San Diego Padres Week in Review: May 26 – June 1

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost series at Albuquerque Isotopes 2-4)

Players of the Week: Nick Schnell, 26, had a big week with four extra-base hits including three home runs, in five games to lead the team with a 1.295 OPS. On the season, the left-handed hitter has a .226/.322/532 slash line and is second on the team with 10 home runs. Schnell, a first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, posted a .799 OPS in the Washington Nationals organization last year. … Playing six games in Albuquerque can make Southwest University Park feel like Petco Park before the fences moved in, so pitching numbers are not going to be great. Left-hander Fernando Sanchez made a pair of starts, giving up five total earned runs over 10 innings with seven strikeouts against seven walks. Sanchez, 25, was promoted from San Antonio at the start of the month after posting a 4.50 ERA in 20 innings for the Missions.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Schnell barely outperformed infielder Nick Solak, who also blasted three home runs and posted an .800 slugging percentage for the week. Solak, another minor league free agent signee with a high draft pedigree, has been a major force in the Chihuahuas’ lineup with a .917 OPS on the season. … Outfielder Carlos Rodriguez, 25, and utility man Pablo Reyes, 32, who both also signed as minor league free agents last winter, posted a 1.036 and 1.008 OPS respectively for the week. … System veteran Marcos Castañon, 27, also had a big week, putting up a 1.009 OPS in four games and 16 plate appearances. He has edged his offensive production for the year back up to league average with two hot weeks. … Jase Bowen, 25, has reportedly earned his first big-league call-up after collecting a team-leading eight hits – four for extra bases – for a .320/.370/.600 slash line with six strikeouts in six games. Bowen, left the Pirates organization to sign with the Padres in the offseason, is one of the better athletes in the organization, but has struggled to control his chase rates throughout his career. As Clark pointed out in Sunday’s Daily, his batted ball data might mitigate the concern over his need to control the strike zone better. Bowen leads the team in home runs (13), total bases (117), and has 29 extra-base hits in 49 games. … Reliever Sean Boyle gave up two runs across six innings in two games. The 29-year-old didn’t allow a walk and struck out a pair. Boyle, another former Yankee farmhand, was a starter last year in Triple-A with a 4.61 ERA in 134.2 innings. This season, only three of his 13 appearances have been starts. While Boyle throws four pitches, he relies primarily on sinkers and sweepers. … David Morgan, 26, appeared in two games, throwing an inning in each appearance. He allowed a solo home run in one outing and only needed six pitches to close out the game in his other appearance. (John Conniff)

San Antonio Missions (Split series vs Corpus Christi Hooks)

Players of the Week:  The last time Jhony Brito threw six scoreless innings was nearly four years ago, when he was in Triple-A with the Yankees. Since then, Brito has bounced between the bullpen and rotation, gotten traded, and then undergone Tommy John surgery. Making his third and possibly final start with the Missions, Brito had everything working for him as he allowed one baserunner over six innings, striking out four. Brito’s fastball has been sitting at 95 mph, and in this start, he did a fantastic job locating his secondary pitches. Brito has one more week before he needs to come off the MLB IL, and will likely be optioned to Triple-A as another depth option for the big league club. … The most consistent Mission over the last five weeks has been Ethan Salas. While he has cooled off slightly from the last week in April, when he posted a 1.370 OPS, Salas has kept getting on base and smashing balls over 110 mph. Salas has not gone more than seven at-bats without a hit all year. This week was no different as Salas went 8-for-20, with two doubles a home run, four runs, and six RBI. Not only is Salas making excellent contact, but over his last seven starts, Salas has struck out only twice in 29 at-bats. With his next stolen base, Salas will set a new career high with 11.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Jagger Haynes bookended the week with a fantastic start and a not-so-fantastic start. After throwing six shutout innings and earning the win on Tuesday, Haynes was lit up for four runs over 4.2 innings on Sunday. Encouragingly, Haynes struck out 13 in his 10.2 innings this week, but he also walked six and hit three batters. Haynes will finish May with a respectable 3.93 ERA over six starts. … After back-to-back poor outings coming off the IL, Miguel Mendez looked to be back to more dominant stuff. The 23-year-old’s fastball sat 98 mph for the majority of the outing, hitting 100 twice. He did not allow a run over three innings, striking out four and walking one.  Mendez is still working his way back from an early-season injury, and the Padres have been slow-playing his innings. … Braedon Karpathios hit .357 over a very solid week. He also walked seven times in the final three games of the series, giving him a .571 on-base percentage for the week. After a slow start, the 22-year-old finished with a .408 OBP and .832 OPS for the month. That is nothing new for Karpathios, who has a career .378 OBP since signing with the Padres as an undrafted free agent as a 19-year-old. … After a slow start to his season, Tirso Ornelas ended May on a hot note, going 7-for-23 on the week with two doubles and two walks. Not known for his speed, Ornelas also stole his first base this season.  He finished with a .323/.385/.495 for May. … Righty Andrew Moore was about as dominant as a reliever can be as the 26-year-old struck out six of the 10 batters he faced across 2.2 innings. In May, Moore struck out 22 batters in 9.2 innings, but still walked 10. (Ben Davey)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost series at South Bend Cubs 1-5) 

