San Diego Padres Week in Review: August 3 – August 9

El Paso Chihuahuas (Split series at Reno, 3-3)

Players of the Week: After dropping the first three games of the series and running their losing streak to nine games, El Paso rallied to get the split with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Triple-A affiliate. Carlos Rodriguez, 25, had a big week with 11 hits in six games, including three triples for a .393 batting average and a 1.036 OPS despite not drawing a walk. The left-hander, who was in the Brewers and Braves organizations before signing with San Diego in the offseason, can play all three outfield positions, but has mainly split time between center and left field. At the plate, he has an .802 OPS but is slightly below league-average with a wRC+ of 95. … Right-hander Hans Crouse, 27, appeared in three games and didn’t allow a run in three innings. Crouse, began the year in the Orioles organization, posting a 4.44 ERA in 26.1 innings at Triple-A with a 29-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio before being released. The Texas Rangers’ second-round selection in 2017 from Dana Point, California, had brief stints in the majors with the Phillies in 2021 and the Angels in 2024.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Bryce Johnson had a great week, reaching base 10 times with eight hits and stealing three bases in three attempts for a slash line of .400/.455/.550 in 22 plate appearances. After a slow start, the 30-year-old has pushed his on-base percentage up to .373, but still has only 12 extra-base hits in 152 plate appearances. … Ethan Salas, who at 20 is nearly four years younger than the average player in the PCL, continued to perform well with a pair of home runs and double to fuel an OPS of .984, and led the team with seven RBIs. In a very limited sample of only 43 plate appearances, his 151 wRC+ is better than anyone with more than 20 at-bats for the club except a rehabbing Luis Campusano. … Jhony Brito started one game, threw two shutout innings then came back to piggyback for Joe Musgrove on Sunday when he picked up the win with 2.2 innings. This season in El Paso, Brito, 28, has been good, posting a 2.37 ERA in 30.1 innings, with seven of his eight appearances as a starter. … Logan Gillaspie, 29, also picked up a win in two games and four innings of work, only allowing three hits and one run for the week.  Gillaspie is fifth on the team with 60 innings pitched and has a 6.45 ERA on the season. (John Conniff)

San Antonio Missions (Beat Springfield Cardinals, 4-2)

Players of the Week: After finishing last week with a home run, Braedon Karpathios stayed hot against the Cardinals. Karpathios went 7-for-18 with a home run, four doubles, five walks, and a team-high seven RBI. In August, Karpathios is hitting .448/.528/.828 with seven extra-base hits in eight games. The former undrafted free agent is hitting .248 with 12 home runs on the season … Just over four months ago, 2025 eighth-round pick Jamie Hitt made his debut for the Storm. Four months and two levels later, Hitt delivered his best professional start with the Missions. The lefty went six innings, allowing one earned run while walking one and striking out seven, one shy of his career high. This was his sixth quality start in 19 games. The former Oklahoma Sooner has a 5.33 ERA in 82.2 innings during his debut season.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: It was another solid week for Jake Cunningham, who went 7-for-21 with two doubles and three walks. The outfielder leads the organization with 39 extra-base hits and has not gone more than eight games without an extra-base hit. The 24-year-old’s production is coming despite an unsustainable 31% strikeout rate, in part because of a .396 BABIP with the Missions. … Another week, another dominant performance from Tucker Musgrove. The 24-year-old pitched three times and did not allow a hit or a run. He struck out four, walked one, and hit one batter. On the season, batters are hitting .130 against the righty. Over his last 7.1 innings, Musgrove has allowed one hit and one unearned run while walking two and striking out 14. On the season, Musgrove is averaging two strikeouts per inning (18.00 K/9). … After two horrendous starts to close out July, allowing 10 earned runs in 11 innings, Ian Koenig was back to earning quality starts. Koenig allowed two earned runs over six innings while striking out a season-high eight batters. The former undrafted free agent has now thrown more than 100 innings in two straight seasons and has set a new career high with 84 strikeouts. … Not to be outdone, Eric Yost also earned a quality start, going six innings and allowing one earned run. Yost walked three and struck out six. Since May 1, Yost has allowed more than three runs in a start just once. On the season, the 23-year-old has a 3.13 ERA in 77.2 innings for the Missions. Texas League batters are hitting only .198 against him. (Ben Davey).

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Lost to West Michigan, 1-5)

Players of the Week: The organization’s other Carlos Rodriguez also had a big week, delivering one of the TinCaps’ few strong series at the dish. The catcher/first baseman went 5-for-11 with three extra base hits en route to posting a 1.364 OPS. The week against West Michigan continues a solid month of ball for the TinCaps’ backstop. Dating back to June 28, he sports a slash line of .299/.356/.418 and .363 wOBA. … Carson Montgomery delivered one of his best starts of the year on Wednesday tossing six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and two walks. While he only struck out three, Montgomery was a ground ball machine, getting eight grounders on 13 balls in play. It was a much needed bounce back outing for the Florida State alum who sported an ERA north of 8.00 over his eight prior starts.

