San Diego Padres Week in Review: June 23 to June 29

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost series at Sugar Land Space Cowboys, 1-5)

Players of the Week: Jhony Brito continued to make his case for an opportunity in the Padres rotation with another solid start for the Chihuahuas. He gave up three unearned runs in the first, when, after a throwing error, Brito issued one of his two walks on the night, then gave up a two-out homer. After those three runs, all charged as unearned, he retired 13 of the last 15 batters he faced, striking out six. Brito now has a 0.96 ERA in 18.2 PCL innings, though his FIP sits at 4.76. On Saturday, he leaned on his changeup and slider, using them for 52 of his 72 offerings. His changeup was particularly effective, generating a 50% whiff rate on 16 swings. … It wasn’t a big week for the bats, but Blake Hunt had a nice showing with two doubles and a home run in 12 plate appearances for a .917 OPS as he played in four of the club’s six games. Hunt had his first major league call-up this year and is hitting .263/.341/.526 in 47 plate appearances for the Chihuahuas. The 27-year-old has played first base in the past, but for now, he has only appeared behind the plate.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Sean Boyle had another solid performance, giving up a run on four hits over five innings. Boyle, as we noted last week, was a starter in the Yankees organization in 2025 and has a 1.72 ERA in June over 15.2 innings, although Wednesday was only his fourth start of the year and the first since May 8. … Jackson Wolf also had another strong outing, with eight strikeouts to fall one short of his personal high this season against four walks in five innings. He only allowed one run and three hits as he made his third consecutive start allowing two runs or fewer. … Lefty Miguel Cienfuegos made an emergency start on Sunday, going three shutout innings after giving up two runs, one earned, in 1.1 relief innings earlier in the week. The 29-year-old Canadian has been in the Padres system since 2023, after four years in the independent leagues, and has an 8.19 ERA on the year. … Andrew Moore made two appearances out of the bullpen after his promotion, working 3.2 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts against five walks and only one hit. Moore, 26, had a 1.85 ERA in 24.1 innings for the Missions this year, with 45 strikeouts, but also 24 walks. … Misael Tamarez made one appearance in relief, throwing 3.1 scoreless innings. Tamarez, 26, has a big fastball, but has yet to show it consistently with El Paso striking out 26 in 33.1 innings, but also walking 25. … Jake Cronenworth had three hits in three games while of a rehab assignment, with a double and a home run. Before this week, he hadn’t appeared in a game since May 4. … Carlos Rodriguez had six hits in five games, all singles, to go along with four walks for a .476 on-base percentage and a .829 OPS. (John Conniff)

San Antonio Missions (Lost series @ Arkansas Travelers 2-4)

Top Performers: Between May 1 and June 12, Tirso Ornelas did not hit a home run. He ended that drought two weeks ago and continued the barrage this week. game He collected two homers in the first and added a third later in the week. Ornelas finished the week 9-for-26 adding a double, two walks, and five RBIs. With one game remaining in June, the 26-year-old owns an .828 OPS for the month and has raised his season OPS to .799. After spending the past two years in El Paso, Ornelas could find himself back there again soon. … The Missions won two games during the week, and both starts came from Eric Yost. The right-hander turned in his best outing of the season on Tuesday, allowing one run over six innings. He surrendered just two hits, walked three, and struck out three. Yost returned on Sunday but was less effective, allowing three runs over five innings while walking five and striking out three. Despite the uneven week, Yost has held opposing hitters to a .177 batting average this season and leads Missions starters with a 3.48 ERA across 51.2 innings.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: After hitting 15 home runs with a .929 OPS in Fort Wayne, Jake Cunningham has continued to mash with the Missions. After going hitless in his Double-A debut, Cunningham went 7-for-19 over the final four games of the week, including his first Double-A home run on Sunday. The 23-year-old was released by the Orioles organization after three seasons in which he hit only eight total home runs with a sub-.700 OPS. In just 62 games with the Padres organization, Cunningham has already doubled that total. … Shortstop Ryan Jackson drove in seven runs over the first three games of the series, one more than he recorded during the entire month of May. Jackson finished the week 7-for-24 with three doubles and seven RBIs. … Entering the week, Kai Roberts had gone 5-for-36 with one double and five walks over his previous nine games. He responded by going 9-for-18 with a double, three walks, and five stolen bases against the Travs. While the 25-year-old has endured a disappointing season overall, he owns a .388 OBP in June and leads the team with 25 stolen bases. … After a three-week absence, Carson Tucker returned to the Missions’ lineup and collected a hit in each of the three games he played. The former first-round pick is now batting .293 with a .730 OPS on the season. … For just the second time this season, Jagger Haynes pitched into the seventh inning. The left-hander earned his sixth quality start by allowing three earned runs over 6.2 innings while striking out seven. After surrendering a career-high four home runs in his previous outing, Haynes did not allow a homer for the fifth time in his last six starts. Since a disastrous April, he has averaged nearly six innings per start while posting a 3.88 ERA. … In his first week at Double-A, Tucker Musgrove showed both why scouts are so excited about his future and why he is still developing. Musgrove averaged 97 mph with his fastball and did not allow a hit over 2.2 innings, striking out four. At times, however, he lost the strike zone, issuing three walks and struggling to throw strikes consistently. Nearly 60 percent of his pitches were balls, although his stuff was good enough to generate swings outside the zone. Even at the Double-A level, his fastball, slider, and curveball combination can be dominant when he commands it. (Ben Davey)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Split Series 3-3 with Lake County)

