San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: July 29

Albuquerque Isotopes 9, Chihuahuas 7 (10 innings)

Key Stats: DH Ethan Salas 3-for-4, 2B, 3B, BB, R, 2 RBI; 2B Marcos Castañon 2-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI; LF Carlos Rodriguez 2-for-4, R, SB (12); 1B Romeo Sanabria 2-for-4, RBI, BB; RHP Jhony Brito 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 K

Prospect Watch: It was quite a Triple-A debut for Ethan Salas. The Padres’ No. 1 prospect reached base four times and finished a home run shy of the cycle. Salas doubled and scored the game’s first run before later ripping a two-run triple to extend El Paso’s lead. At the time of his promotion, Salas had been hitting over .300 in July with an on-base percentage above .400. The only concern was his lack of power, as he had managed just two extra-base hits over his previous 28 games. Playing at elevation, however, Salas collected two extra-base hits in his first three at-bats. The 20-year-old is now hitting .293 with an .801 OPS on the year. … Jhony Brito got the start for El Paso and needed just 58 pitches to complete four innings. He did not issue a walk and struck out four. In two games since returning to El Paso, Brito has not walked a batter over seven innings. He leaned heavily on his changeup Wednesday, getting a 64% chase rate with it. The righty did a stellar job getting ahead, starting 13 of his 17 opponents with a strike. … While Salas enjoyed a fantastic start to his Triple-A career, Romeo Sanabria did not have the same early success. This time last week, Sanabria was hitting .143 with a .367 OPS in El Paso. He appears to have turned a corner over his last five games, however. Sanabria is riding a five-game hitting streak, and after hitting his first Triple-A home run yesterday, he recorded his first multi-hit game at the level tonight. The recent surge has raised his average to .211 with a .578 OPS through 17 Triple-A games.

Amarillo Sod Poodles 7, Missions 6

Key Stats: RHP José Leclerc IP, 3 H, 2 ER, K; RHP Josh Mallitz 2 IP, BB, 3 K; RF Braedon Karpathios 1-for-4, HR (10), 2 RBI; 2B Ryan Jackson 2-for-4, 2B, R; 1B Albert Fabian 1-for-3, HR (8), 2 RBI; 3B Luis Verdugo 2-for-4, 2 2B

Prospect Watch: After struggling to hit for power last week, the Missions took full advantage of hitter-friendly Amarillo. They collected three doubles and two home runs during a six-run outburst. Braedon Karpathios got the scoring started with his 10th home run of the season in the first inning. It was his second homer in three games and his fourth of the month. Although he has struggled in July, hitting .227, the recent power surge has boosted his slugging percentage to a respectable .413. The former undrafted free agent owns a .700 OPS in his first season with the Missions. … Albert Fabian followed with a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Missions a 3-0 lead. After going homerless throughout July, Fabian has now gone deep in back-to-back games. On June 1, Fabian owned a .600 OPS. Since then, he has hit .266 with five home runs and nearly a .780 OPS. Better late than never for the 24-year-old. … The loss was charged to José Leclerc, who was making his first appearance for the Missions after three scoreless outings with the TinCaps. The former Rangers closer was activated off the 60-day IL earlier in the day and sent to San Antonio to continue to work back from shoulder surgery last summer. … Josh Mallitz added two more scoreless innings to finish out the day and has now thrown nine consecutive scoreless frames. During that stretch, he has allowed just four baserunners while striking out 10. The 24-year-old righty, signed as an undrafted free agent two years ago, has held Texas League hitters to a .199 average this year.

TinCaps 5, Great Lakes Loons 4 (10 innings)

Key Stats: RHP Winyer Chourio 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, BB, 8 K; LHP Luis Gutierrez 2 IP, 2 BB, 3 K;  RHP Carlos Medina 3 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K; CF Ryan Wideman 1-for-6, SB (15); C Lamar King Jr 2-for-5, R, 2 RBI; LF Kasen Wells 2-for-4, 2 RBI, BB, SB (20);  RF Alex McCoy 1-for-3, R, 2 BB, SB (17)

Prospect Watch: Pitching for a full-season affiliate for the first time since April 18, Luis Gutierrez tossed two scoreless innings. The 22-year-old impressed in his first two starts for the Missions, allowing just one earned run over nine innings, but he was pulled from his third outing after his velocity dipped and was soon placed on the 60-day injured list with a shoulder injury. Gutierrez had been one of the Padres’ most consistent pitching prospects. Last season, he threw a career-high 125 innings across four levels of the minor leagues, posting a 3.31 ERA while striking out 115 and holding opponents to a .228 batting average. … The Padres traded a majority of their 2024 draft picks at last year’s deadline for Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano. If history repeats itself, Ryan Wideman could be entering his final week with the organization. The Padres’ second-round pick in last year’s draft stole his MiLB-leading 58th base of the season. Wideman also preserved the tie by throwing a strike to cut down a runner attempting to reach third, recording his seventh outfield assist of the season. The center fielder is now hitting .310/.374/.449 with 34 extra-base hits across his two stops this year. … Pitching in relief of Gutierrez, Winyer Chourio turned in his best outing in a month. Chourio struck out eight while issuing just one walk. Although he allowed three runs over five innings, he flashed plus stuff throughout the outing, consistently sitting 96-97 mph with his fastball. Despite being 22 years old, this is only Chourio’s second season pitching stateside. He has shown good arm talent while still being raw, making this an encouraging performance.

Storm 4, Stockton Ports 0

Key Stats: LHP Adler Cecil 4.1 IP, H, 3 BB, 5 K; RHP Cameron Nohos 4 IP, H, BB, 6 K; CF Conner Westenburg 1-for-4, RBI, SB (41); 2B Bradley Frye 3-for-4, R, 2 SB (25); RF George Bilecki 3-for-4, HR (6), 2 R

Prospect Watch: With the ACL season over, the Storm are starting to see a wave of new faces. One of those new faces, Adler Cecil, made his first start for the Storm and allowed one hit over 4.1 scoreless innings. Cecil grew up 20 minutes south of Lake Elsinore in Temecula, so his start next week will be a homecoming three years in the making.  Cecil was drafted in 2023, but wildness in the ACL followed by Tommy John slowed his path. The 21-year-old struck out 70 in 41.1 innings in the ACL this season. … Big righty Cameron Nohos stumped the Ports for the final four innings, striking out six while allowing just one hit and a walk as he finished out the shutout. Nohos, 23, can run his fastball up to triple digits, but has struggled with control at times in his first full professional season, but when he’s on, he has true swing-and-miss stuff. He has struck out 32.6% of the batters he has faced this year. The offensive hero on the night was former 12th-round pick George Bilecki. He had his first three-hit game since May 3 while hitting his second home run in the last week. After hitting .194 over the first two months, Bilecki has a near .800 OPS since the start of June. … Bradley Frye had the other three-hit game for the Storm, his second in the last week. Frye now has a six-game hitting streak. The undrafted free agent has been one of the Storm’s most consistent performers on the season.  Despite a tough May, Frye is hitting .280 with 25 stolen bases and a .377 OBP.