San Diego Padres: Nick Margevicius Debut Sends San Antonio To Game Five

The San Antonio Missions, AA affiliate of the San Diego Padres, face a deciding game five on Sunday afternoon.

Before the minor league season started, I highlighted Nick Margevicius as a prospect to watch for the Fort Wayne TinCaps, down in the Midwest League. A lot has changed since that time, as Margevicius was promoted to the Lake Elsinore Storm and more recently, promoted to the San Antonio Missions who are in a tough fight in the Texas League playoffs. The San Diego Padres prospect did not disappoint in his Double-A debut.

The 22-year-old former Rider pitcher went 10-8 with a 3.60 ERA across two minor league levels this year. He struck out 146 hitters while walking just 17 across 135 innings. With nothing flashy in his repertoire, Margevicius has been the definition of a workhorse and a grinder, earning his way up the Padres’ ladder.

In his Double-A debut on Saturday, Margevicius struck out eight (one walk) and allowed just one run on four hits across seven innings, picking up the victory for San Antonio and forcing a winner-take-all game five.

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Despite having a lineup of Buddy Reed, Josh Naylor, Austin Allen, and Hudson Potts, all eyes have been on 2018 draft choice, shortstop Owen Miller. We listed Miller as one of the top intriguing prospects of this year’s draft class, and one of the picks most likely to succeed at the pro level, immediately at the conclusion of the 2018 MLB draft. He has yet to disappoint.

Miller’s fourth-inning home run was the first of his AA career and his third hit of this playoff series. Known as a pure hitter, Miller is working his way through the system at an alarming rate.

Thanks to the spectacular play of both young prospects, the San Antonio Missions now find themselves in another must-win contest against the Corpus Christi Hooks, the AA affiliate of the Houston Astros. Like the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Missions are trying to turn an 0-2 deficit into a championship series birth.

In what is their final season as the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, a championship would be the only fitting end.

Game five is scheduled to begin at 4 pm local time with former James Madison University pitcher Chris Huffman taking the bump.