Quote from Randy Manese on April 8, 2026, 10:34 pm

Storm brought up 18 year old Jesus Castro for his stateside debut today.   Did fairly well and had a lot of movement on his pitches despite not high octane velocity; really only 2 of the 6 hits given up were hit hard.  Castro did well down the stretch for the Dominican Summer League Gold champions last year and although he needs to clean up his mechanics a bit, could be a decent end of the rotation starter as a teenager for LE this year.

Continue to be impressed by Jose Verdugo, another player out of Mexico, who also played for the DSL Gold team last year.  Very good bat to ball skills and has played flawlessly in the field.  Needs to get stronger but could be a fast mover in the system.

Quote from Jeremy Hill on April 9, 2026, 11:36 am

Quote from Randy Manese on April 8, 2026, 10:34 pm

Storm brought up 18 year old Jesus Castro for his stateside debut today.   Did fairly well and had a lot of movement on his pitches despite not high octane velocity; really only 2 of the 6 hits given up were hit hard.  Castro did well down the stretch for the Dominican Summer League Gold champions last year and although he needs to clean up his mechanics a bit, could be a decent end of the rotation starter as a teenager for LE this year.

Continue to be impressed by Jose Verdugo, another player out of Mexico, who also played for the DSL Gold team last year.  Very good bat to ball skills and has played flawlessly in the field.  Needs to get stronger but could be a fast mover in the system.

Verdugo is putting himself on the map. I've also been impressed by Carlos Rodriguez early on. He seemed to take a pretty big step forward offensively in Lake Elsinore last season and has continued it to start the year in Fort Wayne.

Quote from Randy Manese on April 9, 2026, 11:31 pm

First good look at Balzer on MiLB network.  Looks so much better than last year - lot more poise and command of all his pitches.  If he continues to show this well in his next start might see early promotion to Fort Wayne.

Waldron had another very good outing, throwing all his pitches for strikes - sinker, knuckle, sweeper, fastball (normally around 92 but did get up to 94).   It all depends on what Buehler and Marquez do in their next start as to when Waldron is brought up and who he replaces.  El Paso wasted Waldron's effort and blew the game with another poor effort by the bullpen.

Quote from Randy Manese on April 10, 2026, 2:13 pm

Canning, Mendez, Mayfield and Schoolcraft all are scheduled to pitch today.  I'll try to catch them all.  Schoolcraft was awful the first time out - he's got to be better today.  Hoping Canning shows as much today as Waldron did yesterday.  Waldron seems to be throwing a "heavy" ball and got a lot of groundouts; he looked like he did in 2024, when he was at his best.

Quote from ultratvfan on April 10, 2026, 7:36 pm

 

Quote from Randy Manese on April 10, 2026, 9:34 pm

Mendez and Mayfield were good to very good; Canning was okay but Schoolcraft looked lost.  Only got 1 out and looked like he was aiming the ball, trying to draw a strike.  Right now, Schoolcraft's mechanics are completely out of whack and he needs to take a breather down in the ACL.  Looks like some of the better arms in the system are on a pitch count early in the season, ranging from 50-70 pitches.  Concur with developing these young arms slowly after an appropriate build-up (or after coming back from injury).

Quote from fenn68 on April 11, 2026, 6:46 am

Surprised by Schoolcraft ... #1 pick / top 100 prospect / got a lot of hype during ST ... then in both appearances no control but if over the plate is getting hit. In the spring thought his velocity was down (at least from my expectation). Agree needs time in extended ST then some game time in the ACL.

Canning looks to be set up for the max rehab period (ends first week of May). Gone 2 then 3 innings so far (needs a lot more build-up) and his control has not come around. With Buehler's performance yesterday and Marquez' in his last start plus Waldron set to return ahead of him the Padres should be able to bring him along slowly. Adds the benefit of being able to get a better read on the other three arms before determining the odd man out (unless it is Canning).

Quote from Randy Manese on April 12, 2026, 7:10 am

The El Paso team has been a disappointment given that many of the position players showed well in ST and we've trotted out SPs that were or are in competition for a spot in the major league rotation.  Jase Bowen has been, by far, our most impressive hitter and we're starting to see some improvement in his K rate; he, along with Samad Taylor, could be a threat to Johnson on the roster if Johnson doesn't start hitting.

Waldron looks ready and I'd bring him up as the 5th starter "in waiting" until either Buehler or Marquez fails to keep  the Padres in a game early consistently.  I like him to become the long man in the bullpen (he does have somewhat of a rubber arm) and let Rodriguez get some needed minor league innings to gain that poise and confidence to match his stuff.  He'll be the RH version of how the Padres have been using Hart, which brings us to Matsui and the LH side of the pen.  We still have Adam, Morgan, Marinaccio and, of course, Miller from the right side.

Hart does have an option and Padres have been letting Peralta go longer given the unexpected inconsistencies of Morejon.  If Morejon gets back on track soon, going to have to option Hart or move Peralta or Matsui.  With Estrada on the IL but reportedly not with a serious injury, this bullpen is even going to be better when everyone is healthy and adjusted to their roles.

Quote from Randy Manese on April 15, 2026, 2:25 pm

Ticker Musgrove makes his debut today after spending time in extended ST because of minor arm soreness.  His work in the AFL was impressive and hope he continues to build on that at Ft. Wayne.  Down in Lake Elsinore, young Jesus Castro makes his second start.  Diminutive in stature, gets good movement on his stuff but velocity in the low 90's.   Needs to fill out his frame to get stronger and have more stamina but the hope is he can build up both as he matures this year in his second year of pro ball.  If he starts to get hit hard, look for him to go back to the ACL before it adversely affects his confidence.