San Diego Padres Week in Review: August 17 – August 24

El Paso Chihuahuas (Lost series to Round Rock Express, 1-5)

Players of the Week: Dustin Harris had another huge week as the left-handed hitting outfielder posted a 1.681 OPS. In four games and 17 plate appearances, he collected five extra-base hits, including two home runs, and a stolen base. The 26-year-old, who already briefly spent time in the big leagues this season with the Astros and White Sox prior to being added to the Padres roster on Monday, has put up great numbers with the Chihuahuas: a .350/.422/.617 slash line in 29 games and 135 plate appearances. He added 10 stolen bases in 11 attempts. Defensively, he has spent most of his time in center and right. The seven-year minor league veteran hopes to join Samad Taylor, Jase Bowen, and Luis Rengifo as minor league free agent signings who contribute to the 2026 Padres club. … Jagger Haynes, 23, made two starts of five innings each against Round Rock, one on Tuesday and the other on Sunday. On Tuesday, he allowed five runs and seven hits, but on Sunday, he gave up only two hits while holding the Express to one run. Given the team’s offensive struggles, he took two losses in the series. The 23-year-old has limped to a 7.13 ERA through his first six PCL starts, issuing 16 walks in just 24 innings.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Bryce Johnson, 30, reached base six times in 15 plate appearances across four games for a .400 on-base percentage. He collected a double and a home run for a .983 OPS. The switch-hitter has a .734 OPS in 189 plate appearances in El Paso after spending the first two-and-a-half months of the season in San Diego. … Blake Hunt, 27, continues to make the most of limited playing time behind the plate, with both Ethan Salas and fellow 40-man roster option Rodolfo Durán getting most of the reps. This week, he got in three games and had four plate appearances, with a home run and a walk. Hunt has also played first base in his career, but it’s a crowded position with Nick Pratto, Nick Solak, and Marcos Castañon also seeing time there. … Samad Taylor continued his rehab in Triple-A and had a batting average of .294 in 19 plate appearances, reaching base seven times in five games. Taylor, 27, has played all the outfield positions and second base this year. He’s also played third in the past. … Hunter Stratton, 29, had another solid week, making two appearances and throwing 3.1 innings without allowing a run. Stratton was acquired in a straight swap from the Pirates for Andrew Moore and has yet to allow a run in seven games and 9.1 innings with El Paso. Stratton mainly throws cutters and sliders with the occasional four-seam fastball. … David Morgan, 26, made a two-inning appearance in a save situation. He allowed four hits and two runs, but also punched out two against a walk. Morgan has been throwing his slider and curveball more, and in this outing, nearly half of his pitches were fastballs with an average velocity of 96.5. … Salas had his first bad week since joining El Paso, going just 3-for-19 and drawing only one walk. Encouragingly, he still only struck out once.(John Conniff)

San Antonio Missions (Split series vs NW Arkansas Naturals)

Players of the Week: In what was already his best month of the season, Albert Fabian crushed the Naturals. Fabian had seven hits in the first two games and finished the series 10-for-25 with four doubles and a home run. Since the All-Star break, the corner bat is hitting .308/.350/.506. The 24-year-old has been with the Padres for seven seasons and will again be a free agent at the end of the season. … For the first time this season, Eric Yost was able to pitch into the seventh inning. He was eventually removed after 6.1 scoreless innings. He struck out six without issuing a walk. The former 17th-round pick is 7-2 with a 3.59 ERA this season, including a 6-0 record over his last 10 starts.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Alex McCoy hit safely in five of the six games in his first full week at Double-A, going 7-for-28 with a walk and three RBIs. McCoy is hitting .333 with a .897 OPS in nine Texas League games. … After being our top performer last week, Braedon Karpathios cooled off against Northwest Arkansas. In five games, Karpathios had three hits, including two doubles, and walked twice. Even with the down week, he is still having the best month of his season, hitting .338 with a 1.025 OPS in August. …  Enjoying life back in Double-A, Romeo Sanabria had another successful week at the plate. The first baseman went 8-for-17 with a double and four walks. His .571 OBP was by far the best on the team in the series. Since being demoted to Double-A, Sanabria is hitting .367/.456/.531 in 14 games. … After being on the Texas League IL since April 22, Luis Gutierrez made his return to the Missions. Gutierrez allowed two runs over 2.2 innings while striking out three. The lefty started the year by allowing one earned run over his first nine innings with the Missions. The 23-year-old had a 3.31 ERA over 125 innings last year across all four minor league affiliates. … Jamie Hitt allowed two runs over five innings. Last year’s eighth-round pick as a senior sign has had a tough first full season of professional baseball, pitching to a 5.34 ERA over 92.2 innings. However, he remains undefeated over four starts this month. … Ian Koenig delivered a quality start for the third time in four starts. The righty allowed three runs over 6.2 innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out five. In August, Koenig has a 0.97 WHIP and a 3.51 ERA over four starts. (Ben Davey)

Fort Wayne TinCaps (Split Series 3-3 vs. Great Lake Loons) 

Players of the Week: It was a week to remember for Bradley Frye. The 24-year-old undrafted free agent was named the Midwest League Player of the Week as he went 10-for-24 and posted a 1.189 OPS across five games. Along with his four extra-base hits, which included a homer and a triple, Frye also drove in seven runs and swiped three bases. In 12 games for Fort Wayne, the Mercer alum owns a 141 wRC+ and .421 wOBA. … Kannon Kemp made two starts in the series and looked sharp in both. The right-hander worked a combined nine innings and allowed nine hits, no earned runs, and struck out ten. On Sunday, the righty’s pitch mix generated a 25% whiff rate and saw his four-seamer hit 98 against a talented Great Lakes lineup. Over his past three starts, Kemp owns a 1.93 ERA and 3.18 FIP.

