Quote from Randy Manese on August 23, 2025, 8:49 am

Watched Bradgley Rodriguez in his return to the mound for the Chihuahuas; he hadn't pitched since 4 July, when he departed from the mound with a biceps injury.  He gave up a hit on his 1st pitch and then walked the next batter on a 3-2 count.  On another 3-2 count, he got the third batter to pop up and on one pitch got the 4th batter to hit into a double play.

Rodriguez' velocity was easily in the mid-to high 90's with the announcer calling one 4 seamer at 98.  Had good movement on both the FB and slider but after that long layoff his location was just a little off.  Still, a lot of swing and miss for the few pitches he threw.  He definitely fits into our bullpen and I'm evaluating his potential as better than Morgan and almost as good as Estrada as he gets back into his rhythm for the remainder of the EP season.  Padres are well-stocked in the minors with good RP arms even after trading Neighbors and Eduarniel Nunez.

Quote from Randy Manese on August 24, 2025, 12:07 pm

Dogfight down in the Dominican semi-finals between the DSL Pirates Gold and DSL Padres Gold.  Padres got down early but took the lead at 6-4; Pirates came back to tie it in regulation.  Top of the 10th, Pirates score 3 runs and Padres with their 7th pitcher on the mound, look like they are going to lose the opener of the best of 3 series.

However, Padres bounce back with 3 of their own in the bottom of the 10th and hold the Pirates scoreless with their 8th pitcher in the top of the 11th.  With the Manfred Mann runner on 2nd, Padres get a infield single to the Pirates 2nd baseman, who promptly throws the ball away for the winning run to score!  It's a walk-off!

Typical DSL game - 19 runs, 17 hits, 24 walks, and 7 errors combined; proves you're never out of it in the DSL!

Quote from MrPadre19 on August 24, 2025, 5:40 pm

I’m OK trading prospects for major league regulars…..but it does make for a boring time to box score watch down on the Farm

 

Quote from Randy Manese on August 24, 2025, 8:14 pm

Certainly not getting my money's worth with my MiLB subscription this year, especially after the trading deadline.  Hitting prospects are so thinned out making good pitching efforts wasted most of the time.  However, if you look very closely, you can appreciate the gains made over the year by players at the lowest levels of the minors.  Preller has a way of filling in the teams and the developmental staff has done well over the past couple of years bringing out the best in lower level draft choices and both undrafted and international signees.  Minor league system is at the bottom currently but I have faith we'll move closer to the middle of the pack by next year.

Quote from MrPadre19 on August 25, 2025, 3:22 am

I have faith AJ will re-stock.

Will take a couple years as we really don’t really have anyone other than a couple BP arms as high as AA.

 

Quote from Randy Manese on August 25, 2025, 12:18 pm

Despite giving up 7 walks, 6 stolen bases and committing 2 errors, Padres Gold eliminated the Pirates Gold in their part of the semi-final round and move onto the finals.  Their opponent will be determined on Tuesday or Wednesday; Athletics won today, so Red Sox Blue has to win tomorrow to force the third game.

Padres Gold will get a chance to rest some of their key bullpen arms and should be at ready to go with their top 2 SP, Jesus Castro and Raymel Belliard, poised to pitch the first two games of the finals.  Offensively, Gold's infield has been their strength led by high bonus ($1 million)signee Jhoan De La Cruz, Jose Verdugo, Eduarlin Tejeda and Abraham Bastidas - LF Santiago Contreras has also been a solid contributor.  With a 39-17 record, the Padres Gold team had the best winning percentage (.696) of the 3 remaining teams in the hunt for the DSL Cup.  Athletics were .636 while Red Sox Blue was at .593.

Quote from Randy Manese on August 27, 2025, 8:29 am

It will be the DSL Athletics versus the DSL Padres Gold team for the DSL Cup beginning tomorrow, 8/28.  Athletics stole 10 bases today after stealing 4 in their first game win so the Gold team will have to keep them off the bases to be competitive in this series.

Although nothing was reported, saw some unusual/unexpected transactions on the MILB transactions website after the 1st Padres Gold/Pirates Gold game, which the Padres Gold won in extra innings.  As reported, two Padres Gold players were suspended and one placed on the IL.  Four Pirates Gold players were released and another three were suspended; additionally, four Pirates Black players were released.  While not strange to release players after the season ends, the timing is curious.  Don't know if we'll ever know what happened but looks like there might have been some off-the field incident between the two teams that caused these transactions.  Hopefully, it will not affect Padres Gold quest for the Cup.

Quote from LynchMob on August 27, 2025, 5:48 pm

https://www.mlb.com/news/each-team-s-hottest-pitching-prospect-august-2025?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

Padres: Kash Mayfield, LHP (No. 4)
Mayfield was limited at Single-A Lake Elsinore in the middle of the season and didn’t throw more than three innings or 55 pitches in his eight starts between May 7 and July 29. He’s ramping that workload back up of late while maintaining his effectiveness for the Storm with a 2.50 ERA and 22 strikeouts in his last four starts (18 innings). The 2024 first-rounder has found the most effectiveness with his changeup, recording a 55 percent whiff rate on recorded cambios this season per Synergy.

Quote from Randy Manese on August 27, 2025, 10:47 pm

Although the Storm lost, Mayfield pitched a terrific game tonight giving up zero runs over 5 IP, 3 H, 1 BB and 9 K's.  It was a rare hiccup for RP Vicarte Domingo, who is having a very good year in the pen for the Storm, that ultimately led to the loss.  If Schoolcraft is supposed to be more advanced as a pitcher than Mayfield, then we have something to look forward to in our minors next year.