Padres Press Clips Tuesday, September 12, 2017 Article Source Author Page Padres mailbag: Could Fernando Tatis Jr. reach the majors UT San Diego Lin 4 next season? Michel Baez dominant again as TinCaps advance UT San Diego Sanders 5 MacKenzie Gore, Fernando Tatis Jr. highlight Padres' UT San Diego Sanders 6 instructional league roster Asuaje coming into his own for Padres Padres.com Center 9 Preview: Twins vs. Padres FOX Sports Stats 11 TinCaps finals bound Journal Gazette Goff 13 Padres On Deck: Baez, Potts Lead Single-A Fort Wayne FriarWire Center 15 to Midwest League Finals 1 Padres mailbag: Could Fernando Tatis Jr. reach the majors next season? Dennis Lin The Padres have 18 games left to play in 2017. The next two, at Minnesota, are the only ones against a non-National League West opponent. The rest, save for a season-concluding series with last-place San Francisco, will give San Diego a chance to pester a contending team, a familiar role over the last decade. Let’s get to the mailbag. As always, you can submit questions via Twitter or email. Shortstop has been a hole. The odds the Pads get on the market and pick up an established SS and not wait for Urias or Tatis Jr to develop? Aside from Alexi Amarista, there isn’t an upcoming free agent who can play shortstop under the age of 30. We’ve seen how the Padres have fared signing above-30 shortstops the last few years. On the trade front, General Manager A.J. Preller would not be opposed to a reunion with Texas man crush Jurickson Profar, though it’s not as if he and former college roommate Jon Daniels have lined up on a ton of trades. Absent an immediate solution, the Padres might not be as desperate as they once were; help could arrive before the end of 2018. Luis Urias, still only 20, is projected to debut in the majors sometime next season. At least at the start, the second-base prospect could occupy a role similar to what Yangervis Solarte has done recently — bouncing between his primary position, shortstop and third. (Solarte, who easily could have been traded if he hadn’t suffered an oblique injury, is a candidate to be moved this winter.) The Padres certainly could use a right-handed bat that can work a count. Fernando Tatis Jr., who, unlike Urias, could be an everyday major league shortstop, has the ability to make the jump as soon as the second half. He’s one of the best prospects in baseball, and he already has numbers to back it up. As an 18-year-old, he hit .278/.379/.498 between low 2 Single-A, which he dominated, and 14 games at Double-A, where he’s likely to begin next season. Service time, however, will be a significant consideration for an uber-talent such as Tatis Jr., and the Padres might be wise to wait until 2019 to start his clock. In the meantime, they still would benefit from adding a big-league-level shorstop, whether that’s Profar or someone with less upside. Chances the Padres sign a big free agent this offseason considering the projected low payroll The best soon-to-be job-seekers are players like J.D. Martinez, Eric Hosmer, Justin Upton, Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish. It’s not nearly as loaded a group as the 2018-19 class, which will include, among other superstars, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Clayton Kershaw. It seems unlikely that the Padres will be a major factor in either winter. That has never really been their style, and when they tried it two years ago, they flopped. I can see the front office filling out next year’s roster with a couple of mid-level signings, but the Padres are in the midst of what projects to be a five-or-so-year rebuild. For now, they’ll save their money. Who plays RF for Padres in 2018? Hunter Renfroe. He has not lived up to his potential as a rookie, but given where they are, the Padres need to find out what they have. The Houston Astros certainly regret giving up on Martinez, who emerged as an All-Star right fielder at age 27 and is one of the premier sluggers in the game. Obviously, Renfroe may never become half the major leaguer that Martinez is. With his power potential, though, it’s too early to give up on him. How do you see this year's rule five picks being used in 2018? Allen Cordoba and Luis Torrens will return to the minors, probably at Double-A or thereabouts. There’s a slight chance Miguel Diaz makes the opening-day roster. The bullpen would appear 3 more likely than the rotation, but the Padres see him as a future starter. He, too, could comfortably continue his development away from the big-league spotlight. Odds of Craig Stammen getting a 1 or 2 year contract this offseason? I’d say pretty decent. Stammen wants to return, and Andy Green has said he’d love to have him back. Re-signing a reliever who will be 34 on opening day would seem counterintuitive for a rebuilding club, but Stammen has been, and can continue to be, a stabilizing presence for young bullpen arms on and off the field. If you only had one word to use, how would you describe the 2017 Padres? Millennial. 