Padres Prospect Hot Sheet: Jase Bowen Displays Power, Speed Potential With Chihuahuas

Checking in on the San Diego Padres prospects who made a mark in the last week:

Jase Bowen, CF, Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas

Season stats: .288/.361/.600, 43 G, 9 2B, 4 3B, 12 HR, 33 RBI, 19 BB, 53 K, 6 SB, 4 CS

You won't find the toolsy Bowen's name on many prospect lists. After all, he is 25 years old and signed this offseason with the Padres as a six-year minor-league free agent, which means he could leave his previous team on his own accord. An 11th-round draft choice by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019 out of Toledo Catholic Central High School in Ohio, Bowen didn't stink in the Pirates' system, but also didn't show enough to warrant more attention.

Maybe it was a change of scenery, but the right-handed hitter has excelled since joining the Padres. Last week against the Round Rock Express, Bowen went 8-for-15 (.533) in the first four games before an 0-for-7 in the final two. He hit two homers, an inside-the-parker Tuesday and a traditional jack Friday, and finished the week with eight runs scored and seven RBIs. A high school football and baseball star who had a scholarship to play at Michigan State, Bowen opened a lot of eyes this spring when he slashed .296/.333/.630 in 25 Cactus League games, tying for the team lead with four homers and stealing a team-high seven bases. His athleticism in center field stood out, drawing the praise of Padres manager Craig Stammen.

Bowen has been a fixture atop the Chihuahuas' lineup. He had a cycle in the first full week of the season and just missed another last week in a game he reached base five times. He has 12 homers entering this week (career high is 23), which is tied for the Pacific Coast League lead with two former MLB players (Patrick Wisdom and Jack Suwinski) and a prospect just called up (the A's Henry Bolte). His four triples are tied for third. It is that power-speed combo that makes Bowen so intriguing. He is on pace to have his best season in the minors. He has a .600 slugging percentage (.312 ISO), while his previous season best is .467 in 2023. However, he still strikes out quite a bit at 27.3% this year

Whether he makes it up to the Padres this year will probably be injury-dependent, but he has made himself into an attractive older prospect who could fit nicely as a spare outfielder at the major-league level.

Alex McCoy, LF, High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps

Season stats: .303/.368/.599, 41 G, 16 2B, 1 3B, 9 HR, 28 RBI, 14 BB, 41 K, 8 SB, 3 CS

The imposing left fielder is continuing to show off his hitting ability and has regained his power stroke after a bit of a homer slump. Padres Mission's No. 12 prospect has hit all four of his May homers in his last 10 games, with a six-game hitting streak and hits in nine of those 10 games. That six-game hitting streak came last week against the Dayton Dragons, going 9-for-24 (.375), with four doubles, two homers, seven runs and six RBIs. Adding the last four games of last week, he is 15-for-40 (.375) with four homers. Before homering May 13, McCoy had been homerless since April 28, a stretch of 11 games.

McCoy, the Midwest League Player of the Month for April, leads the league with 16 doubles and 26 extra-base hits, while pacing the TinCaps with nine homers. An undrafted free agent, McCoy's stock continues to climb. The right-handed hitter has a walk rate of 8.2% and a strikeout rate of 24% this year, which is consistent with what he put up in 2025 (8.1%, 24.3%), his first year as a pro.

Earning a promotion to Double-A San Antonio would seem to be coming, but proving himself more with the TinCaps seems prudent for at least a little longer. Tapping into his power, as he has the last two weeks, could help make that decision easier.

Ian Koenig, RHP, Double-A San Antonio Missions

Season stats: 2-4, 4.31 ERA, 8 games (all starts) 39⅔ IP, 40 H, 27 R, 19 ER, 8 HR, 7 BB, 30 K

The 25-year-old was an undrafted free agent when he signed with the Padres out of Cabrillo College in Aptos, Calif., following the 2022 draft and has slowly climbed the organizational ladder to reach the Double-A San Antonio Missions for the first time this season. On Thursday, he turned in his best performance in 52 professional games, throwing seven shutout innings in a 5-1 win over the Frisco RoughRiders.

