San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: May 21

Round Rock Express 5, Chihuahuas 4 (10 innings)

Key Stats: LF/RF Samad Taylor 4-for-6, PO; SS Mason McCoy 2-for-5, 2 SB (11); RHP Logan Gillaspie 3.1 IP, 2 H, 4 K; RHP Ethan Routzahn 2 IP, H, K, BB; RHP David Morgan (L, 0-3) IP, H, R (0 ER), K

Prospect Watch: After Jackson Wolf made it only 3.2 innings into the night, righty Logan Gillaspie came on with the bases loaded. He unloaded a wild pitch, but escaped further damage, then dialed up three more innings of scoreless work, allowing just two singles while striking out four. The 29-year-old swingman got shelled in back-to-back outings in Salt Lake last week, but has otherwise been strong over the last month. Gillaspie matched his season high with four strikeouts, but still has just a 20.9% K rate on the year. … Ethan Routzahn gave two innings of scoreless relief to the effort as well. Still, the Chihuahuas’ offense was held in check after the sixth inning, sending the game to extra innings. David Morgan came on with the Manfred Man on base, and after giving up a single, watched helplessly as the winning run came across on a double-steal attempt that the Chihuahuas played poorly. While the run was unearned, Morgan has now taken the loss in three of his seven appearances since being sent down. … Samad Taylor, who could be in line for a big league job if Jackson Merrill‘s back sends him to the IL, had a four-hit night out of the leadoff spot. The versatile 27-year-old is hitting .338 on the year with a 17.1% strikeout rate. Taylor was picked off second base by the catcher in the third inning, when two outs on the basepaths kept El Paso from scoring despite four straight batters reaching base.

Missions 5, Frisco RoughRiders 1

Key Stats: RHP Ian Koenig 7 IP, 5 H, 6 K, HBP; RHP Johan Moreno IP, K; C Ethan Salas 1-for-5; 1B Romeo Sanabria 2-for-4, RBI, R

Prospect Watch: Ian Koenig turned in one of his best professional starts, throwing seven scoreless innings while striking out six. The righty from Santa Cruz tossed 91 pitches, 61 one of them for strikes. Koenig has lived in the zone for San Antonio this year, walking only seven batters in 39.2 innings of work, but has only struck out 30. An undrafted free agent out of junior college in 2022, Koenig has used his sinker/slider mix to drop his ERA down to 4.31 on the year, the best mark he’s had since 2023. The younger brother of Brewers reliever Jared – who was himself in the Padres system in 2023 – has allowed just two homers over his last 24.1 innings after getting shelled for six in his first 15.1 frames of the year. … Johan Moreno, who continues to see a velocity spike over the last six weeks, closed out the victory with a scoreless ninth inning. The 23-year-old righty from Venezuela, who topped out at 96 throughout his career, has added several clicks to his fastball this year and has touched 99. Still less than two years removed from coming stateside for the first time, Moreno has struck out 23 batters in 19.2 innings while holding opponents to a .164 average on the year. … Romeo Sanabria, whose on-base streak ended at 13 games Wednesday, bounced back with the club’s only two-hit game of the night. The 24-year-old first baseman struck out for just the tenth time in 71 plate appearances this month. He’s hitting .317 with an .873 OPS for May.

TinCaps 5, Dayton Dragons 4

Key Stats: DH Alex McCoy 1-for-3, 2B, BB, SB (7); RF Jake Cunningham 2-for-2, HR (7), 2 BB, SB (5); RHP Carson Montgomery 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 7 K, 2 BB; RHP Tucker Musgrove IP, 2 K, BB, HBP; RHP Clay Edmondson (S, 9) IP, 2 K, BB

Prospect Watch: Two innings after having a 116.7 mph liner caught for an out, Alex McCoy flared a ball into shallow right field for a game-tying double, then came around to score the winning run on a passed ball. The big slugger also added a walk and has now drawn 11 free passes in 71 plate appearances this month after tallying only three in April. The adjustments he has been able to make increase the likelihood the big man will get a promotion to San Antonio in the coming weeks. … Fellow outfielder Jake Cunningham, who was out of the lineup for five of seven games last week, connected on his seventh homer of the year as part of a two-hit night. The minor league free agent signee also had a pair of walks and has been on base six times in the last two contests. The 23-year-old has struck out at a 29.8% clip this year, which is a slight improvement over his career numbers coming into the season. Still, he’s posted a .991 OPS in a surprisingly strong campaign. … Carson Montgomery turned in his fourth straight five-inning start, giving up his first run during that stretch while striking out a career-high seven batters. The 23-year-old righty, who had worked only seven innings as a professional coming into the year, has been impressive in his slow recovery from Tommy John surgery, posting a 1.41 ERA while holding opponents to a .193 average. He’s still a few innings short of appearing on league leaderboards. Still, his ERA is more than half a run better than any other Midwest League pitcher who has worked at least 30 innings. … Clay Edmondson struck out two in yet another scoreless appearance. The sidewinding righty has struck out a staggering 36.6% of the batters he has faced in his first professional campaign while only walking five in 18 innings of work. Midwest League hitters have hit just .121 against him.