4 Michel Baez dominant again as TinCaps advance Jeff Sanders Fort Wayne is again moving on. Right-hander Michel Baez turned in five dominant innings and the TinCaps’ bullpen followed suit in a 3-0 win that punched Fort Wayne’s ticket for the Midwest League Championship Series. The 21-year-old Baez struck out seven Dayton hitters and scattered two hits and a walk in the start. He is 1-0 with 16 strikeouts, two walks, seven hits allowed in 12 innings in his two playoff starts. A $3 million signee out of Cuba in December, Baez was 7-2 with a 2.54 Era, 89 strikeouts and a 0.83 WHP in his first 11 pro starts (two in the Arizona League, nine with Fort Wayne). Right-handers Ronald Bolanos, Dauris Valdez and Hansel Rodriguez then combined for one hit and one walk allowed over the final four innings. Third baseman Hudson Potts homered and doubled and shortstop Gabriel Arias went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. Center fielder Buddy Reed also singled in a run for the TinCaps, who will host Quad Cities for Game 1 and Game 2 of the Midwest League Championship Series on Wednesday and Thursday. The TinCaps are 4-1 since the start of the postseason. They have outscored the competition 18-7 after blanking Dayton the last two games of the Eastern Division championship series. Note • El Paso starts the Pacific Coast League championship series on Tuesday at Memphis. 5 MacKenzie Gore, Fernando Tatis Jr. highlight Padres' instructional league roster Jeff Sanders Top 2017 draft pick MacKenzie Gore and shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., one of the fastest-rising prospects in the game, highlight the 79-player instructional league roster that will finish its three- week schedule on Sept. 30 in the Padres’ annual prospect game at Petco Park. Play began Monday in Peoria, Ariz. Other participating Padres top-30 prospects, according to MLB.com, include left-hander Adrian Morejon (No. 5), right-hander Michel Baez (No. 11), right-hander Jacob Nix (No. 15), catcher Luis Campusano (No. 16), outfielder Jeisson Rosario (No. 17), shortstop Luis Almanzar (No. 18), right-hander Mason Thompson (No. 19), outfielder Mason House (No. 22), third baseman Hudson Potts (No. 23), catcher Blake Hunt (No. 24), shortstop Jordy Barley (No. 25), right- hander Reggie Lawson (No. 27), right-hander Sam Keating (No. 28), second baseman Eguy Rosario (No. 29) and second baseman Esteury Ruiz (No. 30). Gore, the organization’s top prospect in MLB.com’s midseason rankings, struck out 34, walked walk and allowed a .184 opponent average in in his first 21 1/3 innings as a pro. Tatis Jr. was ranked No. 4 in the organization at midseason and has since emerged as one of baseball’s top prospects. The 18-year-old shortstop hit .281/.390/.520 with a franchise-record 21 homers and 29 steals in 117 games at low Single-A Fort Wayne, closed the season on a nine- game hitting streak at Double-A San Antonio (.255/.281/.327) and hit .350 with a homer in five playoff games in the Texas League. Tatis started last year’s prospect game at Petco Park. The entire 2017 instruction league is below. 6 2017 INSTRUCTIONAL LEAGUE ROSTER CATCHERS (8) • Luis Campusano • Juan Fernandez • Jonny Homza • Blake Hunt • Chandler Seagle • Brandon Valenzuela • Gilberto Vizcarra • Jalen Washington INFIELDERS (21) • Kelvin Alarcon • Luis Almanzar • Gabriel Arias • Jordy Barley • Jarryd Dale • Ruddy Giron • Reinaldo Ilarraza • Jerri Landines • Justin Lopez • Carlos Luis • Tucupita Marcano • Kelvin Melean • Jason Pineda • Hudson Potts • Eguy Rosario • Esteury Ruiz • Yeison Santana • Fernando Tatis Jr. • Bryan Torres • Jaquez Williams • Brad Zunica OUTFIELDERS (12) • Tre Carter • Cristian Heredia • Mason House • Hunter Jarmon • Jorge Ona • Tirso Ornelas • Buddy Reed • Jeisson Rosario • Agustin Ruiz • Angel Santos • Angel Solarte • Jack Suwinski 7 RIGHT-HANDED PITCHERS (29) • Angel Acevedo • Luarbert Arias • Pedro Avila • Lake Bachar • Michel Baez • Cole Bellinger • Ronald Bolanos • Martin Carrasco • Dom DiSabatino • Jordan Guerrero • Manny Guzman • Henry Henry • Sam Keating • Reggie Lawson • Walker Lockett • Moises Lugo • Adrian Martinez • Michell Miliano • Vijay Miller • Andres Munoz • Chandler Newman • Jacob Nix • Luis Patino • Gerardo Reyes • Harrison Simon • Austin Smith • Jeremy Smith • Mason Thompson • Dauris Valdez LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS (9) • Joey Cantillo • Dan Dallas • MacKenzie Gore • Osvaldo Hernandez • Gabriel Morales • Adrian Morejon • Manuel Partida • Ramon Perez • Noel Vela 8 Asuaje coming into his own for Padres By Bill Center / MLB.com Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.