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Twenty-two-year-old righty Winyer Chourio tossed three scoreless frames in his lone outing of the week. He successful navigated around three hits and three walks. He also punched out three and has now allowed just one run in his last seven innings. Chourio had allowed 22 runs over 16.1 innings for the TinCaps before this stretch after impressing with a 3.31 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 51 innings with the Storm… Carson Montgomery’s struggles persisted as the right-hander allowed five runs on five hits over 5.1 innings pitched. The 24-year-old ran his fastball up to 96 in the game and while he’s held opponents to a .179 average and 0.98 WHIP over his three August starts, Montgomery still sports a 4.70 ERA and 5.19 FIP this month. … Coming off his best start at High-A, Bryan Balzer struggled on Saturday, as he allowed three runs on three hits, four walks and three hit batters while his fastball velocity scattered from 92 to 98 mph. Since arriving in the Summit City, Balzer has walked 22 batters in 32 innings. … Abraham Parra followed Balzer with strong 5.1 inning outing. He allowed two runs while striking out seven as he ran his two-seam fastball up to 97. … Rosman Verdugo turned in a strong series, going 7-for-19 with four extra-base hits and five RBIs for the TinCaps. In his second full season with Fort Wayne, the now-21-year-old sports a 92 wRC+ and .341 wOBA. To his credit, he has cut down considerably on the strikeouts this season, punching out at a 25.7% clip, a near seven percent improvement from a season ago. … Infielder Kerrington Cross had maybe his best week since arriving at High-A, slashing .400/.455/.450 in his five starts. The 24-year-old owns a .730 OPS and .456 wOBA since the start of August. … Ryan Wideman continues to struggle in a major way at High-A. The center fielder went 3-for-17 with three strikeouts in four games.  Wideman has just four extra-base hits and a .021 isolated power since being promoted to High-A. While he has done well to limit his strikeouts and whiffs, he is walking at just a 5.0% clip. … It was a quieter second professional week for Robbie Lavey, as the 2026 fourth-rounder collected just two hits and struck out nine times against Loons pitching. However, one of his knocks was a loud 110.9 mph game-tying double. (Clark Farenthold)

Lake Elsinore Storm (Lost series to San Jose Giants, 0-6)

Players of the Week: It was a dreary and dismal week for the Storm as they were swept by the Giants at home. The Giants won every game by at least three runs, and the Storm were outscored 61-13 in the set. The Storm will hit the road for six against Rancho Cucamonga before returning home to take on the 66’ers to finish up the regular season. … The Storm offense struggled mightily, but shortstop Elliot Lascelles made quite an impression in his pro debut. The 2026 second-rounder played in five games and went 7-for-17 with a double and a triple. He drew five walks and struck out just three times in 22 plate appearances. Lascelles showed a nice approach, hitting the ball with authority to the opposite field. The left-handed hitting infielder signed for $2.8 million – nearly $1.3 million higher than his slot value in the second round. … Luis Maracara made the start on Sunday and did his best to will the Storm to a win. The 19-year-old Venezuelan pitched four shutout innings, allowing just three hits. He hit one batter, did not issue a walk, and struck out seven. Maracara has looked impressive over his last three starts, punching out 20 batters over 11 innings. He’s walked just three during that span. If you zoom in on his last two starts, he’s struck out 15 without issuing a walk. 

Top Prospects and Others of Note: Jesmaylin Arias got into four games and delivered a .725 OPS, which was the second-highest mark on the club for the week. The 19-year-old had a nice season in the ACL, delivering eight homers while posting a wRC+ of 109. Since joining the Storm, Arias is hitting .244/.333/.356 with a solid 18% K-rate. … Alex Conover only played in three games as he dealt with minor soreness. He hit .300, but failed to notch an extra-base hit. In 12 games with the Storm, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy is hitting .250/.365/.432. … It was a rough week for prominent Storm hitters like Nu’u Contrades (.485 OPS), Dawson Willis (.521 OPS), and Jorge Quintana (.523 OPS). Ty Harvey (0-for-13) and Qrey Lott (0-for-17) had it even worse, with hitless weeks at the plate. … Lan-Hong Su pitched four solid innings, allowing two runs on Friday night. He allowed two runs while striking out five. The 19-year-old from Taiwan has looked much better in August after struggling mightily in his Cal League debut. In three August starts, Su has struck out 13 batters in 9.2 innings while walking two. … Zack Qin took over for Su and tossed four scoreless innings, walking two and striking out three.  … Kruz Schoolcraft struggled Friday, lasting just 0.2 innings. He walked three and allowed four earned runs before departing. Schoolcraft, 19, pitched to a 3.04 ERA in his previous six starts, leading up to last week’s implosion. The 6-foot-9 lefty had shown promise in flashes but has struggled to find much consistency. In 20 starts, he has a 5.80 ERA for the Storm. (Kevin Charity)

Interviews and Features: This week, David Jay caught up with Bryan Balzer, one of the more promising arms in the system who is still learning how to pitch on the fly. We chatted with Kasen Wells about moving up to Double-A San Antonio, where he used to attend games as a kid, and yesterday published our interview with this year’s second-round draft pick Elliot Lascelles, who is off to a strong start at Lake Elsinore.

We also had on-site coverage from both Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne, and again thank our subscribers for making it possible.