PADRES ON DECK Players of the Week: LHP Cienfuegos, 1B R. Sanabria Top Honor Roll; Top-30 Prospect List Shuffled
Although there was only one game in the Padres’ farm system Monday, there was plenty of news.
Rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill and right-handed reliever Stephen Kolek both “graduated” from the MLB Pipeline’s list of Top 30 Padres prospects given the amount of time played in the Major Leagues.
Combined with the “graduation” of Eguy Rosario the previous week and the dispatching of prospects Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella to Miami in the trade for two-time batting champion Luis Arraez, the Padres’ Top-30 list has had a lot of changes at the top.
The new Top 15 of Padres prospects:
1. Catcher Ethan Salas, 2. Left-handed starting pitcher Robby Snelling, 3. Right-handed starting pitcher Dylan Lesko, 4. Shortstop Leodalis De Vries, 5. Right-handed starting pitcher Adam Mazur, 6. Infielder Graham Pauley, 7. Right-handed starting pitcher Ryan Bergert, 8. Center fielder Homer Bush Jr., 9. Right-handed starting pitcher Randy Vasquez, 10. Left-handed starting pitcher Austin Krob, 11. Right-handed starting pitcher Victor Lizarraga, 12. Catcher Brandon Valenzuela, 13. Catcher J.D. Gonzalez, 14. Infielder Marcos Castanon, 15. Left-handed starting pitcher Jackson Wolf.
Plus, the Padres announced their Minor League Players of the Week for May 1–5 — center fielder Bryce Johnson (Triple-A El Paso), left fielder Cole Cummings (Double-A San Antonio), left-handed starting pitcher Miguel Cienfuegos (High Single-A Fort Wayne) and first baseman Romeo Sanabria (Single-A Lake Elsinore).
The Padres on Deck: Players of the Week for May 1–5 by affiliate:
Center fielder Bryce Johnson (Triple-A El Paso) — Signed as a minor league free agent last Dec. 23, the 28-year-old was 6-for-16 in five games for the Chihuahuas last week with a double, three RBIs, four walks, three stolen bases (in a single game) and three runs scored for a .438 batting average and both a .500 on-base and slugging percentage. On the season, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound right-handed hitter has a .250/.409/.398/.806 slash line with 20 walks against 21 strikeouts in 28 games. He is 22-for-88 with five doubles, a triple, two home runs, eight stolen bases and 14 RBIs with 19 runs scored.
Left fielder Cole Cummings (Double-A San Antonio) — Signed as a non-drafted free agent out of UC Santa Barbara after the 2021 draft, the 25-year-old left-handed hitter went 4-for-12 in a rain-shortened series at Arkansas last week with two doubles, a home run, three RBIs, two walks and a run scored for a .333/.429/.750/1.179 slash line. On the season, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Cummings, who can also play the corner infield positions, is 24-for-90 with eight doubles, a triple, two home runs, 10 RBIs, 13 walks, three stolen bases and 12 runs scored for a .267 batting average with a .356 on-base percentage and a .444 slugging percentage for a .800 OPS.
Left-handed starting pitcher Miguel Cienfuegos (High Single-A Fort Wayne) — In his only start last week, the 27-year-old Canadian pitched a complete-game, seven-inning shutout against Lake County. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Cienfuegos gave up two hits and no walks with five strikeouts. On the season, Cienfuegos is 2–2 for the TinCaps with a 3.22 earned run average, a 1.030 WHIP and a .195 opponents’ batting average — giving up 11 runs (eight earned) on 16 hits and seven walks against 19 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings over five appearances (three starts). Cienfuegos was 25 when he signed with the Padres on Dec. 21, 2022, out of a Canadian independent league. He also pitched a season in Australia trying to get a professional start after playing at Northwest Florida State College.
First baseman Romeo Sanabria (Single-A Lake Elsinore) — Including a four-hit game, Sanabria went 7-for-19 for the Storm last week with a double, a home run, five RBIs, a walk, and three runs scored for a .368/.400/.579/.979 slash line. On the season, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound, left-handed hitter is batting .319 (30-for-94) with six doubles, three home runs, 17 RBIs, 20 walks (against 22 strikeouts), two stolen bases and 18 runs scored in 25 games for a .435 on-base percentage and a .479 slugging percentage for a .914 OPS. Sanabria, who turned 22 on May 2, was the Padres’ 16th-round pick in the 2022 amateur draft out of Florida’s Indian River State College. He had 23 doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 56 RBIs in 66 games last season between the Arizona Complex League and Lake Elsinore — for a .341/.439/.573/1.011 slash line.
AROUND THE FARM:
ARIZONA COMPLEX PADRES (2–0) — PADRES 5, White Sox 4: 1B Addison Kopack was 2-for-3 with a double, a RBI and a run scored. Right-handed reliever Bernard Jose allowed a hit and a walk with 2 strikeouts in 2 scoreless innings to earn the win.