Top Prospects and others of note: Sean Barnett impressed in two appearances. The former two-way player worked three scoreless innings, yielded two hits, walked two, and punched out seven. The right-hander’s fastball touched 100 mph and his arsenal generated a combined 34.8% whiff rate and 53.8% strikeout rate. … Bryan Balzer had a tough go on Saturday as he didn’t have his command. The right-hander walked four and hit one en route to allowing six earned runs in just two innings. In 83.2 innings between two levels, Balzer sports a 5.20 FIP, 5.28 xFIP and 4.73 ERA. … Winyer Chourio also couldn’t get through three innings, exiting his Tuesday start after allowing six runs on five hits and four walks while punching out two. After a strong showing in Lake Elsinore, the righty has struggled mightily at Summit City, posting a 7.64 FIP, 9.70 ERA and 17.1% walk rate. … Ryan Wideman had another tough week, culminating in the outfielder being ejected in the first inning of Sunday’s series finale. He logged a 6-for-24 week without a walk and tallied just one extra-base hit. In 34 games with the TinCaps, the 22-year-old has a .020 isolated power and has yet to homer… Bradley Frye had a solid first week in the Midwest League, posting a .794 OPS and collecting his first High-A homer. … After a rebound week against Great Lakes, Alex McCoy had another slow week back in his home ballpark. The 6-foot-7 outfielder went 3-for-18 with no extra base hits against West Michigan pitching. Over his past 21 games, the big outfielder has a .793 OPS and a .265 batting average. While he’s walking at a solid 14.9% clip in that span, swing-and-miss still remains an overarching concern. He has carried a 35.6% strikeout rate and 39.1% whiff rate through the same stretch. … After a hot July, Justin DeCriscio has slowed down, tallying a .150 average and .378 OPS in his five games played. Over his past 17 games, he slashed .227/.310/.333. (Clark Fahrenthold)

Lake Elsinore Storm (Beat Ontario Tower Buzzers, 4-2)

Players of the Week: The Storm finished the week with four straight wins over the Buzzers, including a walk-off Sunday night. Lake Elsinore will head to San Bernardino to take on the 66’ers this week. … This year’s fourth-round pick, Alex Conover, had a successful debut week with the Storm. The 20-year-old went 5-for-16 with two doubles, his first professional homer, four RBIs, and three stolen bases. The outfielder had a 1.101 OPS this season for Oklahoma State. Conover was selected with the compensation pick the team received when Dylan Cease declined his qualifying offer and signed with Toronto. … Righty Tyler Schmitt pitched well on Saturday night, earning the win for the Storm. The former University of Illinois righty tossed 5.1 innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits. He walked five but struck out six. The former 17th-rounder has been inconsistent for the Storm this season. He had a 2.33 ERA in May after posting an ERA over nine in April. Schmitt has seven starts this season in which he has pitched at least five innings and allowed one earned run or fewer. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Dawson Willis came off the injured list, and quickly returned to form. Willis homered twice in three games, delivering an .846 slugging percentage. On the negative side, he struck out five times in 13 plate appearances. In 29 games for the Storm this season, the former Oklahoma infielder has an excellent wRC+ of 124 with five homers and 14 stolen bases. On the concerning side, he has a 38.4% K-rate – the second-highest of any Cal League batter with 120 plate appearances. Despite the swing-and-miss tendencies, the former undrafted free agent has an intriguing blend of power and speed. … Sixth-rounder Nu’u Contrades also made his pro debut and delivered an .850 OPS in five games. He homered, drove in two runs, and walked four times. The 22-year-old attended high school in Honolulu and played collegiately at Arizona State. He socked 21 homers in 53 games for the Big 12 school. … The newcomers helped offset slow weeks from Jorge Quintana (.532 OPS with seven strikeouts in 20 plate appearances), Qrey Lott (.588 OPS), and Truitt Madonna (.572 OPS). … Ty Harvey also had a slow week at the plate, hitting .174/.231/.261 overall, although he did drive in five runs in Friday’s win. Overall, the young catcher is hitting .232/.333/.333 with the Storm this season. … Cameron Nohos was a hard-luck loser on Wednesday. He tossed six innings, allowing three earned runs. He walked two and struck out seven Buzzers. The 6-foot-8 pitcher from the Chicagoland area has struck out 77 batters in 51.2 innings between the complex and the Cal League. He was signed last season as an undrafted free agent. … After Joe Musgrove and Nick Pivetta stole the headlines in last Tuesday’s 11:05 am start, Jesus Castro tossed four innings, allowing five runs (just two earned). He walked two and struck out seven in a game the Storm eventually lost in extra innings. The 19-year-old has enjoyed a breakout season with Lake Elsinore this season. He has a 3.38 ERA in 18 games (17 starts). (Kevin Charity)

Interviews and Features: This week we had interviews with a chemical engineer who also plays the infield for Fort Wayne, his teammate, who is one of the largest human beings in the organization, and Justin DeCriscio, who discussed the differences between a major college conference and the lower minors. For the upcoming week, we should have features on Jagger Haynes, Bryan Balzer, Kasen Wells and Bradley Frye. A big thank you to all of our subscribers who make it possible for us to see and chat with the players in person.