Quote from fenn68 on May 14, 2024, 4:04 pm

Beshears up to FW from LE.

Quote from Stergios on May 14, 2024, 6:40 pm

I heard that Mazur is headed to El Paso.

Quote from MrPadre19 on May 14, 2024, 7:52 pm

Quote from Stergios on May 14, 2024, 6:40 pm

I heard that Mazur is headed to El Paso.

From the Adam Mazur thread?

😉

Pitching tonight…other than 1 HR ball doing pretty well.

Quote from fenn68 on May 17, 2024, 7:09 am

Any insight on Bergert in SA?

Seems his 2024 is falling apart for at top prospect. Decent start to the season but lately just getting hit hard … does not seem to be a problem with BB.

Quote from Randy Manese on May 17, 2024, 2:37 pm

Bergert has a 6.84 ERA but a 3.95 FIP.  He also has an incredible .420 BABIP which means he has pitched in bad luck.  For example, in yesterday's game, he gave up swinging bunts, bloop singles and 2 windblown HRs that just barely made it over the fence in RF.

Other factors:  SA infield defense is not one of the better ones in the league.  His velocity seems to be down a tick or two.  His FB command comes and goes but generally he's ahead or even in the count before losing a batter to a hit.  Most of his other 2024 stats are very close to 2023except for that big jump in H/9 innings allowed (also his K rate is a little down).

I'm thinking that as the season goes on, he will get better results but it does look like he's taken about a 1/2 step backwards this year.  While he looked like a candidate for the long man in the Padres bullpen or even a shot at the #5 SP, he's going to have to regroup and look more like 2023 than 2022.

Quote from Randy Manese on May 17, 2024, 10:04 pm

Snelling pitched his best game of the season.  Kept the ball down with good location.  Breaking stuff still has a ways to go but very impressive overall effort.

On the other hand, Baez pitched in bad luck and poor defense.  He deserved better than what his stats indicate.  Improving and should also get better as the season goes on.

Quote from Stergios on May 18, 2024, 10:44 am

Thanks Randy.

What have you noticed regarding Salas?  Is he overmatched in high-A or is he hitting the ball hard?

Quote from Randy Manese on May 18, 2024, 10:07 pm

With the Midwest League you have to take early results with a grain of salt.  Because of cold weather and frequent rainouts most players have had a hard time finding their rhythm at the plate and I believe the overall offensive stats for all teams show that.  However, not saying that Salas didn't deserve to be hitting under .200 early in the season.  He seemed to be taking too many pitches and having to hit from behind the count; more K's than what I expected from him (chasing more outside the zone and weak swings within the zone) and a lot of weak ground balls to the right side or pop-ups.  The last few games he seems to have gotten more aggressive and has a couple of multiple hit games, including today with doubles to right and left center.    From my standpoint, he needs to continue to swing a pitches he can hit early in the count and drive the ball with more authority.  I don't think he's overmatched, just not having a good approach so far but seems to be breaking out of it these last 2-3 games.

Quote from Randy Manese on May 18, 2024, 10:20 pm

Clean sweep for the Padres' minor league system winning all the way from AAA to the Arizona Complex League (the Dominican Summer League starts on 3 June).  Got 3 sparkling performances from the RH "L" pitchers - Lesko, Lizarraga and Lowe - who all probably pitched their best games of the season so far.  Lesko again K'd more than he walked for the second straight game and got through 5 innings on 90 pitches.  FB was in the mid-90's and the change-up was particularly nasty; threw 55.6% of his pitches for strikes which is showing movement in the right direction.  Getting there but still needs more consistency.

Lizarraga pitched 5.2 innings and was rolling when he hit his pitch count of 85.  He only walked 1 and struck out 8 with 62% of his pitches thrown being strikes.  This was a terrific turnaround from his last few performances, which were awful.  I liked the fact that he seemed to be emotionally in the game, pumping his fist when he was able to finish off batters by strikeout or otherwise.  Looked like he did when he started the season.

Finally, Lowe pitched another dominant game, going 6 innings and landing 70.1% of his pitches for strikes.  Because he is being brought back from shoulder issues that shelved him twice last year, he was pulled after only 67 pitches.  Still, he only gave up 3 hits, 1 walk and struck out 6.  He also pitched out of bad situations his defense put him in and that was also very impressive.  As I said earlier, doesn't really have the build of a pitcher, but he fills up the zone and has good command of his FB and slider.