San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: August 6

Reno Aces 6, Chihuahuas 4

Key Stats: LF Nick Solak 2-for-4, 2B; DH Nick Pratto 1-for-4, HR (9); RHP Andrew Thurman 4 IP, 5 H, 5 R (4 ER), K, 2 BB; RHP Daison Acosta IP, 2 K, 3 BB; RHP Hunter Stratton IP, H, K, BB

Prospect Watch: The Chihuahuas dropped their ninth straight game and are just 3-22 over the last month. They’ve given up at least five runs in all but one of those games, and now sport a 6.52 ERA that is the second-worst mark anywhere in minor league baseball. The trend continued Thursday as Andrew Thurman made his first Triple-A start, giving up four earned runs over four innings. Reno got the 34-year-old righty, who made one relief appearance for El Paso earlier in the year, for five hits, four for extra-bases. Once a highly-regarded prospect who was selected way back in 2013, Thurman returned to competitive action in the Atlantic League last season for the first time in seven years, earning an opportunity for himself in the Padres system this year. He has worked to a 6.22 ERA across his two levels this year, posting a 61:38 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 63.2 innings. … Righty Hunter Stratton made his system debut, working around a single and walk in a scoreless inning of work. The 29-year-old, who the Padres acquired in exchange for Andrew Moore just at the deadline Monday when the Pirates needed to clear a 40-player roster spot, sat 94-95 with both his sinker and four-seam fastball even though just 10 of his 23 pitches went for strikes. He leaned on his cutter, which got several ugly swings and didn’t result in a ball in play. Nick Pratto connected on his fourth homer in 147 plate appearances with the Chihuahuas. The 419 foot shot to right was just his second hit in his last 18 trips to the plate and leaves him with a .718 OPS since signing with the Padres in early June. His performance for El Paso is a tier below the .237/.287/.473 line he put up for Round Rock before Houston released him earlier this year.

Roster Move: The Padres released infielder Nate Mondou, who has been a mainstay for the Chihuahuas over the last three years. The 31-year-old has over 2,000 at-bats in the PCL in his career, but has never found his way onto a 40-player roster spot in three organizations.

Springfield Cardinals 9, Missions 2

Key Stats: 1B Jack Costello 2-for-4, 2B; LF Jake Cunningham 1-for-4, R; LHP Fernando Sanchez 1.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R (5 ER), 3 K, 3 BB; RHP Francis Peña  2.1 IP, 3 H, 3 K; LHP Harry Gustin 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K; RHP Clay Edmondson 1.2 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 K, 2 BB

Prospect Watch: Fernando Sanchez, who had been on the El Paso 60-day IL for exactly 60 days, returned to action after he was activated and transferred back to the Missions. Things were rough for the 25-year-old, who gave up six runs – five earned – over just 1.2 innings as he got underway without the benefit of a previous rehab appearance. The lefty, who has been in the system since signing out of Mexico in 2019, has punched out 34 in 21.2 Texas League innings this year but has posted a 6.23 ERA in nine outings for the Missions. His five-game stint with El Paso included a 6.48 ERA. … Francis Peña came on to relieve Sanchez with a pair of runners on. He promptly gave up a two-run double, but then the righty got a strikeout to end the inning and then rolled through two more frames. The 25-year-old’s stuff regressed this year as he made adjustments to his delivery and release point, but he has now given up just for earned runs over his last 21.1 innings of work, with 22 strikeouts and seven walks across that stretch. The atypical international player who didn’t get his first professional contract until he was 21 years old, Peña has shown a dynamic at times over his career, but he and the organization have struggled to get sustained results while working to ensure his health and repeatable mechanics. … A day after his promotion from Fort Wayne, Jack Costello had a pair of hits, including a double, in his first taste of the Texas League. The Los Angeles native had 12 homers for the TinCaps in his second season in the Midwest League, putting up nearly league average production while playing all four corners defensively.

