Austin Hedges earns MadFriars' June Player of the Month
June was a busy month in the Padres minor league system. The short-season teams in the Northwest and Arizona Leagues got underway, players from the 2016 draft began their professional careers, the organization made some key promotions, and several top prospects made their case for a shot at the big league roster.
As they do each month, the team from MadFriars.com looks at the top performers in the Padres minor league system. Remember, these reports are not meant to be revisions of their top prospect rankings, but rather a look at noteworthy recent performances.
El Paso Chihuahuas (Triple-A)
In late April, catcher Austin Hedges had surgery to remove his hamate bone. It's an injury that often has a two-month recovery period, and can sap a player's power at the plate for months. Nobody told Hedges that. After returning to the lineup on June 9, Hedges produced a ridiculous .412/.453/.868 line in June, slugging nine homers in 75 plate appearances. After spending much of last season sitting on the bench in the Majors, Hedges is staking a claim for a return trip, but that likely won't come until after Derek Norris is moved via trade to clear a path for him.
As hot as the 23-year-old catcher was, he was hardly alone in the Chihuahuas lineup. Alex Dickerson posted a 935 OPS in June -- which is actually off his season-long pace -- to earn a promotion back to the Padres when Jon Jay went to the disabled list. Hunter Renfroe hit .333 with 16 extra-base hits for the month and is in the top five in most offensive categories for the Pacific Coast League.
Yet neither Dickerson nor Renfroe had the most productive June among El Paso outfielders. That distinction belongs to Jabari Blash, who is finding his footing since escaping from his Rule 5 assignment to the big leagues. The massive slugger hit .294/.468/618 for the month. He continues to be the poster child for three true outcomes, striking out, walking or hitting a homer in 45 of his 94 plate appearances.
On the mound, former first-rounder Michael Kelly has emerged this year, and that continued following his second promotion of the season in mid-June. The 23-year-old righty posted a respectable 3.71 ERA in three starts, joining 33-year-old Daniel McCutchen, who paced the rotation with a 3.19 ERA across six outings. In the bullpen, minor league free agent signee Derek Eitel was electric, giving up only one run on four hits in 12.1 innings of work, while posting a stellar 18:4 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
El Paso Player of the Month: Austin Hedges
San Antonio Missions (Double-A)
The Missions offense showed some signs of life in June as Nick Torres and Jose Rondon, the only opening day Missions position players on the MadFriars''preseason Top 20 list, put up strong months. Rondon, a 22-year-old shortstop, bounced back from a rough May by hitting .324/.355/.495. The most promising part of that line is the slugging percentage, as the Venezuelan's isolated power number throughout his career has hovered right around .100.
For Torres, his .327 average was both the best on the club for the month and his best stretch yet this year. The Padres' fourth-round pick in 2014, Torres also trended in the right direction by cutting his strikeout rate and drawing more walks than he had in April and May combined. Fellow outfielder Nick Schulz, the rare undrafted free agent to make it to Double-A, missed the first week of the month after getting hit with a pitch, but came back with a strong .308 average in 21 games.
Top pitching prospect Dinelson Lamet joined the Missions early in the month, and while he led the staff with 24 strikeouts in 21 innings, he also struggled with command as he transitioned to the Texas League, allowing 15 walks on the way to a 4.29 ERA. The strength of the San Antonio staff remains the bullpen where Yimmi Brasoban, Adam Cimber, Rafael DePaula, Jason Jester, Kyle McGrath, and Jose Torres combined to work 66 1/3 innings in which they gave up only eight runs (a 1.09 ERA) with 77 strikeouts.
San Antonio Player of the Month: Jose Rondon
Lake Elsinore Storm (Advanced-A)
The Storm's biggest player had their biggest month in June as Franmil Reyes pounded out a .307/.469/.584 slash line with a team-best five homers and only 10 strikeouts in 111 plate appearances. The 20-year-old, who is conservatively listed at 240 pounds on his 6'5" frame, had really scuffled through April and May, so the breakout in June was especially welcome.
