2026 Padres Affiliate Season Recap: High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps

[Steve Drumwright]

Despite a decent array of prospects that suited up for the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps this season, the talent didn’t translate into a lot of wins.

The TinCaps finished with the worst record in the Midwest League’s six-team East Division at 56-74, with a fifth-place finish in the first half at 27-39, 12 games out, and fourth in the second half at 29-35, 9½ back. They scored the fewest runs in the league by far, 72 behind the 11th-place team, and allowed the second-most runs.

Still, there were some exciting players to watch throughout the season. They ranged from the fantastic start to the season of left-handed starter Kash Mayfield, who didn’t allow a run in his first three starts and six of his first eight, to the emergence of outfielder Alex McCoy (Padres Mission's No. 8 prospect, to the three-homer game by Jake Cunningham and the first-half performance of right-handed closer Clay Edmondson, who was named a Midwest League All-Star and still finished second in the league in saves with 11 following a midseason promotion to Double-A San Antonio.

The second half saw an influx of talent from the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm, who won the first-half championship in the California League’s South Division. But not even the additions of hitters like outfielder Ryan Wideman (Padres Mission's No. 2 prospect), third baseman Kerrington Cross and first baseman Luke Cantwell as well as right-handed starter Winyer Chourio (Padres Mission's No. 17 prospect)—as some TinCaps also moved up to Double-A San Antonio—could improve the situation. But that is part of the learning curve of the minors. The players who came up were in their first full season in the pros and even the slight increase in competition is something they needed to adjust to.

Mayfield represented the San Diego Padres in the Futures Game and then was traded to the Detroit Tigers in the Casey Mize deal.

One positive for the TinCaps was how the fans turned out. The team had 11 sellout crowds, including four of more than 8,000, and averaged 4,936, which was third in the Midwest League. In addition to some talented players, TinCaps fans saw plenty of drama as the team had 31 comeback wins and seven walk-offs. Chief among those was a Fourth of July classic against the Great Lakes Loons that went 14 innings, won by the TinCaps 13-12 on a Kasen Wells single to finish off a 4-hour, 48-minute marathon.

TinCaps Stat Leaders

League: Midwest League East Division

First half: 27-39, fifth place, 12 GB, minus-145 run differential

Second half: 29-35, fourth place, 9½ GB, minus-87 run differential

Hitting leaders

(20 games minimum)

Average: Jake Cunningham .279, Alex McCoy .268, Justin DeCriscio .259

Slugging percentage: Cunningham .560, Kavares Tears .471, McCoy .468

OPS: Cunningham .929, McCoy .822, Tears .797

Runs: Kasen Wells 62, McCoy 60, Rosman Verdugo 53

HRs: Cunningham 15, McCoy 15, Verdugo 15

RBIs: Verdugo 59, McCoy 55, Costello 51

Pitching leaders

(10 games minimum)

ERA: Clay Edmondson 1.67, Ryan Och 1.69, Kash Mayfield 3.54

Strikeouts: Abraham Parra 82, Carson Montgomery 80, Braian Salazar 67

WHIP: Edmondson 0.96, Mayfield 1.16, Och 1.31

Opponent average: Edmondson .134, Och .167, Will Koger .202

Wins: Parra 5, Winyer Chourio 4, Kleiber Olmedo 4, Will Varmette 4

Saves: Edmondson 11, Varmette 4, Clark Candiotti 2, Tucker Musgrove 2, C.J. Widger 2

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