Padres MiLB July 2, Players of the Day

Ground-rules: you won’t see a too-old-for-his-league non-prospect get an award. The award may not go to the best performance of the previous night, but what I deem the most significant performance of the night…

Minor League Hitter(s) of the Day

Will Venable (AAA): 2-4, 2B, 2 R, SO
Nick Hundley (AAA): 2-4, 2 2B, RBI, SO

Minor League Pitcher of the Day

Simon Castro (SS): 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR

Other Commentary

Simon Castro’s upside might rival that of Padres’ ubër-prospect Mat Latos. They both pitch off mid-90’s fastballs and each is still youngish for their leagues.

With human psychology what it is, it is easy to get enamored with what is new; with what is fresh (i.e. my own infatuation with Jaff Decker). Because of this phenomenon it is easy to overlook some of the more advanced prospects and dismiss their potential (or at least underrate that potential compared to that of the new player). Will Venable and Nick Hundley are each over-looked, underrated prospects. Will is currently hitting .315/.376/.468 with a lot of doubles (16) and a few home runs (5). Nick is hitting .227/.282/.441 with 13 doubles and 12 home runs.

Will has been playing CF for the Beavers and we do not hear as many questions about his defense as we used to… He is a terrific athlete and was a two-time team MVP in basketball while in college. Venable could be a viable option next year.

Nick on the other hand is likely a back-up catcher at the big league level (his lack of contact-ability prevents him from being a starter). But he does have good power and is solid defensively. It will probably be at least another year before we see Nick at the big league level on a regular basis.