El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost series to Albuquerque Isotopes 0-6)
Top Performers: The Isotopes took all six games in El Paso and the Colorado Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate is now 11-1 on the season at Southwestern University Park. … The newly acquired Dustin Harris had a huge week with 14 hits, seven extra-base hits and four home runs to go along with two stolen bases for a 1.387 OPS. The 26-year-old left-handed hitter has 38 games of big league time, including brief stints with the White Sox and Athletics this season. In 15 games and 73 plate appearances for the Chihuahuas, the left-handed hitting Tampa native has a slash line of .349/.411/.606 and has seen time at all three outfield spots. … Miguel Cienfuegos, 29, had a 3.86 ERA in two games and 4.2 innings this week, which constitutes success for a team that gave up double-digit runs in five games. After a rough April and May, he had a 1.86 ERA in June (9.2 innings) and a 3.55 (12.2) in July.
Ethan Salas made a quick adjustment to the hitting-friendly environment of the PCL. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Despite how well Harris played this week and the six straight losses by the Chihuahuas, the biggest news out of El Paso was the Triple-A debut of Ethan Salas, 20, who did not disappoint. Splitting time between catching and designated hitter, he posted a batting average of .357 with a slugging percentage of .714 as he had four extra-base hits in four games to go along with five walks. He could spend up to six more weeks at Triple-A. If the Padres resist the urge to call him up at the end of the season, he does not have to be added to the 40-player roster this winter. … Blake Hunt, 27, also adjusted well with rotating in with Salas between DH/catcher as he posted an OPS of 1.015 with five hits and three base-on-balls in four games. Since coming back to the Padres’ organization, Hunt has a 1.024 in 115 plate appearances and has put himself into the conversation as San Diego’s best current catching option after Campusano. … Carlos Rodriguez, 25, and Nick Solak, 31, continued strong years, with both hitting .333 on the week. … Reliever Daison Acosta, 27, only allowed one run in two games, striking out four with a walk in 3.2 innings of work. Acosta signed a big league free agent deal with the Padres last winter after stints in the Mets and Nationals organizations, but was pushed through waivers and outrighted off the 40-player roster during spring training. He then dealt with injury and worked his way back to El Paso on a rehab assignment. he has appeared in seven games with the Chihuahuas for a 9.00 ERA in 10 innings. (John Conniff)
San Antonio Missions (Lost series at Amarillo Sod Poodles 1-5)
Tucker Musgrove continues to rack up strikeouts in the Texas League. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Top Performers: Not surprisingly, the San Antonio bats came alive in Amarillo, but their pitching staff struggled. Despite going 0-for-4 on Sunday, Ryan Jackson still finished the week with a massive 10-hit performance. Jackson went 10-for-26 with two doubles, a triple, and his first home run since May 5. The 2024 17th-round pick is hitting .257 through 92 games with the Missions. … Flame-throwing reliever Tucker Musgrove continues to pile up strikeouts. Musgrove faced six batters this week and struck out four of them. The only hit he allowed all week brought home the automatic runner in extra innings, saddling him with a tough-luck loss. Eighteen of the last 25 outs Musgrove has recorded have come via strikeout. The 24-year-old is still averaging nearly a walk per inning, but opponents are hitting just .162 against him, and he owns an otherworldly 18.60 K/9 this season.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Jake Cunningham continues to swing a hot bat. Cunningham went 6-for-21 with a home run, six runs scored, and six walks. The homer was his 19th of the season but just his second since July 1. The 24-year-old is hitting .276 with an .885 OPS since his promotion to the Texas League. … After going four weeks without a home run, Albert Fabian closed out July by homering in back-to-back games. He added a double in the series finale to finish the week 7-for-22. Since the All-Star break, Fabian is hitting .284 with a .490 slugging percentage. … Braedon Karpathios ended July in a 1-for-22 slump, but he opened August with back-to-back three-hit games. The 23-year-old collected a double, two home runs, and six RBIs during the week. After finishing July with a .659 OPS, he has exploded to a 1.554 OPS to start August. … No Missions starter turned in a dominant outing in hitter-friendly Amarillo, but Eric Yost delivered another solid performance. Yost allowed three runs over five innings while walking one and striking out two. Excluding a disastrous start on July 4, he has not allowed more than three earned runs in any outing since April. Yost owns a 3.72 ERA across 75 innings for the Missions. (Ben Davey)
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Won Series 5-1 at Great Lake Loons)
Alex McCoy reached base four times on Thursday. (Photo: Adam Gaddy)
