Padres prospect update: Veteran minor leaguer erupts, 2 walk-offs, young arms prevail

We are now into the second fold of the 2025 minor league season. The first half is all wrapped up and the Padres' affiliates are already gearing for a strong push, including Triple-A El Paso. They began the second half with a 5-1 series win over Sugar Land. Infielder Clay Dungan was a major part of that to highlight the Triple-A circuit for the Friars.

In High-A, Fort Wayne collected two walk-off wins this past week, and four top prospect pitchers have continued to toss with dominance.

Clay Dungan puts together monster week with Triple-A El Paso

The 29-year-old had a memorable week, batting 8-for-23 with nine runs scored, five extra-base hits, and eight RBIs.

Dungan has scored in 10 straight contests, and wrapped up June by hitting .300 with seven home runs this month.

High-A Fort Wayne notches two walk-offs this week

On June 4 and June 28, the TinCaps collected walk-off wins of 8-7 and 2-1, respectively. In the first win, Fort Wayne won on a Brandon Butterworth walk-off walk.

In the second victory, the TinCaps saw top prospect Leo De Vries clock a walk-off single. De Vries was just named to the Futures Game roster in Atlanta later this month, doing so as the highest-ranked prospect (No. 3) in baseball.

Henry Baez, Braden Nett, Francis Pena dominate on the mound

Three Padres pitching prospects ranked within the club's Top 30 have all been on a tear lately. No. 12 Henry Baez has pretty much convinced us all that he is too good for Double-A. He's gone scoreless in three straight appearances, which spans 13 1/3 innings. In his last eight outings, he has only given up an earned run in one of them. Opponents are now hitting .199 against him in 2025.

No. 9 Braden Nett turned in another impressive outing on June 29. Nett fired 5 1/3 frames with just one run allowed. Over his last 17 innings, he has surrendered only one run with 17 punch-outs.

No. 18 Francis Pena has not given up a run in eight straight appearances after two scoreless one-inning outings this past week. Over this span (11 innings), his ERA has dropped from 6.20 to 4.15.

Padres minor league schedule: July 1-6

Triple-A El Paso (43-38): Six-game road series at Albuquerque (Rockies)

Double-A San Antonio (42-33): Three-game home series vs. Corpus Christi, then three-game road series at Corpus Christi (Astros)

High-A Fort Wayne (37-37): Three-game home series vs. Great Lakes (Dodgers)

Single-A Lake Elsinore (33-42): Three-game home series vs. Inland Empire, then three-game road series at Inland Empire (Angels)