Padres Prospect Hot Sheet: Jagger Haynes Continues To Show Growth

[Steve Drumwright]

Let's check in on the San Diego Padres prospects who made a mark in the last week (check out Padres Mission's latest Top 20 rankings as well!):

Jagger Haynes, LHP, Double-A San Antonio Missions

Season stats: 3-3, 4.10 ERA, 16 games (all starts) 85⅔ IP, 69 H, 41 R, 39 ER, 37 BB, 76 K, .223 opponent average

The last time the 23-year-old Missions left-hander made two starts in the same week, the second did not go as well as the first, as he followed up six shutout innings with four runs in 4⅔ innings in late May against Corpus Christi. It was a similar scenario to his second and third starts of the season vs. Midland. But last week, facing the Amarillo Sod Poodles on Tuesday and Sunday, Padres Mission's No. 10 prospect had a slightly better performance in the second game.

In his five innings Sunday, the 2020 fifth-round draft choice gave up just one run on two hits with three walks and four strikeouts in a 1-0 loss (the only run scored in the first inning). That came after he matched his season high with 6⅔ innings, two runs, four hits, four walks and four strikeouts. While his walk rate is better this season, down to 10.3% after being at 14% last year at San Antonio, it is still an area to be worked on. He had seven in those two games last week. He did go 6⅔ in the two previous starts to Sunday, the third time this year of that distance to go with four more of exactly six innings.

Jamie Hitt, LHP, High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps

Season stats: 1-5, 5.13, 14 games (13 starts), 59⅔ IP, 65 H, 43 R, 34 ER, 24 BB, 54 K, .270 opponent average

While some of the numbers don't look fantastic, you have to take into consideration that Hitt, who turns 24 Wednesday, is in his first pro season after being an eighth-round draft choice out of Oklahoma and doing it at the High-A level with the TinCaps. That says a bit about the makeup Hitt has and also what the Friars think of him. To wit, Hitt has turned in four quality starts this season, including two in his last three outings. The latest one came Sunday as Hitt went six innings, gave up a pair of runs on three hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Unfortunately, it came in a 5-0 loss to the Great Lakes Loons.

Hitt improved his draft stock last year by showing out in a bullpen role at Oklahoma, but he has more time as a starter in college, first at Texas Tech then for three years with the Sooners. Hitt's season actually started at Low-A Lake Elsinore with a single relief appearance before being promoted to Fort Wayne and inserted into the rotation since. He doesn't have overpowering stuff, having peaked at 95 mph on his four-seamer in college, but he does have decent control. Those two items have led to a walk rate of 8.8% and a strikeout rate of 19.8% this year. He did strike out a season-high eight in his fourth game of the season and also has three games (out of 14) with no walks.

Kavares Tears, OF, High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps

Season stats: .241/.349/.518, 59 games, 26 R, 13 2B, 3 3B, 12 HR, 41 RBI, 32 BB, 78 K, 1 SB, 3 CS

The left-handed slugger only played in four of the six games last week, but that was good enough to put up some gaudy numbers. The 23-year-old had an OPS of 1.224 with three of his five hits going for homers. He drove in eight runs and also walked three times. As mentioned in this article when Tears earned Padres Mission's Minor-League Hitter of the Month for June, the 2024 fourth-round pick out of Tennessee has been on a roll since mid-May.

Tears' two-homer game Wednesday against the Great Lakes Loons was just his second in his two pro years after having one in August for the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm. Tears appears to have figured something out since mid-May, with his slash line at .275/.355/.615 since. Even that hot stretch pulled his career slash line up to .232/.330/.429. He has 12 homers in 59 games so far this year after hitting 13 in 107 contests with the Storm.

Conner Westenburg, OF, Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm

Season stats: .274/.364/.387, 74 games, 47 R, 15 2B, 4 3B, 1 HR, 34 RBI, 20 BB, 68 K, 34 SB, 5 CS

After a rough June, the 22-year-old outfielder began July with a bang, putting up a .429/.500/.619 that included three games with multiple hits, including three in last week's series opener against the Stockton Ports. He also had a season-high five-RBI game Saturday after not having a multi-RBI day since May 24. This is Westenburg's first pro season after signing as an undrafted free agent out of McNeese State.

Speed is also a big part of Westenburg's game. He had four steals last week to bring his season total up to 34 in 39 attempts. That number is second only to Ryan Wideman, Padres Mission's No. 4 prospect who leads the minors with 50 steals (43 with the Storm), in the Padres' system. He had 20 and 27 steals in his final two seasons at McNeese State. That speed helps him to get out of slumps like the one he experienced in June, when he had a  .194/.325/.254 slash line, yet still swiped 11 bases, his second month with double-digit steals. Westenburg had 14 in April as he slashed .333/.403/.449.

Albert Fabian, OF, Double-A San Antonio Missions

Season stats: .244/.308/.389, 58 games, 16 R, 8 2B, 1 3B, 6 HR, 30 RBI, 19 BB, 37 K, 3 SB, 0 CS

The 24-year-old left-handed hitter led the Padres' full-season affiliates in batting average as part of a .438/.444/.875 slash line last week. His big five games began with a 3-for-4 performance in which he homered and doubled, missing the triple for the cycle. He drove in four in that game against Amarillo and had seven in the series. Fabian has been in the Padres' system since signing as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2018. He had a chance to leave the organization in the offseason, yet chose to return. He has been pretty consistent over the last five seasons, never going lower than a .242 average, nor higher than .258, while producing a career slash line of .245/.325/.415. Fabian has six homers this year, which is one off his total from all of 2025, although he spent time on the 60-day injured list. His career best is 16 in each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

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