The Padres suffered through a miserable May, going 11-18. Sean Burroughs, Kevin Jarvis, and Phil Nevin all missed signficant time due to injury, and Brian Tollberg was lost for the season.
Triple-A Portland
Vitals
NORTH DIVISION W L PCT GB
TACOMA RAINIERS (SEATTLE) 28 21 .571
CALGARY CANNONS (FLORIDA) 26 25 .510 3.0
EDMONTON TRAPPERS (MINNESOTA) 26 27 .491 4.0
PORTLAND BEAVERS (SAN DIEGO) 27 29 .482 4.5
AVG AB R H HR BB SO SB CS
May .263 942 110 248 13 63 175 9 7
YTD .254 1754 188 446 29 132 368 28 17
W- L ERA H CG SHO SV HR BB SO
May 14- 16 235 1 2 10 23 81 170
YTD 27- 29 3.65 406 3 5 19 47 152 333
The Beavers fell from second to fourth place during the month, dropping three games further behind the division leading Rainiers. The offense picked up the pace a bit, scoring 3.67 runs/game in May. Portland is fourth from the bottom in batting average, and next to last (behind Fresno) in walks. The Beavers' walk rate for May was 6.3%, and overall is 7.0%.
Prospect Watch
The top line represents stats coming into the current month; the bottom line is year-to-date numbers. Where there is only one line, those are YTD totals.
Hitters
Name Rank AB BA OBP SLG BB SO SB CS
Eberwein, Kevin 30 81 .259 .295 .395 3 22 0 0
95 .253 .305 .379 3 7 0 0
Nady, Xavier 4 16 .375 .412 .438 1 3 0 0
Nady has yet to play in the field at Portland, after having played part of one game in left field at Elsinore. He continues to hit, and Kevin Towers has said that were it not for his health, Nady would have been a prime candidate for promotion to the big club right about now. Assuming he stays healthy, it looks like he'll be in left next year for the Pads.
Eberwein batted only 14 times in May due to injuries.
Pitchers
Name Rank IP H HR BB SO ERA
Howard, Ben 8 19.0 18 3 7 8 4.74
Middlebrook, Jason 9 22.1 20 0 11 19 4.03
33.1 36 4 11 30 5.13
Howard hasn't dominated the way he did last year and at Mobile earlier this year.
Middlebrook didn't have a good May at Portland but has proven to be a valuable member of the Padre bullpen since his recall.
Double-A Mobile
Vitals
WEST DIVISION W L PCT GB
BIRMINGHAM BARONS (CHICAGO WHITE SOX) 31 23 .574
MOBILE BAY BEARS (SAN DIEGO) 30 24 .556 1.0
CHATTANOOGA LOOKOUTS (CINCINNATI) 30 24 .556 1.0
WEST TENN DIAMOND JAXX (CHICAGO CUBS) 26 28 .481 5.0
HUNTSVILLE STARS (MILWAUKEE) 21 32 .396 9.5
AVG AB R H HR BB SO SB CS
May .232 951 126 221 15 130 234 32 14
YTD .239 1815 226 434 27 233 416 64 33
W- L ERA H CG SHO SV HR BB SO
May 16- 12 233 0 4 10 17 117 226
YTD 30- 24 3.50 456 0 6 17 37 200 448
Mobile moved up from third to a tie for second. The Bay Bears have the worst batting average in the league but are drawing more walks than all but two teams. Their walk rate for May was 12.0%, and overall is 11.4%. The pitching staff has the third-best ERA and leads the league in strikeouts.
Hitters
Name Rank AB BA OBP SLG BB SO SB CS
Johnson, Ben 5 91 .209 .321 .297 14 33 3 3
195 .241 .327 .359 25 63 4 6
Faison, Vince 15 77 .234 .306 .390 7 19 1 2
139 .252 .346 .424 19 39 3 3
Castro, Bernie 19 105 .314 .397 .371 12 12 15 8
214 .252 .353 .308 31 30 32 11
Johnson picked up his batting average and slugging but saw his plate discipline deteriorate a bit.
Faison was just getting hot when he went down to injury.
Castro's batting average fell significantly in May but he drew walks at an excellent rate and stole bases with greater efficiency.
Pitchers
Name Rank IP H HR BB SO ERA
Peavy, Jake 2 29.0 19 3 8 36 1.55
62.1 48 3 23 73 2.31
Tankersley, Dennis 3 26.2 23 1 11 27 3.04
30.2 28 1 14 30 2.64
Howard, Ben 8 24.0 15 2 10 23 1.50
33.0 26 2 16 30 2.18
Perez, Oliver 18.0 10 1 11 25 1.50
Cyr, Eric 12 23.0 20 2 8 17 1.96
54.2 46 5 28 43 3.13
Peavy has been dominant and probably is in line for a promotion before too long. The only question is whether it will be to Portland or San Diego.
Tankersley spent most of the month in the big leagues, where the results predictably have been mixed.
Howard got the call to San Diego, struggled with his control, returned to Mobile and then headed up to Triple-A.
Although Cyr's overall numbers look okay, he's been inconsistent with his command. He's also had trouble going deep into games.
Perez has picked up right where he left at Elsinore. His command could use a little tightening but he's made huge strides this year.
