San Diego Padres: Miguel Diaz And Others Continue To Shine In Arizona

Since our last Arizona Fall League update, a few San Diego Padres prospects have continued to trend up.

It’s Sunday, meaning we’re going to take a trip around the various offseason leagues and check in on our beloved San Diego Padres prospects. We will get to the Mexican, Venezuelan, and Dominican leagues later today, but first, we wanted to check in on the elite Arizona Fall League where the Peoria Javelinas continue to lead the league with a 10-6 record, upping their divisional lead to three games.

Outfielder Buddy Reed continues to be a leader for the Peoria offense, hitting .351 with a .400 on-base percentage and an .805 OPS in nine games. He now has two doubles, four stolen bases, and a K/BB ratio of 7/3. He may not continue to hit in the mid-.300s but if Reed can keep his strikeout totals low and start finding the gaps, his offseason success should translate well as he returns to Double-A in 2019.

The early standout prospect in Peoria has been Miguel Diaz. Diaz made one start this week, putting up a third-straight dominant outing (4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K). Overall, Diaz is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 1.00 WHIP across 11 innings. He has given up just eight hits and three walks while striking eight. Diaz has continued to do exactly what he needs to do this offseason, limit baserunners. Of the 11 pitchers in the AFL with at least 11 innings pitched, Diaz ranks second in fewest hits allowed and his tied for fewest walks allowed.

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Hudson Potts and Austin Allen continue to struggle at the plate, with Potts coming off an 0-4, four strikeout performance in his last start. Overall, Potts is hitting .222 with a .300 OBP, two home runs, three doubles, and a 16/5 K/BB ratio. Allen is at least trending up with three hits across his last two games. He’s upped his average to .258 and OBP to .333, recording three doubles and four walks in 35 AFL plate appearances.

Last but not least are the two Padres relief prospects who made their way to Arizona for the offseason. Both Travis Radke and Dauris Valdez are coming off big relief outings. Radke put in a huge outing just the other day, throwing 3.2 shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out four in the process. After walking six hitters in his first two outings, he has allowed zero free passes in his last two outings. More relief outings like this and Radke will be given plenty of serious looks this spring training.

On Friday, Valdez put in his fifth scoreless outing of the AFL (six total appearances), striking out three and walking one in his one inning of work. He now has seven strikeouts in six innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits over that span. The right-handed reliever is looking to make the big jump from High-A to Double-A next year, after striking out 76 hitters in 56 innings with the Lake Elsinore Storm last year.