Another busy roster week for the San Diego Padres’ minor league affiliates as two of the four stateside teams had a miserable week and the Dominican Summer League regular season comes to a close.
El Paso outfielder Dustin Harris, who was released and then re-signed just a couple of weeks ago, had a blistering week at the plate and was promoted to San Diego.
Outfielder Samad Taylor began his rehab with Triple-A El Paso and should be ready soon.
Two more recently signed players, second-round draft pick
Elliot Lascelles and undrafted free agent LHP Andrew Wright, were both assigned to Low-A Lake Elsinore to begin their professional careers.
Lascelles, 18, is a Canadian shortstop with advanced plate discipline and bats left-handed. His draft evaluation suggested he is better suited to second base.
LHP Luis Gutierrez finished his rehab and will be with the Double-A San Antonio Missions to finish the season.
Shortstop Bradley Frye, an undrafted free agent from last season, was promoted to Single-A Fort Wayne on Aug. 5 and was named Midwest League Player of the Week at the end of this past series. Frye went 10-for-24 with a 1.189 OPS in five games. He had two doubles, a triple, and a home run with seven RBI and three stolen bases. That puts him tops on the team, but he has only 48 at-bats in his 15 games overall.
The Dominican Summer League regular season finished with the Padres Gold team ending with a 40-16 record, advancing to the playoffs. The Brown team finished 11-44 for the season, last in their division.
The Gold team began their playoff schedule against the Giants Black team and won the first game 5-3.
The starter for the Gold team, RHP Yoandres Valdiviezo, was roughed up in the first inning, allowing two earned runs on two hits and five walks. He was replaced after 0.2 innings by RHP Wilfred Paca, who threw five innings of one-hit ball with a walk and three strikeouts.
The rest of the bullpen finished out, allowing one more run over 3.1 innings. Closer Alvieris Polanca picked up his first playoff save.
The offense plated five runs on nine hits with singles and one double. Left fielder Cristian Benavides was 2-for-2 with two runs scored, and third baseman Dawry Guerrero was 2-for-4 with a double and five RBI.
The second game of the series was yesterday.
El Paso Chihuahuas (50-75 record, last in PCL East)
The Chihuahuas went 1-5 for the week, wasting the breakout performance by outfielder Dustin Harris. Harris hit .500 with a .556 OBP. He had two home runs in his five extra-base hits with nine RBI in four games.
LHP Jagger Haynes had a two-start week with one good showing and one not as good. Over his two starts, he pitched 10 innings with six runs allowed on nine hits. Since his promotion to El Paso, Haynes has been up and down in his six games started and has a 7.13 ERA.
RHP Jhonny Brito has nine starts and 37.1 innings pitched with a 2.89 ERA. With RHP Joe Musgrove scheduled for a start with the Chihuahuas this week, Brito probably won’t be the first pitcher used to supplement the rotation. If Musgrove completes his rehab soon, Brito should be a safety valve for the Padres, if needed.
Reliever Hunter Stratton, acquired at the trade deadline, has been outstanding for El Paso. In seven games and 9.1 innings pitched, Stratton has allowed five hits and no runs with five walks and 10 strikeouts. He could also provide depth for the pitching staff in San Diego.
Catcher Ethan Salas cooled off significantly over the past series. Salas was 3-for-19 with a walk and one strikeout. Overall, in 19 games, Salas is hitting .317 with a .949 OPS, hitting three homers with 20 RBI.
Roster changes
Catcher Victor Duarte was sent to the development list in Arizona and RHP Ty Adcock was placed on the injured list.
RHP Jose Leclerc was assigned to El Paso from San Antonio.
San Antonio Missions (54-66 record, last in Texas League South)
The Missions went 3-3 for the week Fabian is third in home runs with 10 and second in RBI with 48. He has 68 strikeouts. corner outfielder and first baseman Albert Fabian having a good month. Fabian, 24, has been in the system since 2019 and will be a free agent at the end of the year. For the week, he went 10-for-25 with four doubles and a home run. Fabian is third in home runs with 10 and second in RBI with 48. He has 68 strikeouts.
Outfielder Alex McCoy has played in nine games since his promotion. In 42 at-bats, he is hitting .333 and has a .896 OPS with three doubles, two home runs and nine RBI.