TinCaps 3, West Michigan Whitecaps 0

Key Stats: C Lamar King, Jr 1-for-3, HR (4), 2 RBI; 3B Kerrington Cross 1-for-3, HR (4); RHP Carson Montgomery 6 IP, H, 3 K, 2 BB; RHP Carlos Medina 3 IP, 6 K

Prospect Watch: Carson Montgomery and Carlos Medina combined for the TinCaps’ 19th one-hitter in franchise history to blank West Michigan. Montgomery, who had been pummeled for nearly a 9.00 ERA over his last eight starts, only gave up a one-out double in the second inning. He set down the next nine men in order before a walk snapped his streak, but the righty rebounded and cruised through his final two innings with just one more free pass. While he only struck out three, Montgomery was a ground ball machine, getting eight grounders on 13 balls in play. When he’s been at his best in an up-and-down campaign, the 23-year-old righty has induced a lot of weak contact, but his overall ground ball rate is slightly below-average at 42%. … Medina dominated to pick up his first professional save, striking out six of the nine batters he faced. The 21-year-old, who came into the system last winter after two years pitching in Mexico, opened the season in Lake Elsinore’s bullpen and punched out 11 in 9.1 innings before shifting to the rotation. He got mediocre results working as a starter, but has now made three strong relief outings for the TinCaps. The right-hander from Culiacan has already turned in 63 innings this year, more than double his workload for Monterrey last summer. … While Montgomery cruised, the TinCaps offense was completely stymied through the first four innings, getting just two balls out of the infield as they failed to put a runner on base. Rosman Verdugo finally snapped the perfect game with a one-out single in the fifth before Lamar King Jr. crushed a middle-middle fastball for a homer onto the grass in deep left-center. The backstop came into the game mired in a 6-for-55 slump and had seen his line on the year slip to .219/.320/.291. Now 22, King has long shown good power in batting practice, but has struggled to bring it into games. The blast was just his fourth of the year and 10th in just over 1,100 professional plate appearances. Drafted out of high school in the fourth round in 2022, King has a .600 OPS in 100 games since joining Fort Wayne in the middle of last season. … Kerrington Cross capped the scoring with a solo homer. A senior sign in the seventh round last year, Cross came into the night with an OPS for the TinCaps that was 400 points below what he did in 58 games for Lake Elsinore to start the year.

Storm 5, Ontario Tower Buzzers 2

Key Stats: 3B Nu’u Contrades 1-for-3, HR (1), BB; LF Alex Conover 1-for-3, HR (1), HBP; SS Jorge Quintana 1-for-3, 2B, BB; 1B Augie Lopez 1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI; RHP Lan-Hong Su 3 IP, 5 H, R (0 ER), 4 K, BB; RHP Michael Salina IP, H, K; LHP Zach Qin 3 IP, 2 H, ER, 5 K, 2 BB; RHP Jordan Valenzuela IP, 2 K

Prospect Watch: The three 2026 draftees who just arrived in Lake Elsinore carried the offense as Nu’u Contrades and Alex Conover each collected their first professional home runs out of the top two spots in the lineup. Augie Lopez almost matched them later in the game, settling for a double high off the wall in right-center. Contrades, the sixth-round pick out of Arizona State who turns 23 this fall, also collected a walk and has reached four times in his first eight trips to the plate. Conover, 20, was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded later in the game to drive in a second run. The compensation pick out of Oklahoma State had a breakout this year. … Lan-Hong Su had a mixed outing as he got through three innings and allowed just one unearned run. The 19-year-old righty also gave up five hits total, including three doubles, but he used a double-play ball and four strikeouts to limit the damage. After signing for one of the largest bonuses in the Padres’ 2025 international free agent class, the Taiwanese hurler has shown a good feel for the zone in his professional debut, but has gotten inconsistent results. He’s struck out 33 across 33.1 innings in the complex league and Elsinore, but opponents are hitting .297. His physical development – he does weigh more than his listed 150 pounds, but will need to add significant mass to his frame this offseason – will be a key storyline to watch in 2027. … Michael Salina finally got to Lake Elsinore to make his full-season club debut, but it was cut short while he was warming up for his second inning of work and he ultimately walked off the field with the training staff. The Padres’ fourth-round pick is someone they are banking on to bolster a thin class from last year, based on a high-octane repertoire he showed before undergoing Tommy John surgery in April of his draft year. He already had one set-back in his recovery earlier this year, experiencing pain in his shoulder that shut him down for nearly two months. We’ll have an update as soon as possible.