Las Vegas 4, Tucson 2 (23-50): It was a rough night for the T-Pads, as they mustered only four hits, and didn’t score until the ninth inning. The only RBI’s of the game came courtesy of 3B Anthony Contreras‘ (.279) two-run single. 1B Matt Clark(.299) went 2-3, with a double. Jorge Reyes(4-8, 4.89 ERA) took the loss for Tucson. He pitched 5 innings, and gave up 3 earned runs, striking out 6.

Mar 14, 2012; Goodyear, AZ, USA; San Diego Padres first baseman Matt Clark (89) watches a solo homerun during the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Goodyear Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE

San Antonio 5, (1-1), Corpus Christi 3: The Missions won this game in dramatic fashion, as 1B Nathan Freiman slammed a two-run walk-off homer for San Antonio. Freiman has 16 HR’s and 62 RBI’s on the season. 2B Jonathan Galvez(.353) and 3B Edinson Rincon(.260) each had two hits. Josh Geer(5.23 ERA) started for San Antonio, and was solid, pitching 7 innings, allowing just 2 runs.

Lake Elsinore 14, (1-0), Lancaster 1: The Storm opened the second half in a huge way, by destroying the Lancaster Jethawks DH  Connor Powers(.238) had a big night for the Storm, with a homer and 5 RBI’s. LF Everett Williams(.240) went 2-5, with RBI’s. Matthew Andriese was excellent on the mound, pitching 5 shutout innings, with 8 strikeouts.

Boise 5, Eugene 4 (4-3): Eugene took the lead in the top of the ninth, only to allow the Boise Hawks to win in the bottom of the ninth. Brian Adams(.125) had his first professional hit — a home run, in the fifth inning. In case you missed it, Adams did an interview with us last week. Chris Fetter started, and pitched 3 innings for the Em’s.

Last year, the Emeralds had a very successful season, going 46-30. They made the Northwest League playoffs, losing to the Vancouver Canadiens in the first round — a best-of-3 series. The team graduated several prospects, including top prospects Austin Hedges, Jace Peterson, and Kevin Quackenbush to higher levels of the system. The 2012 team features some intriguing names that Padres fans should know. The 2012 Opening Day roster has been announced, and the full roster can be seen here. However, here are a few interesting names that you should know, with brief profiles.

Image Courtesy of MILB.com

Chris Fetter, RHP: Fetter, a ninth-round pick in the 2009 draft, has played with the Emeralds before, in 2009. That year he put up impressive numbers: 2-0, 1.33 ERA, with 54 K’s. He pitched for Lake Elsinore in 2011, and struggled just a bit. He is a big right-hander, at 6’8, 230 lbs. Fetter will also be the oldest player on the team, as he will be 26 on Opening Day.

Alexis Lara, RHP: Lara is a minor league veteran, as he has five years of MILB service time. He was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2006, and has played as high as AAA. Lara was a non-roster invitee in Spring Training last year, and missed most of the year with an arm injury. He may be in Eugene to get his feet wet, and make his first appearances of 2012.

Brian Adams. OF: Adams is the highest pick of 2012, (8th round) to open the season with Eugene. Adams, an outfielder from the University of Kentucky. Baseball Prospect Nation calls Adams “One of the more impressive athletes in the draft.” He is large, at 6’4, 230 lbs, and also played football in college.

B.J. Guinn, SS: Guinn was an 11th round pick in 2010, out of Cal. He played briefly for the Emeralds in 2010, and spent all of 2011 at Ft. Wayne. He struggled with the bat, hitting .245 with just 1 HR, but he did steal 34 bases. A chance to play everyday in Eugene should benefit the speedy, athletic infielder.

Corey Adamson, OF: Adamson, who is 20, was signed by the Padres as a non-drafted free agent, out of Australia. Adamson helped his Western Australia under-16 team win the National Championship in 2008. He was playing for Ft. Wayne in 2012, and produced a triple-slash line of .111/.245/.160, with 1 HR and 5 RBI’s.

The Emeralds open up the season Friday night at 7:05PM against the Yakima Bears. Stick around here at Chicken Friars for more minor league coverage!
 

I haven’t been completely slacking off with respect to Padres coverage, though: I’ve just been spending a lot of my prospect research time putting together a Top 100 Padres Prospects list. Now that we’re past the signing deadline, and we know who will be a part of the organization from the 2010 draft, I can move forward with beginning to disseminate some of my rankings.

The way I’m going to do this is by writing one “player profile” at a time, much like what you’d see in the Baseball America Prospect Handbook, if you’ve seen that (and if you’re interested in the minors and haven’t read it, then I highly recommend it). I’ll try to write about one per day, but I might need to take a day off here and there, and some days may see me go on a big writing blitz and knock out three or more profiles. I’ll have a nice link list to all the profiles, and this introduction, at the bottom of each profile, so it should be nice and easy to navigate around. (more…)