He yielded five hits, hit a batter, didn't issue a walk and struck out a season-high six. The seven innings match his career high, which he did in back-to-back games last year while pitching for High-A Fort Wayne. Koenig ran into trouble in the third inning, after retiring the first eight batters of the game. He hit a batter and gave up his first hit, a single, but a groundout ended the brief threat. Koenig induced seven groundouts in the game.

Koenig is having his best season as a pro, primarily due to a reduction in walks. In the three previous full seasons, he had a walk rate of 7.9% (2023), 7.1% (2024) and 7.7% (2025). This year, however, he has knocked that down to 4.1%. That has helped him produce a 4.31 ERA, which came after a 4.19 in 2023 at Low-A Lake Elsinore, 4.98 in 2024 when he repeated with the Storm and 5.40 last year with the TinCaps. Two issues: he has surrendered eight homers and hit five batters.

He has made 44 starts and just eight relief appearances, so there is a chance he remains in the rotation as his career progresses. His strikeout numbers haven't been great last year or this year, with a 16% rate at Fort Wayne and 17.8% so far this year.

Will Wagner, IF, Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas

Season stats: .266/.415/.406, 18 G, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 15 BB, 13 K, 2 SB, 0 CS

No longer a prospect due to the time he spent in the majors the previous two seasons, the 27-year-old infielder still has time to shed his image as a AAAA player. To wit, the son of Hall of Famer Billy Wagner has a .292/.396/.438 slash line in 348 minor-league games, but a .256/.329/.346 in 79 MLB games. He has two homers and one stolen base with the Toronto Blue Jays and Padres, so he currently profiles as a backup infielder at the MLB level.

Wagner had a late start to his 2026 due to a strained right oblique that he sustained early in spring training. He returned to action May 1 and started to heat up last week. Against Round Rock, the left-handed hitter went 8-for-19 (.421) in five games and homered Saturday and Sunday, his first two long balls of the season. That raised his season batting average from .200 to .266. Wagner was acquired by the Padres from the Blue Jays for catcher Brandon Valenzuela, who is not in the majors for Toronto, and went 2-for-17 in 15 games with San Diego.

If Wagner is to raise his stock, he will need to continue to show he is a good hitter. He has a very nice 18.1% walk rate to go along with a 15.7% strikeout rate with the Chihuahuas. The clock is certainly ticking on his value, so how he does over the next couple months will be crucial.

Kai Roberts, OF, Double-A San Antonio Missions

Season stats: .226/.309/.310, 35 G, 4 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 9 BB, 33 K, 14 SB, 0 CS

A seventh-round draft choice in 2024 out of Utah, the 25-year-old has struggled to get his bat going in his brief pro career. Coming off a 2025 in which he slashed .227/.355/.305 with five homers and 24 RBIs in 90 games, Roberts was down to .140/.189/.180 at the beginning of the month. But thanks to a good stretch last week, he has pulled his numbers up close to where they were last year. In five games against the Frisco RoughRiders, Roberts went 5-for-13, which included a 3-for-3 game with two walks, three runs scored and a two-run homer Tuesday. That one game alone pulled his batting average up 33 points.

Roberts' poor plate performance can, in part, be chalked up to his 34.4% strikeout rate and 8.3% walk rate. While his walk rate is on par with the MLB average, his strikeout rate is very high. It was at 28% last year, when he played mostly at High-A Fort Wayne after dealing with a hamstring injury that cost him a chunk of the season. He has 14 steals this season after 35 a year ago.

The Padres obviously believe enough in the talent to move him up to Double-A for this season. Some of that probably comes from his .340/.414/.470 slash line with 14 steals in his pro debut in 2024 at Low-A Lake Elsinore in 24 games.

Interested in learning more about the San Diego Padres' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!