San Diego Padres Week in Review: July 7-July 13

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost the series at Oklahoma City Comets 1-4)

Players of the Week: It wasn’t a great week at the plate for the El Paso bats as newcomer Nick Pratto led the way with a .267/.353/.467 slash line. It was that kind of week in the system. Pratto, 27, the Royals’ first-round pick in 2017, opened the year with the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, but was released and immediately signed with San Diego in early June. He has a .769 OPS in 98 plate appearances since then. He has mostly played at first base and designated hitter, although they are occasionally allowing the big man from Huntington Beach, California, a chance to roam in left field. … Matt Waldron, 29, pitched three shutout innings for El Paso on Tuesday, then did the same thing for the big club against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. Waldron has been very good in El Paso this season, posting a 1.33 ERA over 27 innings. With the Padres’ big-league rotation in flux going into the all-star break, the knuckleballer will likely get another opportunity to hold down a spot in the second half.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Clay Dungan, 30, posted a .500 on-base percentage across 16 plate appearances, but all three of his hits were singles. The left-handed utility man has a .741 OPS on the year. No other player logged multiple games against the Dodgers’ affiliate and managed at least a .700 OPS in the series. … Logan Gillaspie, 29, appeared in two games and threw 2.1 innings, allowing only one run while striking out two. It was his first action since a two-week stint on the injured list. … Miguel Cienfuegos, 29, appeared in two games and earned the Chihuahuas’ lone win of the series. The lefty allowed two earned runs across 3.1 innings while striking out five and walking three. … So far, El Paso is last in the Pacific Coast League East in the second half, with a 6-11 record. (John Conniff)

San Antonio Missions (Split series at Midland RockHounds)

Top Performers: Continuing his scorching hot month, Tirso Ornelas reached base 13 times over the six-game series. He capped the week by getting on five times in Sunday’s series finale.  Ornelas hit his team leading 12^th home run on Wednesday. The 26-year-old outfielder is hitting .395 with a 1.111 OPS for the month, lifting his line for the year to .276/.350/483. He has his ground ball rate on the year down to 41.7%, his best mark since 2018. … In a week when nearly every Missions starter had one of their worst starts of the season, Eric Yost had one of his best. The former 17^th-round pick allowed only one run over five innings and tied his season high with seven strikeouts. Yost, who made an emergency fill-in start for El Paso the week before, has been one of the most consistent starters for the Missions all season. That outing did not go well, as he gave up five earned runs over just 3.1 innings, and Yost was back in San Antonio a few days later. Yost is the only Missions starter with an ERA under 4.00.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Before leaving for the Futures Game, where he went 1-for-1 with a walk, Ethan Salas played in three games for the Missions.  He went 5-for-14 with a double, walk, and a stolen base.  Since returning from the IL on June 30, Salas is hitting .310 with a .394 OBP and has reached base safely in every game. … Jake Cunningham has been with the Missions for three weeks and has continued to rake. Cunningham went 7-for-23, with a double, triple, two walks, two stolen bases, and a team-high 6 RBI. He has reached base safely in 15 of 17 games since joining the Missions, hitting .300/.320/.486.  The former fifth-round pick signed with the Padres in February after being released by the Orioles. … Braedon Karpathios reached base safely in all five of his starts and nine times total as he connected on his eighth home run of the season. The 23-year-old has an identical .708 OPS for both July and the season. … Last week’s top pitcher, Jagger Haynes, followed it up with his worst start of the season. The lefty allowed Midland to score six earned runs on seven hits over three innings. He walked three and struck out one. Prior to this lemon of a start, Haynes had allowed three or fewer runs in five of his last six. The lefty is the last draft pick remaining from the Padres’ 2020 draft. (Ben Davey)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost series at Western Michigan 2-4)

Top Performers: Justin DeCriscio was easily the top offensive player of the week for Fort Wayne, as he put together not just the strongest series of the season, but perhaps his best as a pro. The 2025 10th-round pick went 12-for-23, with four extra-base hits to post a 1.339 OPS. The 23-year-old is slashing .302/.368/.482 since the start of June. Along with an uptick in production, DeCriscio continues to display quality bat-to-ball skills and swing decisions, sporting an 88.8% in-zone contact rate and just a 19.2% whiff rate this season. The 22-year-old sports a 118 wRC+ and .387 wOBA across both Single-A clubs on the year. … Bryan Balzer turned in one of the best starts of his young career, going five innings and allowing just one run on five hits, walking one and striking out a career-high eight batters. For the day, his arsenal generated a 35.9% whiff rate and 23.8% chase rate. The 21-year-old righty has maintained his upper-90s velocity while blowing past last year’s 50 inning workload. Balzer is already up to 72.2 innings on the year and should continue to take his turn in the TinCaps rotation down the stretch.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Rosman Verdugo had a solid week at the dish, going 6-for-19 with an .802 OPS. There are some improvements to his game this season, as he is whiffing at a more respectable 29.3% clip – a massive improvement from his 35.7% mark a year ago. Still, year two in Fort Wayne has been a struggle for the 22-year-old, who is hitting just .227 with a .735 OPS. … Ryan Wideman, still getting his feet wet at High-A, hit .261 for the week but failed to draw a walk and tallied just one extra-base hit. While he’s hit for a decent average, Wideman has only two extra-base hits since his promotion. Swing-and-miss is still a glaring issue for the Western Kentucky product, who is whiffing at a 32.7% clip since joining the Fort Wayne lineup. … It was another slow week for Alex McCoy facing Western Michigan, as the big outfielder went 4-for-22, collected only one extra-base hit and fanned six times. While he’s hitting .265 over his last 25 games, McCoy has struggled to find power, logging just seven extra-base hits and posting a .709 OPS in that same span. It’s not all bad news though, as McCoy still owns a solid 82.1% in-zone contact rate since the start of June and has also managed to cut down on the swing and miss in that same time span. … Kannon Kemp returned to the bump after missing the first three-plus months of the season with an oblique injury. Kemp allowed two runs over his two appearances and induced a 25.3% whiff rate. Kemp has thrown just 87.1 innings since being drafted in 2023. … Winyer Chourio fought his command in his third High-A start, walking four in his 2.2 innings. While his fastball can reach 98 mph, he has issued 12 walks in just 10.1 innings since his promotion to Fort Wayne. The 22-year-old didn’t get his first professional contract until two years ago as he has long struggled to harness his stuff. … Carson Montgomery’s struggles continued as he was tagged for seven runs in his three innings of work. Over his last three starts, he’s yielded 16 runs in just 10.2 frames. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Lake Elsinore Storm (lost series at Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, 2-4)