Players of the Week: Last winter, the Padres took a flyer on Jake Cunningham, signing the former fifth-round pick a week after Baltimore released him. Since coming to the San Diego organization, the 23-year-old has looked like a different player. His excellent 2026 season rolled on in South Bend as he went 5-for-17 with a trio of homers and four RBIs as he drew six walks. On the year, he now owns a 147 wRC+, .436 wOBA, and .988 OPS. Cunningham’s game includes a lot of swing and miss, as evidenced by his 35.8% whiff rate. Still, he’s made plenty of impactful contact at the High-A level, which has put him in a good position to see a potential promotion to Double-A this summer… Midwest League batters simply aren’t hitting Clay Edmondson this season, and that trend continued in South Bend as he tossed three scoreless innings and allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out four. His ERA for the year sits at 0.43 with a 2.23 FIP. Opposing batters are hitting just .120 with a .362 OPS and a 35.7% strikeout rate against the side-armer.

Others of Note: After abusing South Bend Cubs pitching in their first series, Alex McCoy was held in check this past week, going 4-for-23 with eight strikeouts as the TinCaps played their first rematch series of the year. While he still owns a .930 OPS, the organization will likely want to see McCoy show he can make adjustments in the next few series as he faces other teams that have already seen him once. … Last year’s 10th-round pick Justin DeCriscio went 5-for-18 at the dish with a pair of extra base hits. Since arriving in the Summit City, the USD product by way of North Carolina State has posted a respectable .794 OPS in 16 games games played. He’s also flashed some decent underlying data, which includes an 85.2% in-zone contact rate while only chasing at a 25.7% clip, helping him to a solid 23.2% whiff rate. ….Kasen Wells logged seven hits over five games, helping him post an .820 OPS for the week. Wells, whose offensive profile is based on bat-to-ball skills, had a strong month of May, hitting .310 with a .779 OPS. He also stole eight bags while posting 13 walks against 18 punch outs. … Coming into his Friday night outing, Kash Mayfield hadn’t allowed more than three hits in a single start this season. South Bend’s offense changed that, as they tagged him for six runs as he finished only a third of an inning. His command was the worst it’s been all season, as he walked two, hit a batter, and threw only 48 percent of his pitches for strikes. The start raised his ERA from 1.30 to 2.83. … Tucker Musgrove allowed one earned run over two appearances. His outing Sunday was the more impressive of the pair, as his fastball topped out at 98 and both his sweeper and slider showed good depth, helping him tally 10 whiffs on 13 swings, good for an absurd 76.9% rate. While his command is still a work in progress, the 23-year-old touts a 38.9% whiff rate and has struck out 39.3% of the batters he’s faced. When opponents do make contact, they pound the ball into the ground at  a 65.2% clip…Like Mayfield, Carson Montgomery had his first true rough start of the season during his Thursday start. After having allowed only one run in his last 20 innings, he allowed three runs on two hits, but five walks, while he struck out four. For the year, his ERA still sits at 1.98; however, right next to that is an ominous 5.66 xFIP and 5.02 FIP. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Lake Elsinore Storm (Won series against Inland Empire 66ers, 5-1)

