as he tagged Cedar Rapids pitchers for seven hits in 22 at-bats. While he logged only one extra base hit in the series, he continues to look more and more comfortable against High-A pitching, hitting .324 with a .865 OPS in his past 20 games. He owns a 115 wRC+ on the year and solid 77.5 percent contact rate, … It was another strong week for the contact-first approach of Kasen Wells. The outfielder, who made several strong plays defensively, went 9-for-21 at the dish with a pair of doubles, stole three bases and walked more (6) than he struck out (4). Since the start of May, he’s hitting .340 with an .882 OPS. … Clay Edmondson made a pair of appearances this week, with his latter being perhaps his most impressive of the year. The 22-year-old UNC-Asheville product escaped the bases-loaded jam he was brought into with just one inherited runner scoring, and ended up working two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out two. The scoreless innings lowered his ERA to a minuscule 0.53 on the year. That ranks first in the Padres system among pitchers with at least 15 innings pitched. Opposing hitters claim only a .167 wOBA against the sidearmer while striking out at a 36.7% clip. …Florida State Alum right-hander Carson Montgomery logged a third consecutive five-inning shutout appearance Wednesday as he allowed just two hits, walked three, and struck out four. In 27 innings of work, he owns a 1.33 ERA with opponents hitting just .198 against him. While the numbers are solid, he hasn’t gotten swings and misses regularly, generating only a 20.4% strikeout rate with 25.7% whiff rate. The 23-year-old has somehow managed to strand 97.1% of batters to reach base against him – a number that’s both comically impressive and wildly unsustainable. … Javier Chacon had a strong showing in his lone outing of the week, working 2.2 scoreless innings while punching out four. He’s struck out 36.5% of batters he’s faced across the two levels this season. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Lake Elsinore Storm (Won series against Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, 4-2)

Top Performers: The Storm won another series, taking four of six from the Quakes at home to improve the team’s record to 23-16. They have a two-game lead over Rancho Cucamonga for first place. … At the plate, 24-year-old Kerrington Cross had a monster week for the Storm as his red-hot May continues. The former University of Cincinnati infielder went 8-for-17 with three doubles, a homer, and a team-high eight RBI. He drew six walks and finished the series with a 1.433 OPS. He even added a mop-up inning on the mound Sunday to help save the pitching staff. Over the last two weeks, Cross ranks second in the Cal League with a 1.252 OPS, including an on-base percentage north of .500. Overall, Cross has delivered a wRC+ of 154 in 29 games. … For the second straight outing, 18-year-old Jesus Castro worked into the sixth inning Wednesday, but he did not factor in the decision. Castro scattered seven hits but did not allow a run in 5.2 innings. He walked one and struck out nine. The teenager from Guasave, Mexico, has been dominant in two May starts. In 11.1 innings, he’s walked one and struck out 16 batters. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Catcher Ty Harvey returned from the injured list and had a nice week at the plate, hitting .429/.556/.571 with a pair of doubles and two RBI. He also added three stolen bases. … Truitt Madonna broke out of a slump and finished the week with a 1.298 OPS. He had three doubles, a triple, and drove in seven runs for the Storm offense, which ranks third in the circuit in runs scored, despite being dead last with 19 homers. For Madonna, the Diamond in Lake Elsinore has been a personal playground. He has a .996 OPS at home and just a .536 OPS in road games. … Center fielder Ryan Wideman had another solid week at the plate, hitting .292/.320/.417. He added a pair of stolen bases, bringing his Cal League-high total to 29. In the first two months of the season, Wideman might be the most improved player in the system. He has dropped his K-rate down to 16%, and his overall offensive production is 35 percent above the league average. … Jorge Quintana had a nice night last Friday with three hits, but outside of that, it was a rough week for the switch-hitting shortstop. He struck out 10 times in 19 plate appearances, delivering a .498 OPS. … Righty Winyer Chourio started the Storm’s victory last Tuesday, striking out a career-high 10 batters in five innings. He allowed two runs on six hits. The 22-year-old has had spotty control this season, but he’s striking out nearly 40 percent of the batters he has faced. … Kruz Schoolcraft struggled with fastball command Friday, but he still managed to pitch three scoreless innings. He didn’t allow a hit, but he walked five batters. Schoolcraft has struggled badly with command; however, he’s looked better in May. Despite averaging a walk per inning, he has a 2.61 ERA in three starts. … Former two-way player Sean Barnett had his best week on the mound as a pro, delivering two scoreless outings, spanning 3.1 innings. The former Wingate righty attempted to develop as a two-way player last year in Fort Wayne, but this year, he’s worked exclusively as a reliever. Barnett came into last week’s series with an ERA north of 17. 

ACL Red 10, ACL Padres 3 (2-3 on the week)

Key Stats: SS Jhoan De La Cruz 1-for-5, 4 K; C Blake Hunt 0-for-3; 3B Yimy Tovar 1-for-3, BB, 2 SB (8); RF Jesmaylin Arias 1-for-4, HR (1); 1B Isaac Ponce 1-for-4, HR (1); RHP Cameron Nohos 2.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 K, BB; RHP Landry Jurecka IP, H, ER; RHP Dariel Polanco 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 K

Prospect Watch and Key Contributors: The rookie league club collected a pair of home runs after they went down big early, but both were solo shots and the Padres were never really in this one. Jesmaylin Arias had one of the club’s round-trippers to get the team on the board, capping a strong week for the 19-year-old outfielder. The left-handed hitter went 7-for-18 with a pair of doubles and a triple to go along with the blast he hit Monday, giving him a stellar 1.178 OPS in five contests. He’s drawn only one walk in 36 trips to the plate in his second season in the desert. … Yimy Tovar reached base two more times with a hit and a walk, pushing his line for the week to .353/.429/.529. The 20-year-old infielder hit .315 in the ACL last year, but had little power production. This year, he’s slugging .575 through his first 12 games. While the Storm have something of a logjam on the infield, Tovar is making the case for an opportunity at full-season ball. … Blake Hunt began his rehab assignment after being sidelined by a serious side strain early in spring training. The 27-year-old, returning to the organization that originally drafted him in the second round in 2017, had a career-best .820 OPS in Triple-A Tacoma last year. … Isaac Ponce got his first stateside homer, capping a strong 4-for-12 week. He was held hitless through his first 14 at-bats of the season, but was a key contributor in the DSL last year when the big-bodied catcher posted an .819 OPS with a strikeout rate under 20%. … While the pitching staff got knocked around on Monday, there were some strong performances on the mound across the week. Righty Jordan Valenzuela gave up just one unearned run over four innings in a pair of appearances, striking out eight batters along the way. The 20-year-old continues to issue more than a walk an inning, but has struck out a third of the hitters he has faced on the year. Righty Lan-Hong Su‘s professional debut was the big news of the week in Peoria. The 19-year-old allowed one unearned run in two innings as he got underway.