San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: July 23

Las Vegas Aviators 6, Chihuahuas 5

Key Stats: CF Carlos Rodriguez 1-for-3, HR (4), 2 BB; LF Nick Solak 3-for-5; 2B Marcos Castañon 2-for-5, 2B; C Anthony Vilar 2-for-2, 2B, 2 BB; RHP Jhony Brito 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER

Prospect Watch: El Paso rallied to take the lead in the sixth, but gave it up again in the bottom of the seventh and fell to the worst second-half record in the PCL. Center fielder Carlos Rodriguez connected on his second homer in four games and just his fourth overall this season to give the club their lead. He finished the day 1-for-3 with a pair of walks. Remarkably, this month he has drawn nine walks and struck out only four times in 55 trips to the plate. His zone contact, whiff, and strikeout rates are all in the 90th percentile or better, but his barrel rate and exit velocity data is in the bottom five percent. … Nick Solak had three singles in five trips to the plate. The 31-year-old is slugging .522 since returning to the Chihuahuas from a brief stint with the big league team. … While the Padres’ pitching staff had another brutal day, Jhony Brito made the start in El Paso and threw 42 pitches across three innings. He gave up a pair of solo homers. The righty used his changeup less than he had in any outing this year, throwing it just 12% of the time. He didn’t get a single whiff on the day, and atypically, surrendered more fly balls than grounders in the outing.

Frisco RoughRiders 3, Missions 0

Key Stats: 2B Wyatt Hoffman 2-for-3; CF Kai Roberts 1-for-4; RHP Matthew Watson 3.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 2 BB; RHP Francis Peña 2 IP, 2 H, 2 K, BB; RHP Garrett Hawkins 2 IP, H, 3 K

Prospect Watch: The Missions managed only three singles as they were shut out and dropped their fourth of six games since the break. Improbably, Wyatt Hoffman had two of the club’s three hits and has now hit in seven of 10 games since joining the Missions at the end of last month. The 27-year-old scion of one of the most important families in Padres history is batting .313 since coming off the IL from a back injury, leaving his career mark since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2021 at .190. … Starter Matthew Watson gave up a pair of runs in the second and then loaded the bases with two out in the fourth before giving way to Francis Peña. The righty got a grounder to escape the jam, and then finished the day with two full scoreless innings. The 25-year-old has had an up-and-down season after returning to San Antonio this year, but has been on his best stretch over his last 11 appearances. Peña has allowed just two runs in 17.2 innings, striking out 18 against six walks. As he’s found a more consistent release point, the hard-throwing righty is again showing signs that he could be in the bullpen mix next year. … Fellow reliever Garrett Hawkins also put together two shutout innings while striking out three. The big Canadian didn’t appear for El Paso nearly a month before he was sent backward to the Missions. Five of his six appearances with San Antonio have been scoreless, but he gave up three in his other outing, leaving him with a 3.12 ERA across 8.2 innings. He’s put together an encouraging 14:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio as he has found his trademark riding fastball more consistently.

Lake County Captains 15, TinCaps 3

Key Stats: 2B Rosman Verdugo 2-for-5; DH Alex McCoy 1-for-4, BB; RHP Carson Montgomery 4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R (3 ER), 3 K, BB

Key Stats: The TinCaps put up three runs with the help of a key error in the first inning, but that was all the club managed on the night. Fort Wayne didn’t log an extra-base hit and went just 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Rosman Verdugo had the only multi-hit game for the offense, going 2-for-5 with a pair of strikeouts. The 21-year-old has reached base at a .377 clip this month, but his slugging percentage has once again dipped below .400 for the season. While he still looks to be on track to top the 13 home runs he hit last year and he’s striking out a third less than he did in his first pass at the Midwest League, his overall production is hovering below league average. … Carson Montgomery‘s struggles continued as the righty gave up five runs – three earned – over 4.2 innings. The 23-year-old, who looked poised for a breakout early in the year, has seen his ERA this month balloon to 8.59. He’s only struck out nine while issuing seven walks and giving up five homers in 14.2 innings in July and now has a 6.40 FIP on the year.