Flanking Reyes in center for most of the month was Franchy Cordero, who did his best to keep up with the big man. Cordero posted a .297 average with nine doubles and a pair of triples to buoy a .473 slugging percentage. The converted shortstop's performance was enough to earn himself a promotion to San Antonio at the end of the month. Meanwhile, infielder Luis Urias celebrated the month in which he finally turned 19 with yet another .300 average.
Chris Huffman didn't have a spot in the rotation when the season opened, but he's more than carried his weight since moving back to a starting role in May. The Padres' 14th-rounder in 2014 induced a lot of soft contact on his way to a 3.00 ERA in five starts. Walker Lockett, the last high school pitcher standing in the organization from the Padres 2013 draft class, also kept his ERA a respectable 3.86 as temperatures started to rise and he made a trip to Lancaster.
Lake Elsinore Player of the Month: Franmil Reyes
Fort Wayne TinCaps (Low-A)
While he cooled off a bit from May, Michael Gettys continued his breakout campaign for the TinCaps, hitting .324/.360/.437 through 17 games before making a final appearance in the Midwest League All-Star Game and then getting a well-deserved promotion to Lake Elsinore. The 20-year-old, who was a second round choice in 2014, shaved his strikeout rate to only 20 percent for the month, a stunning improvement from the 30 percent rate he brought into the season.
Big lefty Brad Zunica had a productive month despite striking out in nearly 40 percent of his plate appearances. But when the slugging first baseman made contact, it was loud contact, leading to a .516 slugging percentage for the month. With long levers and a big leg kick, the 20-year-old will have some work to do to cut down on the swinging strikes.
While the young starting corps has been the strength of the TinCaps through the first half, the promotion of Enyel De Los Santos and a trip to the disabled list by Logan Allen changed the dynamic in June. Righty J.C. Cosme, who came over from Baltimore in exchange for Odrisamer Despaigne this spring, paced the staff with a 2.31 ERA over five starts in the month, though he is already having his innings tapered a bit. Lefties Jerry Keel and Thomas Dorminy also provided quality innings in the rotation.
Fort Wayne Player of the Month: Michael Gettys
Short-season Teams Tri-City and Arizona
With a new wave of players coming into the system after the draft, the Northwest League got underway on the 17th and the rookie club in Peoria opened the following week. In the small sample, Luis Asuncion a 19-year-old outfielder making his stateside debut with Dust Devils collected a hit in each of his 12 games. In Arizona, the star of the James Shields trade return, Fernando Tatis, Jr., got off to a blistering start with a .353/.371/.618 slash line. Only Tyler Selesky, who is five years older and signed as an undrafted free agent, out-produced him, starting his career off with a .417/.517/.583 line through his first week.
On the mound, no pitcher worked more than 15 innings, but perhaps none were more potentially significant for the organization that Mayky Perez threw in Arizona. The highest-paid member of the Padres' 2013 international signing class managed just two innings in 2015, but got his 2016 campaign off to an impressive start, allowing only one earned run in 10.1 innings of work. In Pasco, repeaters Will Headean and Emmanuel Ramirez posted matching ERAs of 1.20 across 15 innings each.
Short-season Player of the Month: Tyler Selesky
System Player of the Month: Austin Hedges
While the time he inexplicably spent on the major league roster last year means that Hedges doesn't appear on any top prospect lists any more, the 23-year-old catcher has as much future value as any player in the minors today. While he's always been known for his defensive prowess, his offense has emerged as a viable weapon as well. He's had over 500 plate appearances in Double-A, combined with his experience in Triple-A this season and last year - in addition to a full year of "development" on the big league level - it's not clear how much, if anything, he has left prove in El Paso. At the same time there is nothing to be gained from having him rejoin the big league club unless he can step in as the starter. That may happen near the trade deadline, or it may happen in 2017. But whenever it does, Hedges will become a key component for the future of the big league squad.
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