Summary: The San Antonio Missions finished last in both the first half (31-38) and second half (28-41) of the Texas League season. They did it honestly, posting a league-worst -166 run differential. The Missions’ offense improved after an influx of prospect promotions from Fort Wayne, but the pitching continued to lag, ultimately prompting the last-place finish. The Missions’ Nelson Wolff Stadium is notoriously pitcher-friendly, which masked the staff’s struggles a bit. While the team’s 5.19 overall ERA was eighth in the 10-team league, they gave up a brutal 6.62 mark on the road, easily the highest on the circuit.
Overview: Our approach to eligibility remains straightforward. Players are considered at whichever affiliate they logged the most service time. So, while Tucker Musgrove might have been San Antonio’s top pitcher this year, we counted him with the TinCaps, where he threw more innings. Players who were traded away, like Miguel Mendez, also do not qualify. We recognize the top contributor to this year’s team as the top pitcher. In contrast, the top prospect is based on our expectations based on his production, age, projectability, and potential impact in the major leagues.
Level: Double-A was long seen as the biggest step up in the minors, though that has changed some this decade. For the first time, prospects face opponents with major league experience. Pitchers who have excelled at the lower levels by locating one or two pitches often struggle at Double-A. Hitters who have questionable plate discipline can see their strikeout rates soar. The differences in age, ability, and background make Double-A one of the best training grounds in the minors. If you can thrive here, you have a strong chance to hold your own in the Majors.
Eric Yost blended consistency with performance in the San Antonio rotation. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
2026 San Antonio Missions Pitcher of the Year:
Eric Yost (David, Ben and Kevin)
Others Receiving Votes: Jagger Haynes (John), Francis Peña (Clark)
Six pitchers made at least 10 starts for the Missions. Of them, only Eric Yost, who made 17 starts, finished with a winning record. He led the team with seven wins and 101 strikeouts. Because the 23-year-old spent the year rebuilding in the bullpen before he was ready to start, he also earned a save. Yost finished the season with six quality starts, a 4.64 ERA, and a 1.39 WHIP. The 2023 17th-round pick relies on a fantastic curveball paired with multiple fastball shapes, but he was cruising until a horrendous final few outings. On August 19, Yost threw 6.1 scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 3.22. Over his final four starts, the New York native allowed 23 earned runs in just 17.1 innings. The final few outings shouldn’t distract from his strong first five months.
Francis Peña gets big extension on the mound. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
After a solid 2025 campaign in San Antonio, Jagger Haynes repeated at the level and continued to deliver, despite too many walks. The lefty, who turned 24 after the season, made 18 starts with the Missions before being promoted to El Paso for the last month of the campaign. Haynes finished his Double-A season with a 3-3 record and a 4.37 ERA in 94.2 innings. Haynes did reduce his walk rate to 10.2% this year, but his strikeout rate also fell to 21.2%, yielding a far-from-spectacular 4.82 xFIP. Haynes stood out for his ability to eat innings. The 2020 draft pick threw at least five innings in 13 of his last 15 starts for the Missions. The North Carolina native struggled after his promotion to El Paso, but settled in and posted a 2.25 ERA over his final four PCL outings. He’ll be eligible for minor league free agency this winter. … Francis Peña spent the year back in Double-A after a disappointing 2025 in El Paso. His strikeout rate jumped from 19.8% last year to a strong 27.1% this season, and his 3.05 ERA over 59 innings and 10.83 K/9 led Missions pitchers who worked at least 25 frames. While his stuff bounced back some this year, his fastball life was closer to his 2024 breakout season, and he started landing his slider more effectively; he still posted a problematic 13.7% walk rate. Signed for $10,000 in 2022, the 25-year-old from the Dominican Republic could be in the mix for a big-league role at some point in 2027.
Luis Gutierrez has emerged as one of the Padres’ top pitching prospects. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Top Pitching Prospect: Luis Gutierrez (David, Clark, Ben)
Others Receiving Votes: Jagger Haynes (Kevin), Ian Koenig (John)
Lefty Luis Gutierrez was one of the organization’s breakout pitchers in 2025, delivering a 3.31 ERA and 115 strikeouts over 125 innings. This year, Gutierrez made two fantastic starts to open the season for the Missions before a shoulder injury sidelined him for three months. He didn’t return to the Missions until August, and the 23-year-old lefty finished with a 4.19 ERA and 22 strikeouts in just 19.1 Texas League innings. Gutierrez often works primarily with a fastball/slider combo, but does best when he uses his impressive changeup to hitters from both sides of the plate. The Venezuelan generates significant swing-and-miss with the slider and can land all three pitches in multiple quadrants, leading to a groundball rate over 50% in each of the last few seasons. While the 2019 international free agent signee profiles more as a back-of-the-rotation starter, he has consistently played better than his measurables over the last few seasons. He is eligible for minor league free agency this winter and could land on a 40-man roster with the Padres or another organization. Ian Koenig led the Missions in games started (24) and innings pitched (121.1) and ranked second in strikeouts (98) and WHIP (1.27). Koenig also led the team in losses (10) and finished with a 4.60 ERA. While none of Koenig’s pitches grade above average, he can throw everything for a strike and walked only 33 in 121.1 Double-A innings. Koenig’s durability: he finished fourth in the minors with 148.1 total innings, and his ability to tunnel his sinker and slider made him a valuable contributor. If the top pitching prospect is the pitcher who will make the biggest difference at the major league level, the one who can throw strikes the most consistently is hard to bet against. He will try to become the second pitcher in his family, behind brother Jared, to go from undrafted free agent to big league contributor.
Josh Mallitz has pitched well in May. (Photo: Vashaun Newman)
Others of Note: After allowing 11 earned runs in his first three innings to open the year, Josh Mallitz settled into one of the Missions’ most reliable relievers. The 2024 undrafted free agent allowed more than one run in just four of his final 37 outings. Despite the rough start, the 24-year-old finished 5-0 with a 4.09 ERA and 63 strikeouts over 61.2 innings, leading the team with six saves. His mid-90s fastball gets stellar run and pairs with an above-average changeup, and he has enough feel for the zone to handle important big league innings. … Johan Moreno’s slider has been a top weapon in the system for several years, but this season he added several ticks to his fastball and regularly sat up to 97 mph with it. That helped him strike out 53 batters over 46.1 Texas League innings, and batters hit just .215 off him. The results earned him a promotion to El Paso in July, but the flyball pitcher got hammered in the PCL, and he was sent back to the Missions for the final four weeks. His overall ERA for the Missions was 4.86, fueled by a 13% home run rate on fly balls. … Like much of the Missions bullpen, lefty Harry Gustin didn’t look quite as strong out of the pen at home but got roughed up fairly consistently on the road The University of Hawaii product struck out 74 over 59.1 innings (11.16 K/9), which helped give him a solid xFIP of 4.05 Unfortunately, when theydidn’tt whiff at a strong 28.9% rate, hitters made loud contact, and Gustin allowed 10 home runs, raising his ERA to 5.28. … In addition to Mendez, the Padres also traded away hard-throwing righty reliever Andrew Moore, whose premium stuff and lack of control make him an intriguing wildcard. The righty punched out 45 and held opponents to just a .117 average in 24.1 innings for San Antonio, but walked 44 in 41 total innings this year. … Former prospect Victor Lizarraga continued to struggle in what will likely be his last season in the organization. The Padres tried to reboot the 22-year-old who grew up in the San Diego-Tijuana region with a stint in the desert, but even that didn’t help. He gave up five earned runs in each of his five starts after returning to the Alamo City and finished the year with a 7.52 ERA and an untenable 13.2% walk rate.
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