San Diego Padres Daily Farm Report: August 8

Chihuahuas 9 , Reno Aces 5

Key Statistics: RF Bryce Johnson 3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, SB (11); CF Dustin Harris 2-for-4, 3B, RBI, SB (5); DH Ethan Salas 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI; 1B Nick Pratto 2-for-4, SB (8); RHP David Morgan 1.1 IP, 2 BB; RHP Logan Gillaspie (W, 4-4) IP, K; RHP Hans Crouse IP, H, 2 K

Prospect Watch: On Thursday, the Chihuahuas dropped their ninth straight game and fell to 3-22 over the past month, but they won on Friday and on Saturday took their second in a row in an all-hands-on-deck pitching matchup. Nick Solak’s sacrifice fly put them up 6-5 in the eighth and the visitors tacked on three more in the ninth inning to get the victory. … Bryce Johnson, 30, had a big night with three hits, including a double, and a stolen base. The switch-hitting Texan is off to a hot start in August with a .375 batting average and a .944 OPS as his overall numbers are slowly climbing back up after a rough start when he came down from the big club in June. … Ethan Salas, 20, continues to be productive in Triple-A, hitting a hard double to right field to bring in two in the third inning as the designated hitter. … El Paso used seven pitchers; only one, Miguel Cienfuegos, threw more than an inning. Hans Crouse was again impressive in his scoreless inning of work, striking out two to lock down the win. Through three appearances with the Chihuahuas, the right-hander has yet to allow a run. Crouse, 27, was with the Baltimore Orioles Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk before being released and signing with San Diego on August 2. The Dana Point, California native was a second-round pick by the Texas Rangers in 2017. Injuries and inconsistency have kept him from establishing himself in the big leagues, but he did post a 2.84 ERA across 25 outings for the Angels in 2024.

Missions 3, Springfield Cardinals 2

Key Statistics: SS Ryan Jackson 2-for-3, BB; DH Braedon Karpathios 2-for-3, HR (12), 3 RBI; LHP Jamie Hitt (W, 2-1) 6 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 6 K, HR; RHP Jose Leclerc 2 IP, 2 H, R, 3 K, HR; RHP Garrett Hawkins (S,2) IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K

Prospect Watch: The Missions won their third game of the series and will have a chance to clinch it on Sunday, but it was close. San Antonio opened the scoring with a Braedon Karpathios three-run home run in the first, but couldn’t add to the total all evening. After allowing two solo home runs, the Missions had the lead in the ninth inning. Garrett Hawkins walked the first two batters of the evening, then allowed a single to load the bases with no outs. Wyatt Hoffman then made the defensive play of the night when he stabbed a hard ground ball and fired home to catcher Anthony Vilar for the force out to preserve the lead. Hawkins did the rest, striking out the next two batters to give the home team the win. … Jamie Hitt has made his best start in five outings since being promoted from Fort Wayne. The former University of Oklahoma Sooner went six innings for the second time in Double-A and only allowed four hits. On the year, the 24-year-old left-hander is 2-1 with a 5.87 ERA. … After hitting just .218 in July, Karpathios, 23, has been on fire in August. The left-handed outfielder owns a .500/.567/.923 slash line through his fist seven games this month with a manageable seven strikeouts through 30 plate appearances. He has a .752 OPS on the season in one of the more challenging home ballparks to hit in.

West Michigan Whitecaps 14, TinCaps 6

Key Statistics: 2B Rosman Verdugo 2-for-5, RBI; 3B Bradley Frye 2-for-5, HR (1), 2 RBI; 1B Yoiber Ocopio 2-for-4; RHP Bryan Balzer (L, 1-2) 2 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, HBP; LHP Javier Chacon 0.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R (3 ER), BB, K; RHP Sean Barnett 2 IP, 2 H, 5 K

Prospect Watch: The West Michigan Whitecaps were helped significantly by the trade deadline, picking up Kash Mayfield from the Padres in the Casey Mize deal Saturday’s starter, Brady Smith, in the Tarik Skubal trade with the Dodgers. Smith held the TinCaps to two runs on two hits over five innings as the Tigers affiliate pummeled them for the second straight night in front of a big Parkview Field crowd. West Michigan broke an early tie with a 10-run third inning to turn this one into a laugher. Bryan Balzer, who has the most upside on the Fort Wayne staff, didn’t have it. After giving up a run in each of the first two innings, he opened the third giving up a single, a hit batter, and then two walks before giving way. All three inherited runners came around to score. On the evening, he threw 67 pitches, with only 36 for strikes. The 21-year-old got encouraging results as he returned to Lake Elsinore to open this year, posting a 6-2 record and a 4.77 ERA with 57 strikeouts against 21 walks. The Japanese native has plus stuff, but his biggest development challenge is gaining more consistency in throwing his pitches in the zone. He signed with the Padres in 2023 despite having thrown only two competitive innings in high school and knowing he would need Tommy John surgery. … Bradley Frye, 23, homered as part of a 2-for-5 night and is off to a nice start with four hits in his first four games since his promotion from Lake Elsinore. The undrafted free agent from Mercer played all over the infield for the Storm and posted a .739 OPS before being sent up. … One of the few positives on the night for Fort Wayne was the performance reliever Sean Barnett, 23, who struck out five batters over two scoreless innings. He threw 37 pitches, 20 for strikes, and his fastball was touching 98. After moving from a two-way role to the mound full time for this season, he was up-and-down with Lake Elsinore, striking out 47 while walking 40 in 36.1 innings. The Padres’ 11th-round pick in 2024 is still rough around the edges – understandable for a player who only threw 17.2 innings in three years of college – but the stuff is compelling.

Storm 5, Ontario Tower Buzzers 1

Key Statistics: 2B Jose Verdugo 2-for-4, 2B; 1B Truitt Madonna 0-for-1, 3 BB, SB (15); CF Qrey Lott 1-for-2, BB; RF Jesmaylin Arias 1-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI; LF Alex Conover 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI; RHP Tyler Schmitt (W, 7-6) 5.1 IP, 3 H, ER, 5 BB, 6 K; RHP Rordy Mejia 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, K

Prospect Watch: After dropping the first two against the Dodgers affiliate, the Storm won their third straight Saturday and have a chance to take the series. The Storm broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a Jesmaylin Arias two-run triple and then added on with Alex Conover’s double to bring home two more in the fifth. Jorge Quintana added a sacrifice fly in the fifth as Lake Elsinore got another strong start from Tyler Schmitt to take the game. The righty out of Illinois gave up just one run on three hits over 5.1 innings. He worked around five walks with six strikeouts. It was a nice bounce-back for Schmitt, who struggled in his last outing, giving up seven earned runs in 3.1 innings. … Arias, 19, emerged as a player to watch by posting an .883 OPS as he repeated the ACL. That was a huge improvement over his .565 mark in 2025 at that level, as he nearly cut his strikeout rate in half to 16.8%. The left-handed outfielder is off to a nice start with three hits in his first three games with the Storm. The slim Dominican showed some power in the ACL with 20 extra-base hits in 47 games. … Conover, 20, finished the day 1-for-4 with a strikeout. The Padres selected the left-handed hitter with their fourth-round compensation pick last month after posting a 1.101 OPS for Oklahoma State in a breakout campaign. According to Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline, did a great job of cutting down his chase rate from 2025.