FriarNotes: AA-San Antonio, A+-Fort Wayne, A-Lake Elsinore open seasons; plus history, minors wrap

By Bill Center

Ethan Salas at Peoria Sports Complex

All four Padres’ full-season minor league affiliates will be in action by this weekend.

Triple-A El Paso opened last Friday. Double-A San Antonio and Single-A Lake Elsinore opened their seasons Thursday night. High Single-A Fort Wayne opens play Friday night.

With Opening Day comes the Opening Day rosters. Here is a look at the San Antonio, Fort Wake and Lake Elsinore rosters:

DOUBLE-A SAN ANTONIO

Six of the Padres’ Top-30 prospects will open the season with the Missions.

Topping the list are catcher Ethan Salas (№2) and right-handed pitcher Miguel Mendez (№3). Other ranked prospects at San Antonio are outfielder Braedon Karpathios (№12), left-handed pitchers Jagger Haynes (№15) and Luis Gutierrez (№20) and first baseman Romeo Sanabria (№28).

The Missions roster:

Pitchers (16) — Right-handed (12): Mendez, Manuel Castro, Andrew Dalquist, Michael Flynn, Sadrac Franco, Ian Koenig, Victor Lizarraga, Josh Mallitz, Johan Moreno, Francis Peña, Andrew Thurman, Eric Yost. Left-handed (4): Haynes, Gutierrez, Harry Gustin, Fernando Sanchez.

Catchers (3) — Salas (L), Brendan Durfee (L), Christopher Sargent Jr.

Infielders (5) — Sanabria (L), Francisco Acuna, Ryan Jackson, Carson Tucker, Luis Verdugo.

Outfielders (5) — Karpathios (L), Albert Fabian (L), Joshua Mears, Kai Murphy (L), Kai Roberts (L).

HIGH SINGLE-A FORT WAYNE:

Six of the Padres’ Top-30 prospects will open the season in the Midwest League.

Topping the list is left-handed starting pitcher Kash Mayfield (№4). Other top prospects with the TinCaps are catcher Lamar King Jr. (№16), right-handed pitchers Kannon Kemp (№19) and Jaxon Dalena (№30) and outfielders Alex McCoy (№21) and Kavares Tears (№27).

The TinCaps roster:

Pitchers (17) — Right-handed (14): Kemp, Dalena, Clark Candiotti, Vicarte Domingo, Clay Edmondson, Luis Germán, Bernard Jose, Isaiah Lowe, Maikel Miralles, Carson Montgomery, Kleiber Olmedo, Abraham Parra, Will Varmette, Jeferson Villabona. Left-handed (3) — Mayfield, Igor Gil, Braian Salazar.

Catchers (3) — King Jr., Oswaldo Linares, Carlos Rodriguez (L).

Infielders (4) — Zach Evans, Dylan Grego, Jonathan Vastine (L), Rosman Verdugo.

Outfielders (5) — McCoy, Tears (L), Jack Costello, Jake Cunningham, Kasen Wells (L).

SINGLE-A LAKE ELSINORE:

Left-handed starting pitcher Kruz Schoolcraft leads the list of seven Padres’ Top-30 prospects starting the season with the Storm. Schoolcraft is ranked the Padres’ №1 prospect and №88 in all the minor leagues.

Four other top-10 Padres prospects will open the season with the Storm — shortstop Jorge Quintana (№7), catcher Ty Harvey (№8), center fielder Ryan Wideman (№9) and corner infielder Kale Fountain (№10). In addition, right-handed pitcher Humberto Cruz, the Padres’ №5 prospect, opens the season on the Lake Elsinore restricted list.

Other ranked prospects at Lake Elsinore are catcher Truitt Madonna (№17) and right-handed pitcher Bryan Balzer (№29).

The Storm roster:

Pitchers (14) — Right-handed (10): Balzer, Winyer Chourio, Nick Falter, Landry Jurecka, Brandon Langley, Ethan Long, Carlos Medina, Rordy Mejia, Daichi Moriki, Tyler Schmitt. Left-handed (4): Schoolcraft, Javier Chacon, Joseph Herrera, Jamie Hitt.

Catchers (3) — Harvey, Madonna, Victor Duarte.

Infielders (7) — Fountain, Quintana (S), Luke Cantwell (L), Kerrington Cross, Justin DeCriscio, Bradley Frye, Jose Verdugo.

Outfielders (3) — Wideman, George Bilecki (L), Conner Westenburg.

PADRES HISTORY:

April 3, 2018 — Third baseman Christian Villanueva has the eighth, three-home-run game in Padres history, driving in five runs in an 8–4 win over Colorado at Petco Park. He scored a fourth run after being hit by a pitch.

PADRES ON DECK:

Rehabbing Padres’ RHP Matt Waldron (0.00 ERA) allowed no runs on 3 hits with 6 strikeouts over 4 innings for Triple-A El Paso.

C Ty Harvey, the Padres’ №8 prospect, had a double in 3 at-bats with 3 RBIs and 2 walks and a steal for Single-A Lake Elsinore Thursday night. CF Ryan Wideman, the Padres’ №9 prospect, was 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 steals. Starting RHP Bryan Balzer, the Padres, №29 prospect, allowed a run on 2 hits and 2 walks with 7 strikeouts over 4 innings.

C Ethan Salas, the Padres’ №2 prospect, was 1-for-4 for Double-A San Antonio.

MINOR LEAGUES:

TRIPLE-A EL PASO (2–3) — TACOMA 3, Chihuahuas 1 — Jase Bowen had 2 doubles in 4 at-bats.

DOUBLE-A SAN ANTONIO (0–1) — TULSA 5, Missions 1–3B Luis Verdugo was 2-for-3 with a solo home run. Starting RHP Victor Lizarraga gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and 6 walks with 2 strikeouts over 5 innings to suffer the loss.

SINGLE-A LAKE ELSINORE (1–0) — Storm 7, ONTARIO 5 — LF Conner Westenburg was 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs and a run.