Storm 9, Visalia Rawhide 3

Key Stats: SS Jose Verdugo 3-for-5, 3 SB (12); RF Qrey Lott 3-for-4, HBP SB (5); 1B Truitt Madonna 3-for-5, 2 RBI; C Ty Harvey 2-for-4, BB; 3B Kerrington Cross 1-for-3, HR (3), 2 BB; DH Yoiber Ocopio 1-for-4, HR (2), BB; RHP Bryan Balzer 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R (2 ER), 6 K, 2 BB

Prospect Watch: The Storm strung together 16 hits and cruised to a 9-3 win in the Central Valley to remain in first place in their division. Jose Verdugo was one of three players in the lineup with three singles and made the most of them by swiping three bases as well. The 18-year-old infielder had a rough homestand against Rancho last week but has bounced back with a 6-for-12 start to the series at Visalia. While most of the competition is significantly more physical than Verdugo, he’s more than holding his own in his full-season debut. … Truitt Madonna also had a trio of hits and has reached base three times in each of his last three contests and multiple times in five straight. The big-bodied catcher, who was at first base Thursday in favor of Ty Harvey, has put together a strong .298/.412/.439 line this month while making solid progress on reducing his strikeout total. … The club’s third backstop, Yoiber Ocopio, who has understandably struggled for playing time since Harvey returned from the IL, has nonetheless continued to contribute. The 21-year-old  connected on his second homer in three games Thursday. The Venezuelan’s calling card since coming into the organization in 2023 has been his defense, but he was in the lineup at DH for the night. … Bryan Balzer picked up his fourth win of the season with five innings of three-run work. Spotted to a 9-1 lead after three, Balzer issued a leadoff walk and double to open the fourth, but then bounced back nicely to get three straight ground ball outs. While those were pushed across two runs, he was able to control a situation that, last year, might have spiraled out of control. The hard-throwing righty punched out six more hitters and now has 40 in 37.2 innings of work. The 21-year-old has seen significant improvements across every aspect of his game in his return to the Cal League and could well be in Fort Wayne before the draft.

ACL Padres 7, ACL Angels 3

Key Stats: C Blake Hunt 1-for-2, BB; DH Brendan Durfee 1-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI; 2B Jose De Leon 3-for-4, SB (5); LHP Adler Cecil 3 IP, 1 ER, 4 K, 1 BB, WP; RHP Landry Jurecka IP, H, K, BB; LHP Zack Qin 3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 7 K

Prospect Watch: The Padres sent a significant rehab delegation across the valley to beat the Angels in Tempe Thursday night. On the mound, Adler Cecil made his fourth appearance, stretching out to three innings for the first time as he came back from 2024 Tommy John surgery. The lefty didn’t allow a hit, but was charged with one earned run on a walk and a wild pitch. Cecil has struck out 16 hitters against four walks in 8.1 innings. … Zack Qin, who had elbow surgery the same day as Cecil, continues to impress in his own rehab, tossing three innings himself. While he gave up five hits, he also struck out seven. He has punched out 16 through his eight innings of work and has yet to issue a free pass. The now-6-foot-3 lefty from Nanjing, China, had emerged as a sleeper prospect before his elbow injury in 2024 and should be headed to Lake Elsinore once he’s reached 60 pitches in an outing. Qin made it to 57 in this appearance. … Working between the lefties, Landry Jurecka tossed one scoreless inning. The righty got into two games for Lake Elsinore at the start of the year before hitting the IL. An 18th-round selection last year, Jurecka should be back with the Storm in mid-June as well. … A pair of catchers are also getting back up to speed in the desert. Blake Hunt, who re-signed with his original drafting organization last winter, had a hit and a walk as he caught five innings in his second game. The 27-year-old, who has been sidelined with an oblique injury since early in spring training, will look to get to El Paso after a build-up period. … Brendan Durfee, who didn’t make it out of spring training without injury either, clubbed his second double in as many games in the desert. The 24-year-old logged 90 games for the TinCaps last season and could be headed back to the Summit City when he is ready.