Visalia Rawhide 11, Storm 7

Key Storm: 2B Bradley Frye 3-for-5, 2B, HR (3); RF George Bilecki 1-for-3, HR (5), 2 BB; LF Qrey Lott 3-for-4; RHP Lan-Hong Su 2.1 IP, 2 H, 3 K, BB; LHP Zack Qin 3 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 3 K, BB; RHP Sean Barnett 1.1 IP, H, K

Prospect Watch: Lan-Hong Su wriggled out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the top of the first and then his offense batted around and plated six runs on two homers in the bottom of the first. It still wasn’t enough for the Storm, who gave up 11 unanswered runs before adding one last tally in the bottom of the ninth. Bradley Frye led the offense, going 3-for-5 with a double and a solo shot to finish the scoring. The 24-year-old, who signed as an undrafted free agent exactly one year ago, is hitting .273/.375/.369 for the Storm while playing second and third base. … Fellow post-draft find Qrey Lott finished the day 3-for-4 and stole his 15th base of the year. The 21-year-old has been red-hot this month, putting together a .375/.545/.525 line. He’s only drawn walks at a 6.9% clip this season, but he’s been well above-average offensively while showing elite athleticism on the basepaths and in the field. … After the choppy start to the game, Su locked in nicely and set down the final six batters he faced as he tossed 50 pitches before giving way. The 19-year-old, who signed a significant deal out of Taiwan late in last year’s international free agency period, has shown the ability to fill the zone with his stuff, but will need to add more velocity as he fills out a 6-foot-1 frame that will ultimately carry much more weight than he currently does. After rough outings from Zack Qin and Isaiah Lowe, who gave up eight runs in the middle innings, Sean Barnett finished out the game on the mound, recording the last four outs while giving up only one hit and not issuing a walk. The two-way conversion sports a 3.64 ERA over the last two months with 24 strikeouts and 15 walks across 17.1 innings. While the walks remain a concern, it’s actually a marked improvement from the first two months of the year, when he issued 24 free passes in 16 innings.

ACL Padres 3, ACL Royals 2 (7 innings)

Key Stats: C Ty Harvey 3-for-3, BB; LHP Luis Gutierrez 0.2 IP, H, 3 BB; RHP Michael Salina IP, H; LHP Ronald Herrera IP, K; RHP Julio Dilone 2 IP, 2 H, K

Prospect Watch: The rookie league club rallied for two runs in the sixth and held on to win their final game of the season. A year after the squad in the desert approached the worst record in history, this year’s team finished 34-26, two games out of a playoff spot. Only the Mariners allowed fewer runs through the summer. … Ty Harvey finished his rehab assignment going 3-for-3 with a walk while catching all seven innings and throwing out a baserunner with a stellar 1.95 second pop time and 82 mph throw to second. The backstop, who turns 20 next week, had two different stints at the complex this year, working back from first an oblique injury and then a broken hand. He absolutely destroyed the competition to the tune of a .424/.474/.697. His work with Lake Elsinore has only been slightly less impressive. He’ll look to continue to build on his .913 Cal League OPS when he rejoins the club. … The most important part of the final day in the desert was getting Luis Gutierrez and Michael Salina on the mound. Gutierrez, 22, has dealt with a shoulder strain since late April. After striking out the side in his first rehab appearance last week, the lefty walked three and gave up a hit without getting out of the first inning. He avoided any runs thanks to a runner getting thrown out at the plate. He will need more time before he’s ready to get back to San Antonio, but he returned to action with his fastball still ticking up to 96 mph. … Salina, last year’s fourth-round pick, hadn’t thrown in two months since experiencing shoulder fatigue as he tried to work back from the Tommy John surgery he had prior to signing last year. The hard-throwing righty only used his fastball Thursday to get through an inning. He’ll continue to work in the unofficial bridge league in the desert while looking to get to Lake Elsinore before the end of the season.