Padres organization top performers of the week: May 17-23
Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
The San Diego Padres are on fire. After a perfect homestand, the Friars sit alone atop the NL West.
Several players helped the Padres earn a 6-0 week and perfect 9-0 homestand.
It was one of the most memorable weeks in the last decade of Padres baseball.
Tirso Ornelas (Fort Wayne)
The Padres’ No. 18 ranked prospect in the organization had himself a week. In five games for High-A Fort Wayne, the outfielder collected nine hits, including five doubles. He batted .450 with a 1.200 OPS and five RBI. After a slow start, it looks like Ornelas’ bat has awoken.
Matt Waldron (Fort Wayne)
Waldron came to the Padres from Cleveland in the trade that also brought Mike Clevinger to San Diego. He is off to a solid start with the TinCaps. He made two starts this week and went five innings each time, allowing just two runs total, a 1.80 ERA, with 13 strikeouts and two walks. In four starts thus far this year, he owns a 3.20 ERA.
The world is rapidly running out of adjectives to describe what Tatis brings to the game of baseball. He is pure electricity. Padres fans waited anxiously for his return from the COVID IL and he did not disappoint in Wednesday’s matinee against Colorado. In his first game back, he went a stunning 4-for-4 and falling just a triple shy of the cycle, collecting two doubles instead.
He was just getting warmed up. He set the world ablaze in the series against the Seattle Mariners over the weekend, amassing at least two hits in each of the three games, including three on Sunday. He hit a home run and drove in four runs in the 16-1 walloping of the Mariners on Friday. Sunday was the cherry on top. He went 3-for-4 with two home runs, one of them being his first grand slam of the season.
another day, another elite tatis bat flip pic.twitter.com/JWoVUaErP4
— Cut4 (@Cut4) May 23, 2021
Over the week, he went a shocking 11-for-14 (.786), with four home runs, 12 RBI, three stolen bases, an astronomical 2.752 OPS and 597 wRC+. No one is hotter than Tatis in the game of baseball right now.
It wasn’t just Tatis that was hitting the ball all over the yard this week. Cronenworth exploded, especially in the power department. Over the week, he collected five extra-base hits. The peak of the week was his riveting inside-the-park home run in Wednesday’s win over the Rockies. It was the Padres’ first inside-the-park homer since 2012 and the first one at Petco Park since Tony Gwynn Jr. accomplished it in 2010.
Jake Cronenworth with an inside-the-park home run! When he broke for home we were like 😳 pic.twitter.com/9eavvFcQOw
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 19, 2021
The Padres’ second baseman ended the week with a .417 average and 1.232 OPS over the six games.
Time after time, Darvish has been the steady presence in the starting rotation this year for San Diego. This week, he got some help from the rest of the staff but he still was the spearhead of the starting pitching attack. In two starts this week, he went seven innings in each, giving the bullpen a much-needed respite. He allowed just one run over the 14 innings, which adds up to a 0.64 ERA. He struck out 10 in his first start of the week against the Rockies. He added five more against the Mariners on Sunday. Along with his 15 strikeouts, he did not walk a single batter in either start.
On the season, Darvish owns a 1.75 ERA and 209 ERA+, both the best on the Padres’ staff among starters.
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.