Class-A Lake Elsinore
Vitals
SOUTH DIVISION W L PCT GB
SAN BERNARDINO STAMPEDE (SEATTLE) 28 27 .509
HIGH DESERT MAVERICKS (MILWAUKEE) 28 28 .500 .5
LAKE ELSINORE STORM (SAN DIEGO) 27 28 .491 1.0
RANCHO CUCAMONGA QUAKES (ANAHEIM) 23 33 .411 5.5
LANCASTER JETHAWKS (ARIZONA) 16 40 .286 12.5
AVG AB R H HR BB SO SB CS
May .247 1063 159 263 26 109 249 55 22
YTD .239 1922 278 460 45 187 474 86 42
W-L ERA H CG SHO SV HR BB SO
May 16- 14 274 0 0 10 24 123 282
YTD 27- 28 4.16 511 0 1 14 47 215 495
The Storm remained in third place but gained 1.5 games on the front-running Stampede. Lake Elsinore is tied with Modesto for the lowest batting average, and is second in stolen bases. The Storm are scoring at a better pace than in April, and they are now near the middle of the pack in runs scored. Batters drew walks at a 9.4% rate in May, and are at 8.9% for the year.
Prospect Watch
Hitters
Name Rank AB BA OBP SLG BB SO SB CS
Nady, Xavier 4 88 .250 .394 .534 20 26 1 0
169 .278 .382 .580 28 40 2 0
Gautreau, Jake 7 69 .275 .346 .377 7 12 1 0
179 .307 .349 .441 11 43 2 0
Bozied, Tagg 14 77 .351 .458 .714 16 15 1 1
185 .308 .399 .578 27 36 3 3
Bartlett, Jason 16 57 .228 .318 .298 7 15 5 0
179 .240 .320 .313 19 36 13 2
Nettles, Marcus 27 93 .269 .346 .301 11 34 8 6
205 .224 .338 .244 33 61 20 12
De Los Santos, Pedro -- 39 .282 .364 .333 5 9 7 2
81 .259 .326 .333 8 12 14 4
Nady hit the ball more often and harder in May, and drew fewer walks. He's in Portland and on target to be the Pads' left fielder in 2003.
Gautreau picked up his batting average and slugging percentage but showed horrendous strike-zone judgment. He's still playing a credible second base.
Bozied slumped and battled minor injuries before finishing the month strong.
Bartlett picked up his game a bit but still isn't doing much on offense.
Nettles saw his batting average fall in May. For a guy who doesn't hit the ball with any authority, he sure has trouble making contact. Too bad, because when he does get on base he can make things happen.
De Los Santos did a nice job with the Storm, leading the club in stolen bases at the time he was sent down to Ft. Wayne. He's very young; there's plenty of time.
Pitchers
Name Rank IP H HR BB SO ERA
Phillips, Mark 6 21.1 21 3 17 18 5.48
53.1 40 3 43 52 4.56
Perez, Oliver 11 25.2 24 0 12 33 3.16
48.2 36 0 24 66 1.85
Wiedmeyer, Jason 28 27.2 27 5 6 24 2.93
61.0 62 8 21 45 3.98
Phillips has struggled with his control but finished with back-to-back strong outings.
Perez was leading the Cal League in ERA at the time of his promotion and has continued to dominate at Double-A.
Wiedmeyer wasn't as fine with his command as in April but continues to do a serviceable job.
Class-A Ft. Wayne
Vitals
EASTERN DIVISION W L PCT GB
MICHIGAN BATTLE CATS (HOUSTON) 32 22 .593
FORT WAYNE WIZARDS (SAN DIEGO) 30 23 .566 1.5
WEST MICHIGAN WHITECAPS (DETROIT) 30 24 .556 2.0
LANSING LUGNUTS (CHICAGO CUBS) 27 26 .509 4.5
DAYTON DRAGONS (CINCINNATI) 23 31 .426 9.0
SOUTH BEND SILVER HAWKS (ARIZONA) 19 34 .358 12.5
AVG AB R H HR BB SO SB CS
May .254 926 105 235 16 73 220 23 10
YTD .255 1740 205 443 21 142 411 44 18
W-L ERA H CG SHO SV HR BB SO
May 17- 11 200 1 1 7 12 70 209
YTD 30- 23 3.24 425 1 1 16 23 121 400
The Wizards played extremely well in May and picked up three games on the division leaders. They are tied for fourth in the league in ERA and have allowed the fewest walks of any team. Hitters walked in just 7.3% of their plate appearances in May, right in line with their YTD rate of 7.5%.
Name Rank AB BA OBP SLG BB SO SB CS
Barfield, Josh 10 101 .307 .333 .337 3 14 6 1
210 .262 .295 .314 9 48 7 3
Sain, Greg 18 100 .260 .312 .390 7 22 0 0
Brooks, Doc 26 31 .194 .324 .323 5 4 1 0
66 .167 .269 .273 8 15 2 1
Trzeniak, Nick -- 75 .240 .329 .373 8 24 2 0
153 .261 .339 .392 15 41 4 1
De Los Santos -- 52 .288 .383 .365 8 13 13 0
The bad news is Barfield isn't hitting, hitting for power, drawing walks, or stealing bases. The good news is he's young and playing well on defense.
Sain is (relatively) healthy. Only 5 of his 26 games this year have been in the field, all at first base. He's not hitting much yet.
Brooks remains intriguing but very raw.
Trzeniak has maintained his early pace and is still someone to watch.
De Los Santos is hitting, drawing walks, and leading the team in steals by a wide margin despite having played just 14 games. He's played exclusively in the outfield at Ft. Wayne.
Name Rank IP H HR BB SO ERA
Yoshida, Nobuaki 20 25.1 26 0 5 10 2.84
55.2 50 2 12 18 2.59
Germano, Justin 24 36.1 36 2 5 28 2.72
67.2 67 4 9 50 3.06
Huber, Jon -- 18.2 22 0 7 17 7.23
52.0 53 1 17 45 4.85
Yoshida continues to pitch well, but that low strikeout rate borders on alarming. Still, he's young.
Germano is showing his usual impeccable control. Seems like he might be in line for a promotion before too long.
Huber was less Jekyll and Hyde in May. Still just a name to be aware of at this point.
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