Top Performers: For the past month-plus, Kavares Tears has been arguably the best bat in the TinCaps lineup. He continued the hot streak in Lake County, going a combined 6-for-18 and slashed .333/.400/.611. Of his six hits, three went for extra bases. Dating back to May 1, the 2024 fourth-round pick is owns a .916 OPS, .401 wOBA, and has launched nine homers. In this stretch, Tears has pulled the ball in the air at a 24.7% clip. That ranks in the 94th percentile among all High-A Batters. Even with the recent uptick in production, Tears struggles to limit strikeouts (31.6%), and whiffs (36.9%) have persisted. … After breaking out in the California League, Winyer Chourio made his first High-A start. While it came with a few learning moments, it was an overall impressive debut for the 21-year-old who worked five innings and allowed just one run on five hits, walked three, and struck out four. The right-hander once again topped out at 98 mph, with his four-seamer sitting 93-95 for most of the afternoon. In total, his arsenal generated 10 whiffs  and a 24.3% whiff rate.

Top Prospects and others of note: In his lone start of the week, Kash Mayfield struggled. Working  2.2 innings, he allowed two runs on six hits, walked one, and struck out a pair. In recent starts, the organization has looked to limit his workload. Over his past four starts, he owns a 9.90 ERA, 9.21 FIP, with opposing hitters batting .409 against the southpaw. … During his first start at High-A, Bryan Balzer also struggled, giving up six runs over just 3.2 innings. Balzer topped out at 98 mph while generating a 22.2% whiff rate. The right-hander has some of the better stuff in the San Diego system and did see improved command during his time at the Cal League prior to his promotion, dropping his walk rate from 11.6% in 2025 to 8.3% in 2026. … Ryan Och, who remained in Fort Wayne after his rehab assignment ended, worked three scoreless innings across a pair of appearances, allowing just two hits with two walks and three strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 0.77 in 11.2 IP in High-A. … It was a strong week at the dish for infielder Justin DeCriscio, as he went 7-for-25 and clubbed a pair of home runs to help him post a .957 OPS against Lake County pitching. The former 10th-round pick is slashing .259/.363/.476 in 38 games at High-A. Along with some solid numbers, there is some underlying data to like with DeCriscio, too. The former USD and NC-State player has shown a strong feel for contact, posting an 89.3% in-zone contact rate, and just a 19.% whiff rate. He’s also shown a knack for lifting the ball to the pull side, sporting an 18.6% pull-air rate. … In his first week with Fort Wayne, Ryan Wideman held his own, hitting 250 with a .345 OBP in his six games. While he failed to tally an extra-base hit, he did walk four times against six strikeouts. As suspected, he stayed aggressive on the base paths as well, stealing four bags. … While he logged a multi-hit game in the final game of the series, it was a slow week for Alex McCoy against Lake County as he went 5-for-22, striking out six times and failing to log an extra-base hit. He owns a .702 OPS in June. … Luke Cantwell arrived in Fort Wayne this week and went 2-for-10, with his lone hits being a homer and a double. The 2025 20th-round selection has enjoyed a solid start to his professional career. In 43 games now between Single and High-A, he owns a 154 wRC+, .448 wOBA, and is hitting .319, all while walking at a 16.3% rate. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Lake Elsinore Storm (lost series to Fresno Grizzlies, 2-4)

