The newly promoted players are settling in for the San Diego Padres’ minor league affiliates. Lake Elsinore is adapting to the loss of multiple high-output offensive players and one of their two best pitchers. They still managed to win two games in their six-game series.
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After electing free agency after being designated for assignment by the Friars, Nick Solak re-signed a minor league deal with the Padres, returning to El Paso on June 26.
The Fort Wayne TinCaps should benefit from an infusion of offensive talent; they split their series this past week after working the new players into the lineup. Newly promoted starter Winyer Chourio picked up where he left off with the Storm.
Catcher Ethan Salas, who has been on the injured list this past week with a minor oblique strain, was activated and should play soon.
Salas and Fort Wayne’s lefty starter, Kash Mayfield, were both named to the All-Star Futures Game on the Sunday of All-Star weekend (July 12).
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El Paso Chihuahuas (36-45 record, 4th in PCL East)
Infielder Pablo Reyes, 32, took the lead offensively while Nick Solak was gone from the team. With Solak returning, he has the top qualifying batting average at .321 and a .493 slug. Reyes leads in OBP with .408. Centerfielder Carlos Rodriguez leads the team with 45 RBI.
Rehabbing pitcher Germán Márquez made four starts for El Paso, with the most recent on June 17. He went five innings and has only appeared twice since then, both in relief. In those 2.1 innings he has struggled. Overall, he has 17.2 innings pitched with a 3.57 ERA. He ends his rehab stint on Friday and must be activated back onto the Padres roster or designated for assignment.
Reliever Andrew Moore, who the Padres acquired at the last trade deadline for Connor Joe, has appeared in two games for El Paso since his promotion from San Antonio. He has 3.2 innings pitched without allowing a run.
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San Antonio Missions (33-42 record, 5th in Texas League South)
The Missions quickly had a new player lead them offensively with the promotion of outfielder Jake Cunningham. In his first six games, Cunningham is hitting .346/.370/.692 with a double, a triple, two homers, and five RBI. Undoubtedly, the league will adjust and these numbers will drop but it is highly encouraging that the former Baltimore Orioles prospect is getting off to a fast start.
Catcher Ethan Salas has cooled somewhat over the past month and just returned from an injury but is hitting .277/.347/.427 with 17 extra-base hits (seven homers) and 33 RBI. Outfielder Tirso Ornelas leads the team with 11 home runs and 34 RBI.
Starter Jhony Brito has four starts for 18.1 innings pitched and a 1.96 ERA. The organization looks to be slow-playing his buildup back to the rotation. Lefty starter Jagger Haynes has had multiple effective starts in June and has improved his ERA to 4.24 after a shaky start to the season. He has 72 strikeouts to 34 walks in 80.2 innings pitched.
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Newly arrived reliever Tucker Musgrove has 2.2 innings with no runs allowed. Reliever Josh Mallitz also struggled to begin the season but has become a higher-leverage arm for the Missions. He carries a 4.94 ERA.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (33-43 record, 4th in Midwest League East)
Outfielder Alex McCoy has had to make multiple adjustments over the first half of the season after the league has learned to exploit his offensive weaknesses. He has had some slumps that show the pitchers finding the holes in his swing. Each time, he has adjusted and started hitting again for the TinCaps. McCoy currently is second in batting average at .269 and leads in slug at .496. He has 12 homers and 41 RBI, both leading the team.
Outfielder Kasen Wells leads with a .419 OBP with 38 walks to 57 strikeouts. Wells does not feature power and is mostly a singles hitter with a .287 batting average.
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Lefty starter Kash Mayfield, just named to the Futures Game with Ethan Salas, has a 3.22 ERA in 44.2 innings in his 12 starts. He will be limited in his innings pitched as he only threw 60.2 innings last season. Starter Abraham Parra has had some clunkers in his 54.2 innings pitched with a 5.93 ERA, but leads the team with 54 strikeouts. Mayfield has 53 strikeouts.
New arrival Ryan Och has eight appearances and 11.2 innings in relief with a 0.77 ERA.
Lake Elsinore Storm (41-34 record, 1st in California League South)
Catcher Alcides Hernandez, a Venezuelan signed out of the international class in 2023, is 21 years old and began the season in the ACL. He now leads with a .313 average in his seven games with the team.
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Outfielder George Bilecki, drafted in the 12th round of the 2025 draft, has a .372 OBP despite only hitting .212. Newly promoted infielder Dawson Willis has played in 12 games for the Storm after his promotion from the ACL and is hitting .295/.347/.500 with three doubles, two homers, and 11 RBI.
Right-handed starter Jesus Castro, who just turned 19, has a 3.52 ERA in 13 games started and 53.2 innings pitched. He leads the team with 61 strikeouts to 20 walks. With the promotion of Winyer Chourio to Fort Wayne, Castro inherits the top spot in the rotation.
Reliever Javier Chacon was promoted to Fort Wayne, and the TinCaps will need to have their relief corps step up after losing two of their best pitchers.
ACL Padres (24-19 record, 3rd in West)
Outfielder Eddson Martinez, who came from the DSL Gold team a week ago, is hitting .333/.500/.500 in his six games. Infielder Luis De Leon leads the team with a .297 average. Catcher Jhohan Downer has a .430 OBP with 22 walks and 20 hits in 30 games.
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The pitching for the ACL team has struggled to limit runs. Their offense has led to their victories. Righty Cameron Nohos has six starts in his 10 appearances and 29.2 innings pitched. He has a 7.28 ERA with 50 strikeouts to 18 walks. Command and consistency are routinely an issue with pitchers at this level and Nohos is no exception, but he shows potential.
DSL Padres Gold and Brown
The Gold team continues to dominate with a 17-4 record, easily topping the Northwest Division. The pitching features many arms with good stuff but high ERA’s. The offense has multiple hitters sitting over .300 with shortstop Joniel Hernandez having a .329/.433/.506 line with 24 RBI. Two players lead with 3 homers and the team features doubles as their dominant extra-base hits.
The Brown team has a 5-15 record, last in the West Division. Both offense and pitching have had issues overall, with minimal power in the lineup (two home runs for the team).
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Infielder Endy Rios has a .333 average and 13 RBI, both tops on the team.
The pitchers, both starters and relievers, have limited innings and reliever Gensy Aquino has a 3.38 ERA in 5.1 innings. Starter Yojansky Perez has a 3.68 ERA in 14.2 innings to lead the team.
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