Outfielder Braedon Karpathios leads the team with 14 home runs and 58 RBI but has 148 strikeouts in 463 plate appearances (almost 32% K rate).
RHP Eric Yost turned in 6.1 innings pitched this past week with four hits, no walks and six strikeouts as a piggyback to LHP Luis Gutierrez. He has a 3.22 ERA in 89.1 innings for the year.
Gutierrez is building up after missing most of the season due to a shoulder injury in April.
Roster changes
RHP Victor Lizarraga was promoted to San Antonio from Fort Wayne.
Outfielder Carson Tucker was placed on the injured list, and outfielder Justin DeCriscio was promoted to the Missions from Fort Wayne.
Outfielder Kai Murphy was assigned to the Arizona development list.
Reliever Bernard Jose was moved from Fort Wayne to San Antonio.
RHP Johan Moreno was moved from El Paso to San Antonio.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (50-68 record, last in Midwest League East)
The TinCaps went 3-3 for the week with shortstop Bradley Fry distinguishing himself in his five games played. The other players promoted to Fort Wayne from Lake Elsinore are continuing to have difficult adjustment periods with their new team.
RHP Kannon Kemp, over his past two games started and nine innings pitched, has allowed no runs with ten strikeouts while featuring a 98 mph four-seam fastball. Overall, Kemp has a 4.66 ERA in 29 innings with the TinCaps after starting with the ACL team. The righty began the season on the injured list after suffering a right oblique injury during the spring.
Starting pitchers Carson Montgomery, Bryan Balzer, and Abraham Parra have had up-and-down seasons with Fort Wayne. All have high upsides, with Montgomery having his first season back from Tommy John surgery and Balzer relatively new to pitching butdrawing attentionas an intriguing prospect.
Parra, 20, is not a top 30 prospect per MLB Pipeline (the others are No. 30 and No. 5, respectively) but is an intriguing arm to follow going forward. Signed as an international prospect out of Venezuela, Parra started with the DSL in 2023 and 2024. He played his first season stateside in 2025 for both the ACL team and Lake Elsinore.
In 2026, he has 16 starts in 21 games and 89 innings pitched with a 5.76 ERA, 82 strikeouts to 56 walks. He currently features a 97 mph four-seam fastball but needs to improve his command and walk rate.
Roster changes
Infielder Yimy Tovar was promoted from Lake Elsinore to Fort Wayne.
RHP Maikel Miralles was sent to Arizona, and RHP Matt Watson was sent from San Antonio to Fort Wayne to replace him.
Lake Elsinore Storm (61-59 record, 2nd in California League South)
The Storm has lost seven straight, going 0-6 for the week. Struggling on both sides of the ball, Lake Elsinore will go into the playoffs after finishing their season with two more series. They won the first half but aren’t playing well to end the year.
Left-handed hitting shortstop Lascelles has infused some energy with his arrival, but the team is overall not scoring. After losing many of their best players at promotion time, the new infusion of talent started well but has tapered off significantly.
RHP Luis Maracara, 19, joined the Storm after pitching with the ACL team and has started seven games in his nine appearances. He has 27.2 innings pitched with a 6.51 ERA. In his last three games started, Maracara has 11 innings pitched and 20 strikeouts to three walks.
RHP Lan-Hong Su, 19, was signed by the Padres out of Taiwan last year. He started this year with the ACL Padres and was moved to Lake Elsinore. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 150 pounds, Su needs time for maturation and development before a real assessment can be made. He is currently the Padres’ No. 7-ranked prospect with MLB Pipeline.
In August, Su has three starts and 9.2 innings pitched with 13 strikeouts and two walks. His control and command fluctuate wildly, but he is an arm to watch going forward.
LHP Kruz Schoolcraft has had a largely disappointing first professional season. Never able to get into any kind of consistent groove, Schoolcraft has stayed healthy with 20 games started and 71.1 innings pitched. He has a 5.80 ERA with 75 strikeouts and 53 walks. Both command and control have been issues with his arsenal.
In his start this past week, Schoolcraft went 0.2 innings and was removed after he walked three and allowed four runs.
2026 regular season coming to a close
Both A-level affiliates finish their season on Sept. 6.
Double-A affiliates finish on Sept. 18.
Triple-A affiliates complete their season on Sept. 20.