Players of the Week: Big Alex McCoy delivered a monster week. The TinCaps outfielder went 8-for-19 against Loons pitching, swatting three homers, driving in six runs, and walking five times en route to posting a 1.489 OPS on the week. After a very slow month of June, McCoy has looked better as of late, slashing .276/.364/.437 in his past 21 games. During this stretch, he’s putting the ball in the air to the pull side at a 16% clip and owns a solid 81.5% in-zone contact rate… Maikel Miralles delivered a strong start on Friday, as the righty tossed five hitless innings. In his start, he worked into the sixth, having tallied three strikeouts and having sat down 10 in a row on just 57 pitches. Despite the quality start, the righty has a 7.53 ERA and 6.35 FIP since July 1.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Justin DeCriscio had a decent week at the plate, going 6-for-23 with three RBIs and a stolen base. Over his past 24 games, DeCriscio has been one of the better hitters in the system, logging nine multi-hit performances on his way to an .871 OPS and .382 wOBA. … Jack Costello continues to swing a hot bat, posting a .971 OPS in 12 at-bats this week. He is slashing .271/.354/.514 with five homers and seven extra-base hits over his past 21 games played. In that same span, he is whiffing at just a 14.3% clip and owns an in-zone contact rate of 88%… It was another slow week for Ryan Wideman, as the 22-year-old collected four hits in 24 at-bats, punched out five times, and didn’t log an extra-base hit. While he is hitting .283, he has just two extra-base hits for an anemic .017 isolated power rate. That’s reflected in a 90th percentile exit velocity of just 99.9 mph. … Carson Montgomery‘s struggles continued this past week, as he allowed three earned runs on three hits in three innings of work. The righty has allowed 17 earned runs over 17.2 innings this month, walking 12 while striking out only 10. After he held opponents to a .202 average through the first three months of the season, Montgomery has allowed a .310 average this month. … Luis Gutierrez tossed two scoreless innings in his rehab start on Wednesday. The 22-year-old allowed no runs, walked two and punched out three… Winyer Chourio turned in his best outing in a month, punching out eight while issuing just one walk with his arsenal generating a 43.8% whiff rate. Although he allowed three runs over five innings, he flashed plus stuff throughout the outing, consistently sitting 96-97 mph with his fastball. … Kannon Kemp tossed five innings on Tuesday, allowing two runs on six hits and punching out three. Kemp’s four-seamer this season is sitting 96-97 mph and has topped out at 99 mph. (Clark Fahrenthold)
Jose Castro delivered the system’s best start of the year for Lake Elsinore. (Photo: Robert Escalante)
Lake Elsinore Storm (Won series at Stockton Ports, 4-2)
Top Performers: The Storm hit the road and won a series in Stockton. It was Lake Elsinore’s last road trip out of Southern California, unless they advance to the Cal League championship series. … First baseman Yimy Tovar had an excellent week at Banner Island Ballpark, leading the offensive charge for the Storm. The 20-year-old hit .389/.450/.833 – good for a team-leading OPS of 1.283. Tovar also had a multi-homer game Friday night. The young infielder had a solid July after struggling out of the gate. He figures to receive the bulk of the playing time at first base in the final month of the season. … Righty Jesus Castro earned California League Pitcher of the Week honors thanks to his effort last Tuesday. The young righty tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit. He hit a batter, struck out seven, and did not issue a walk. The 19-year-old has a 3.31 ERA in 17 Cal League starts this season.
Top Prospects and Others of Note: Former Division II star George Bilecki had a nice week, posting an OPS of 1.081. He connected on a homer, a triple, two doubles, and four RBI. The 22-year-old has looked good at the plate since June. During that time frame, his .810 OPS has been three percent above the league average. He has homered five times during the stretch. … Jorge Quintana had a decent week, swatting a homer and delivering a .733 OPS in the five games he played. The 19-year-old finished July with a .874 OPS – the best mark he’s produced in any month since joining the Padres’ organization in the Brandon Lockridge/Nestor Cortes deal last year. The switch-hitting shortstop will look to finish the season strong. … Truitt Madonna had an OPS of .800, as the young catcher has swung the bat well since a brief demotion to the complex. The 19-year-old limped to a .530 OPS in July while striking out in nearly half of his plate appearances. He was sent back to the complex but was brought back up after Dawson Willis was placed on the injured list. … The Storm received a pair of scoreless outings from newcomers Adler Cecil and Cameron Nohos. Cecil made his Cal League debut last week and tossed 4.1 scoreless innings in the victory. Cecil allowed just one hit, walking three, and striking out five. Assuming Cecil pitches at home this week, it will be a homecoming. The 21-year-old lefty graduated from nearby Temecula Valley High School. Between the complex and his one Cal League outing, Cecil has punched out 75 batters in 45.2 innings. … Nohos tossed four scoreless innings of his own, allowing just one hit. He walked one and struck out six. The 6-foot-8 righty has struck out a whopping 58 batters in 37.2 innings between the complex and two Cal League outings. … Kruz Schoolcraft had another uneven outing Friday night, holding the Ports to just one run. However, he lasted just four innings and issued a career-high six walks. The 19-year-old has walked 11 over his last 8.1 innings pitched, but has somehow allowed just two runs during the stretch. The young lefty will need to show better command in his next outing. (Kevin Charity).
In addition to our 2026 draft and trade deadline coverage, we also featured interviews with Ty France and Carson Tucker in San Antonio. We will have upcoming interviews with Justin DeCriscio, Bryan Balzer, and Alex McCoy, among others. A big thank you to all of our subscribers who help to make us more than a site that writes recaps of the Padres affiliates’ games.