Top Performers: The 2026 Lake Elsinore Storm love playing at The Diamond. The Storm won five of six against the 66ers and opened up a two-game lead over second-place Rancho Cucamonga. Lake Elsinore is 18-6 at home this season.  At 30-21, the Storm have the best record in the Cal League. … Catcher Yoiber Ocopio had a monster week, leading the club with a 1.262 OPS in his four games played. Ocopio, 21, had three doubles, four RBI, and he struck out just once in 16 plate appearances. The backstop started the year in extended spring training, but thanks to injuries to Ty Harvey, he’s getting a chance to play more. Thus far, he’s taking advantage of his opportunity. In 22 games for Lake Elsinore, the Venezuelan has a .812 OPS. … Tyler Schmitt pitched another gem on Saturday, delivering six shutout innings to earn the victory. He allowing four hits and walked three times, but struck out a career-high nine batters. The excellent start caps a brilliant month for the righty from the University of Illinois. In five starts in May, he went 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA, completing at least five innings in four of his five starts. In the 27 innings he pitched, he averaged a strikeout per inning. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Infielder Jose Verdugo had an excellent week at the plate, hitting .400/.438/.733, with a double, two triples, five runs scored, and four RBI. The 18-year-old has displayed excellent bat-to-ball skills, swinging and missing only 9.4% of the time, which ranks in the top ten in the Cal League. There isn’t room for much physical projection on his small frame, and his lack of power limits his production at the plate. Despite his excellent performance last week, he’s slugging just .374, leading to offensive production 15 points below the league average. … Ryan Wideman returned to form, delivering a 1.108 OPS and a team-high 12 hits while playing all six games. He had four doubles, a homer, six RBI, and three steals. Overall, Wideman has a wRC+ of 120 for the Storm this season. … Kerrington Cross continued to bash Cal League pitching, as he clubbed a team-high two homers while chipping in with a .934 OPS. Cross has been one of the most productive hitters in the league this season – he has a league-best wRC+ of 164, and an OPS of 1.070. … Bryan Balzer worked into the seventh inning on Thursday but did not factor in the decision. He allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, walking two and striking out six. The 21-year-old has touched 99 mph this season and has fared much better during his second stint in the Cal League. In nine games (eight starts), he has a 4.50 ERA. … Kruz Schoolcraft set a career-high with nine strikeouts, but once again his outing was uneven. He allowed three runs in 3.2 innings. The 19-year-old lefty has struck out 32 batters in 24.2 innings this season, but thanks in part to a rough pair of starts at the beginning of the season, his ERA still sits above eight. (Kevin Charity)

ACL Rangers 4, ACL Padres 3

Key Stats: 3B Dawson Willis 1-for-4, HR (2), BB; CF Moises Valdez 1-for-4, BB; RHP Luis Maracara 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R (2 ER), 5 K, BB; RHP Dalvi Nunez 3 IP, 4 K, BB; RHP Jordan Valenzuela IP, 3 K

Top Performers and Others of Note: Infielder Dawson Willis connected on his second homer Monday night, capping a loud week. The 22-year-old was 3-for-12, but had a pair of walks and his extra-base hits pushed his OPS well north of 1.000. Signed out of Oklahoma, Willis has hit in all seven of his games since getting a late start to the year and has a .346/.433/.731 line through his first 30 plate appearances. He should find his way to Lake Elsinore before the end of the ACL season. … After a one-inning appearance last week, righty Dalvi Nunez tossed three innings of hitless ball against the Rangers Monday, allowing just one walk while striking out four. Both the workload and the punchouts were season highs for the 19-year-old, who posted middling numbers in his native Dominican Republic in his first year as a professional last year. … Jordan Valenzuela has proven to be the epitome of a high-upside wildcard in his second season stateside. The 21-year-old, who signed for $10,000 back in 2023, struck out the side Monday, pushing his strikeout total to 23 in 12.1 innings of work. He also turned in his first appearance without a walk, lowering his season free pass rate to “only” 21.8%. … Lefty Zach Qin and righty Cam Nohos dominated in their outings last week, combining for 7.2 innings of scoreless ball. The duo, both working back from injury, struck out 17 batters while walking only two. They both are looking for an opportunity to get to Lake Elsinore sooner than later.

DSL Padres

The DSL season got underway yesterday, as both the Padres’ “Gold” and “Brown” squads opened the year with losses. The action in the Dominican is often dominated by pitchers with little feel and undersized players trying to build skill and physical mass at the same time. We don’t provide daily coverage of players we won’t see in person, and strongly caution you against paying much attention to numbers from the Island. That said, after the organization had only its second “normal” signing period in the last five years this January, there are a handful of names to know. The Padres have chosen to pair the duo of infielders who got the largest signing bonuses for position players in the class, putting Joniel Hernandez and Timothy Mogen together on the Gold roster. Dawry Guerrero, who signed for six figures late last year when the Padres had unspent money, Osmy Osorio and Sebastian Nadales should be the key guys on the dirt for the Brown squad. They will be behind the top pitching signees in the class, lefty Diego Serna and righty Yoel Duarte. The squads will play through late August. Last year, the Padres’ Gold affiliate claimed the league championship, with the organization moving some of the top talent from the other roster over late in the year to bolster their chances.