Padres Organization Players of the Week: April 22-28

Here are the Padres organization players of the week for April 22-28. 

MLB Batter- Hunter Renfroe

Renfroe was a big reason why the Padres left the nation’s capital with a series win over the Nationals over the weekend. Eric Hosmer made a strong case, but Renfroe gets the edge thanks to two homers in that series, both in wins. He outperformed Hosmer is most categories this week. He reached base six times in the series in D.C, including a walk and a double. His home runs were very timely as in the ninth inning of Friday’s win, he hit a tie-breaking, game-winning home run off of Nationals closer Sean Doolittle, giving the Padres the 4-3 lead, which they would hold on to.

HUNTER RENFROE ARE YOU KIDDING?!@Padres take the lead in the top of the 9th!#FriarFaithful | @Hunter_Renfroe pic.twitter.com/uIge9JDNrw

— FOX Sports San Diego (@FOXSportsSD) April 27, 2019

In Saturday’s win, Renfroe got the scoring started with a go-ahead home run off of Stephen Strasburg in the second inning, giving the Padres a 1-0 lead which they would need, as the game went into extra innings. He helped add on to that big, six-run 10th inning with a sacrifice fly. Renfroe has had several timely hits this season, especially off of the bench.

MLB Pitcher- Chris Paddack

Paddack turned in one of the most dominant starts in recent memory for the Padres on Wednesday afternoon against the Mariners. If the Padres were not concerned about his innings and pitch count, still just a few years removed from Tommy John surgery, he could have easily gone the distance with the shutout; his stuff was that dominant. He pitched seven innings of shutout, one-hit, one-walk ball with nine strikeouts, easily the best start of his young career.

Chris Paddack: Complete domination for seven innings against the Mariners today. 1-0, Padres, top of the eighth.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) April 24, 2019

After the first inning, he pitched six perfect frames to end the day. He did everything he could to give the Padres a slim 1-0 win. It was a game where the margin for error was razor thin, and Paddack did not commit a single one. This start brought Padres fans back to the dominant days of Cy Young winner Jake Peavy. Hopefully, this is a preview of what is to come for the Texan right-hander.

Farm Batter- Luis Urias (AAA)

Urias has been playing like he was offended by the Padres’ demotion a few weeks ago. Urias struggled to find his groove during his time at the big league level, batting .083 with a .366 OPS before being sent down. His week rivaled that of Ty France‘s last week, which were video game-numbers. Urias has displayed impressive power this week, with six home runs and a 1.750 OPS.

If anyone is curious as to whether #Padres Luis Urias is ready for the @Padres…

He’s 3-for-3 today with 3 runs and 6 RBI.

He’s hit three home runs today, after hitting two home runs yesterday.

Good Lord. #PadresOnDeck

— Emily Waldon (@EmilyCWaldon) April 28, 2019

In just his last two games, he had six hits, five of those are home runs, with two walks and eight RBI. He also showed impressive patience, one of his calling cards, as he posted a 9.4 percent walk rate in those six games, with a respectable 12.5 percent strikeout rate. With the unknown status of shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and the struggling offense, Urias may soon get the call again to the Padres.

Farm Pitcher- Ryan Weathers (A)

Weathers was on pace for another stellar week before getting pulled from his start early on Sunday for an undisclosed reason. In his first start of the week on Monday, he pitched six shutout innings with six strikeouts with one walk and one hit. Before being removed on Sunday, he had pitched two innings with one earned run with three strikeouts without a walk. Weathers is having perhaps the best season of any Padres pitching prospect. After five starts, he owns a 1.82 ERA with a 2.34 FIP and is striking out 11.3 batters per nine innings.

#Padres No. 10 prospect Ryan Weathers has everything working for @TinCaps:

6 IP
1 H
0 R
1 BB
6 K

Here's how all @Padres prospects are faring tonight: https://t.co/qhxUsyE11e pic.twitter.com/1VAWKkQ6N7

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 23, 2019

Weathers is second in the Midwest League in strikeouts (31), fifth in FIP and has the fourth-best walk rate (3.2%). There is no word yet on a possible injury or as to why he was removed from Sunday’s ballgame. MLB Pipeline has him as the 88th-best prospect in all of baseball. He could be a fast riser through the rankings, health permitting if he continues on the path he has tread so far this season.

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.