Top Performers: The second-half swoon continued for the Storm as they lost their series on the road and dropped to a league-worst 6-15 in the second half. The Storm have the lowest winning percentage (.286) in all of Single-A in the second half. While the MLB Draft is in the books, the Storm won’t likely see reinforcements from the draft class until August. … The Storm offense struggled against the Quakes, but outfielder Qrey Lott was the exception. Lott, 21, delivered a team-high 1.436 OPS with four doubles, four RBI, and just two strikeouts. The former undrafted free agent has been a solid performer for the Storm this year in his first full professional season. In 54 games, his .280/.386/.427 has been 16 percent better than league average. He’s also posted a respectable 25% K-rate while converting on 11 of 13 stolen base attempts. … Lefty Kruz Schoolcraft had one of the best starts of his career on Friday, but the bullpen could not hold the lead. The 19-year-old tossed 5.1 innings, allowing just one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out three. Schoolcraft has made every turn in the rotation this year, and while he’s put together some good starts, his 6.59 ERA doesn’t scream top prospect. He has pitched at least five innings in five of his last six starts. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Infielder Dylan Grego had a solid .804 OPS and connected on the Storm’s only homer of the week. The former Ball State infielder opened the year in Fort Wayne, where he had a miserable start to his campaign, posting a wRC+ of 9 – 91 percent below the league average offensive output – and a 35% K-rate. After a brief appearance with El Paso, Grego is hitting .242/.311/.411 with the Storm. He’s added outfield to his resume, partly since the Storm have just 12 position players on the roster. … Shortstop Jorge Quintana had a solid week at the plate, hitting .304/.333/.391 with a pair of doubles. He also struck out eight times, as his contact issues remain a concern. Among league qualifiers, the 19-year-old shortstop has the ninth-highest K-rate in the league (30.8%). … Former Illinois hurler Tyler Schmitt turned in a solid outing Saturday, allowing just one run on four hits. He struck out five without issuing a walk. Schmitt, the Padres’ 17th-rounder last year, has a solid 24.7% K-rate, but his 11% walk rate has led to a 4.41 ERA as the Storm’s Saturday night starter. … Former two-way player Sean Barnett had a nice week, allowing just one run in three innings. He struck out five and did not issue a walk. The 23-year-old has the stuff to play in the back of a big league bullpen, but his command has been an issue since moving to the mound. Encouragingly, he’s improved immensely since June. Over his last 15.1 innings, he has a 3.86 ERA. The walks are still too frequent (13 during that span), but he’s punched out 21. (Kevin Charity)

ACL White Sox 4, ACL Padres 3 (2-3 on the week)

Key Stats: LF Eddson Martinez 3-for-4, R; 1B Nick Vincent 1-for-3, BB, 2 RBI; RHP Erick Batista 3 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 K, 2 BB; RHP Miguel Alvarez 2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 K

Top Performers and Others of Note: The Padres rookie club managed just five hits on the day; three of them came off the bat of Eddson Martinez out of the leadoff spot in the lineup. The 18-year-old capped another solid week since his mid-season promotion from the Dominican, where he had a 1.281 OPS through 12 games. In three weeks stateside, the left-handed hitter has only fallen off slightly, hitting .396/.492/.563. For the week, he had matching walk and strikeout totals of four in 19 trips to the plate. … While outfielder Jesmaylin Arias settled for a walk in plate appearances Monday, he had a solid .250/.429/.500 line for the week. The 19-year-old has seen a big spike in production in his second season in the desert, posting an .807 OPS while striking out less and drawing more walks. … Righty Erick Batista tossed three innings of one-run ball, building on a recent run of success. The 19-year-old, who is repeating in the desert, has posted a 3.38 ERA over his last three outings, striking out 13 against two walks in 10.2 innings. … Rehabbing big leaguer José Leclerc made his third appearance of the week as he works back from shoulder surgery. He surrendered hits to the first two batters, then the rain descended on the Peoria Sports Complex, leading to a nearly delay that cut short his appearance. The 32-year-old hadn’t allowed a baserunner in his first three outings. He’ll likely get one more appearance under his belt this week and then join an affiliate when the minor league schedule resumes on Friday.