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#2641 · August 3, 2023, 10:54 pm
In what was the best game of his young career, Henry Baez pitched a terrific game only to lose the game in the bottom of the 8th after a hit batter, balk and then a wild pitch by the incoming RP. He had everything going - slider, curve, fastball - and only threw 93 pitches over 7 and 2/3 innings with a strike percentage of over 64%. I've seen flashes before, but he's never been able to go that deep in the game with that kind of command. Only 20, he should continue his growth next year at Ft. Wayne and see if he can maintain the kind of consistency he showed today. Has to be considered in the battle for the 4th/5th best RHP SP pitching prospect in the Padres farm system with Lizarraga, Bergert and Lowe and behind Lesko, Iriarte and Mazur.
#2642 · August 4, 2023, 11:51 am
Pauley with another bomb last night for the Tincaps.
Merrill with another good night as well.
#2643 · August 4, 2023, 12:10 pm
Merrill has been playing 1B lately as well....which is interesting.
Kinda surprised he hasn't played any OF.
#2644 · August 4, 2023, 1:07 pm
Pauley is an interesting case. Besides changing his swing to more of an uppercut after moving from Lake Elsinore, he's showed bat speed that he didn't show that often at or at all in Lake Elsinore. If he can continue to barrel up the ball, even with that uppercut, he'll be moving himself up the prospect chain as a guy who can play multiple positions and be counted on at the plate. It's somewhat of a gamble on Pauley's part because he could end up like Cronenworth with a lot of fly balls to the warning track and a low batting average which is what happened after Cronenworth bought in to changing his swing after his first season. Pauley is not quite the defensive force that Croney is but I can see him as a super utility guy or moving between the right side of the INF and corner OF spots IF he can keep his BA/OBP to close to league average.
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MrPadre19
#2645 · August 5, 2023, 12:17 pm
It was the good, the bad and the ugly for Lesko last night. When he had everything going right, you could see the movement of the FB and the depth of his change-up, however, that was the exception. Most of the time he couldn't find the strike zone and he was missing by a lot - wide, high, not that much inside. The hardest hits against him is when he grooved his FB over the middle of the plate and got whacked hard. These things were balanced out by his K's and 1-2-3 inning. Since he pitches out of the stretch with a little foot re-set before pitching, it seems the release point, arm angle and proper balance and extension will all come in time. Just keep him healthy and next year we will see a very much improved version of Lesko.
Not many people follow the Dominican Summer League but today was the battle for the division lead among the Padres Gold squad and the Orioles Orange team who were tied for first going into the game. This was an atypical game in that there were only four hits combined and the Padres pitchers shut out the Orioles. Further, the Padres had no errors, no hit batters, no passed balls and no wild pitches - so essentially they played a near perfect game to beat the Orioles. The Padres have stacked the Gold squad with their best hitters, which is why the Brown team is down at the bottom of the division. A couple of these hitters look promising but there is a long way to go before they may even see a stateside placement.
With more players being assigned to the ACL today and probably over the weekend, look for some promotions and releases. Romeo Sanabria, Murillo and Bush likely will be moved up and possibly some pitchers, but pitching is not the strong point of the ACL. Ripple effect may occur all the way up to San Antonio.
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Stergios
#2646 · August 5, 2023, 1:38 pm
In the 100+ heat of the Arizona morning, undrafted free agent in 2022 Braden Nett pitched a perfect game through 5 innings and only allowed one base runner in the 6th inning because of a fielding error by rehabbing 3b man Jarryd Dale; Nett is also on rehab from Lake Elsinore but until today has not been very impressive. On the other end of things, undrafted free agent Ethan Long, making his first appearance in the ACL struck out all three times he came to the plate! By the way, Padres ACL team won 10-0!
#2647 · August 5, 2023, 7:54 pm
Iriarte pulled after only 31 pitches….someone please tell me it was for an innocuous reason.
#2648 · August 5, 2023, 10:43 pm
Not to worry - Iriarte was the "opener", just like Mazur was the other day. Looks like he was working on his breaking stuff and keeping his FB down in the zone. Command wavered a little bit in the 2nd inning, so they brought in Bergert, who pitched an excellent game. It seems to me they are slowly building back Mazur and Iriarte to get back into SP mode, while limiting their total innings. Both will probably be limited to around 50 or so pitches the next time out and it is my belief that neither will be brought up as a RP for the major league roster this year. Iriarte does have to be put on the 40 man next year, however, because he will surely be lost in the Rule 5 draft if left unprotected.
Good day for the Padres system with a couple of impressive comebacks and a couple of dominating games albeit a short one at Ft. Wayne.
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WindsorUK
#2649 · August 6, 2023, 7:12 am
Pauley 1-3 with a 2B.
#2650 · August 7, 2023, 11:16 pm
With the Padres chances for a playoffs spot almost unattainable, here's how their minor league teams are doing in a quest for a playoff spot as of today.
Dominican Summer League - Padres Gold team up by 1 1/2 games in their division with 11 games to go. Have to win division to get into playoffs.
Arizona Complex League - Padres team 1/2 game back in their division with 11 games to go. California League - Lake Elsinore is 4 games back with 30 games to go; must win second half division to qualify. Midwest League - Ft. Wayne is tied for 1st in their division with 30 games to go; must win second half division to qualify. Texas League - San Antonio won 1st half, so already in playoffs. Currently, 4 games out of 1st with 36 games to play. Pacific Coast League - 4 games behind 2nd place team but since 1st place team already won 1st half just have to catch 2nd place team with 42 games to go to get in.
Only team that is completely out of it is Padres Brown team which is dead last in its division - same division as Padres Gold team.