Top Performers: After winning the first half of the Cal South Division, the Storm saw seven players promoted to Fort Wayne. The new-looked Storm had a rough week, losing four of six at home to Fresno. It was the first series the Storm lost at home this season. The club had three series wins and a pair of splits, prior to last week’s tilt against the Grizzlies. … Lake Elsinore’s offense mostly struggled last week, but Bradley Frye performed well, hitting .389/.500/.500 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs. Frye, 23, got off to a hot start in April, delivering a .962 OPS. However, much of his production stemmed from his BABIP hovering around .500 for most of the month. In May, he struggled, producing a .474 OPS, but he’s recovered a bit in June. Thanks in part to last week’s production, the Mercer University product is hitting .273/.420/.418 in June. He is one of four domestic undrafted free agents in the Storm position player group … The Storm pitching staff struggled as a whole last week, pitching to a 6.00 ERA. The best work came from left-handed reliever Cal Riehl, who pitched 5.1 innings over two relief outings. He allowed two runs on four hits, walking two and striking out two. He had a 1.13 WHIP over his pair of outings. Overall, the former Wingate pitcher has a 4.74 ERA in 19 innings for the Storm this year. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Oklahoma infield product Dawson Willis connected on a homer and delivered a .717 OPS while playing all six games. The 22-year-old was promoted from the complex a few weeks ago, and he’s produced impressive numbers so far. In 11 games, Willis is hitting .282/.341/.513, though he will need to drastically cut down the strikeouts – he’s punched out in 40% of his plate appearances with the Storm this year – but he’s shown interesting tools for a former undrafted free agent. … Shortstop Jorge Quintana had a tough week at the plate, going 2-for-16 with seven strikeouts in five appearances. The 19-year-old has had a rough year, but he has increased his OPS each month – even if June’s season-high of .632 leaves a bit to be desired. The switch-hitting shortstop has had an especially hard time against left-handed pitching. In 52 plate appearances, he’s hit just .176/.192/.176 with one walk and 22 strikeouts. … Kruz Schoolcraft pitched five innings for the fourth consecutive start to mixed results. Last year’s first-rounder allowed four runs (three earned) in five innings. After pitching to a 15.95 ERA in April, Schoolcraft has posted ERA’s of 4.67 in May and 4.95 in June. He’s improved his walk rate in June, but is still a work in progress in terms of in-zone command. On a positive note, he’s made every start this season. … On Thursday, Lan-Hong Su made his full-season debut and took the loss. He allowed four runs in 2.2 innings, walking one and striking out two. Between the complex and his outing with the Storm, he has a 5.40 ERA in 18.1 innings. (Kevin Charity)

ACL Padres 14, ACL Guardians 13

Key Stats: DH Eddson Martinez 3-for-3, 2 2B, 2 BB, 2 SB (2), Sac; 1B Colton Vincent 3-for-5, 2B, 3B, SB (2); CF Moises Valdez 2-for-5, 2B, 3 R; RHP Cameron Nohos 3.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 7 K, 2 BB; RHP Luis Germán IP, 2 BB

Prospect Watch and Top Performers: The Padres’ rookie level affiliate scored multiple runs in the first, second, fourth, sixth, and seventh innings, but still needed a walk-off double from Jesmaylin Arias to cap a three-run ninth inning to claim the win. …  Eddson Martinez had a huge game, reaching base five times, with a pair of doubles and two walks. The 18-year-old also swiped a pair of bases as he finished his first week stateside with a .462/.611/.692 line. Originally signed prior to the 2024 season, the diminutive outfielder had nearly 350 plate appearances in the DSL before getting his first opportunity in Peoria. … System veteran Colton Vincent rejoined the ACL club for the second time this month, and marked his first game by going 3-for-5 with a double and triple, and stealing a base for good measure. The 26-year-old signed out of Florida State as an undrafted free agent back in 2023. … Jhoan De La Cruz had a single, double, and drew three walks Monday night, matching the total times he reached base in his previous 11 games. The 18-year-old switch-hitter, who commanded one of the largest signing bonuses in last year’s international free agency class, his hitting just .144/.291/.258 on the year. … Luis German was the only pitcher on either side who didn’t allow a run as the 24-year-old worked around a pair of walks in a scoreless ninth inning. The hard-throwing righty opened the year in the TinCaps bullpen, but struggled badly with command. After walking 21 in 19 Midwest League innings, he was sent back to the desert to regroup. In three appearances this week, he has worked four scoreless frames, but has three walks against a pair of strikeouts.