CJ Abrams playing for the San Antonio Missions in the 2021 season opener on May 4 in Corpus Christi. – photos by Joe AlexanderIt was four summers ago that Fernando Tatis Jr. was roaming the infield at Wolff Stadium.
In the short time since then, Tatis has gone from a prospect with the San Antonio Missions, to a starter with the San Diego Padres, to a bona fide major league star with a $330 million contract.
So the question in the minors is, who will be next?
CJ Abrams just might be the answer.
The 20-year-old shortstop is the No. 2 prospect in the Padres organization, and the top prospect who is not a pitcher.
Abrams and the rest of the Missions make their 2021 home debut at Wolff Stadium on Tuesday night – weather permitting.
The lanky 6-foot-2 infielder with a whip for an arm has played mostly at shortstop this season. He has also seen action at second base. Abrams also projects to be able to play center field, similar to Mauricio Dubon of the 2019 Missions, who now plays shortstop and outfield for the San Francisco Giants.
Abrams has played in all of the Missions’ 12 games so far this season. He is batting .306 with two home runs, four doubles and three stolen bases.
This is his second year in the minors – it would be his third if the 2020 minor league season hadn’t been wiped out by covid. In 2019, he batted .401 as an 18 year old in 32 games in rookie league with three home runs and 14 stolen bases. He also spent two games in Class A.
More recently, Abrams gained the experience of spending time with the Padres, including the likes of Tatis and Manny Machado, this February and March after being invited to join the major league team in spring training in Arizona.
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
CJ Abrams – San Antonio Missions
San Diego Padres infield prospect CJ Abrams playing at a 2021 spring training game in Arizona. – photo by Joe Alexander
Juan Fernandez playing for the San Antonio Missions in the 2021 season opener on May 4 in Corpus Christi. – photo by Joe AlexanderJuan Fernandez is a 22-year-old catcher from Venezuela.
Fernandez has seen action in eight of the San Antonio Missions’ first 16 games of the season and is batting .250. He was the Missions’ opening day starter at catcher and had three hits and a walk in the first game, an 8-3 road win in Corpus Christi.
This is Fernandez’s first season in Double-A. Two years ago, he played in 53 games in Class A and batted .274.
Fernandez joined the San Diego Padres organization in March 2016 when he was signed as a free agent to a minor-league contract.
Esteury Ruiz playing for the San Antonio Missions in the 2021 season opener on May 4 in Corpus Christi. – photos by Joe AlexanderEsteury Ruiz has had a hot bat during the San Antonio Missions’ current road series against the Midland RockHounds.
The 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic has at least one hit in the first four games of the series. He is hitting 7-of-15 (.467) in Midland.
Ruiz had four hits on Thursday night including a triple with two RBIs. He had a double on Tuesday and again on Wednesday night.
Ruiz is batting .323 on the season and is playing left field for the Missions. He also has three stolen bases in 10 games.
Ruiz batted .239 two years ago in the Class-A Cal League. He came to the San Diego Padres in a trade with the Kansas City Royals in July 2017.
Taylor Kohlwey playing first base for the San Antonio Missions on 2021 opening day in Corpus Christi. – photo by Joe AlexanderTaylor Kohlwey’s stay with the San Antonio Missions was a short one. Kohlwey was on the Missions’ opening day roster, but he was gone before the team played its first home game of the season.
Kohlwey was one of three Missions players to be promoted to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas on Wednesday. El Paso was short-handed after having some of its players called to the majors by the San Diego Padres.
Listed as an outfielder on the roster, Kohlway played first base in the Missions’ season opener in Corpus Christi. He batted .240 in six games with the Missions.
El Paso is familiar territory for Kohlwey. He spent part of 2019 with the Chihuahuas, batting .304 in 11 games.
Kohlwey batted eighth and played left field and center field on Thursday night in his first game back with the Chihuahuas.
Matt Batten playing third base for the San Antonio Missions on May 5, 2021 against Corpus Christi. – photos by Joe AlexanderMatt Batten took one step closer to the big leagues Wednesday when he was promoted from the San Antonio Missions to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas.
Batten was the Missions’ 2021 opening day starter at third base. He played in six of the Missions’ first seven games.
The 5-foot-11 infielder was a 32nd-round draft pick by the San Diego Padres in the 2017 draft. He had .299 batting average in 109 games with the Chihuahuas in 2019 with six home runs and 48 RBIs.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I changed the spelling of Batten’s first name from “Mat” to “Matt” in this story after it was updated by the Missions. Batten’s milb.com bio page has it spelled both ways depending on where you look. His full first name is “Matthew.”
Three members of the San Antonio Missions have been called up to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas, according to Missions radio.
Mat Batten, Taylor Kohlwey and Robbie Podorsky are the three players who are taking the next step.
As of 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, the three players who were reported to be headed from San Antonio to El Paso are no longer listed on the Missions’ roster on the team website.
The Chihuahuas needed reinforcements after some of their players were called up by the short-handed San Diego Padres.
Podorsky is an outfielder and played in all of the Missions’ first seven games and was batting .370.
Kohlwey is a first baseman and was batting .240 in six games.
Batten is a third baseman and was batting .174 in six games.
None of the three was in the Missions’ lineup tonight as they played on the road against the Midland RockHounds.
UPDATE: Infielder Olivier Basabe has joined the Missions, coming up from Class-A Fort Wayne. The 23-year-old from Venezuela batted .273 in 11 games in Fort Wayne.
Basabe entered Wednesday night’s Missions game and played second base after Eguy Rosario left with an injury. Basabe went 1-for-1 with a single and an RBI in the Missions’ 9-2 road loss to the Midland RockHounds.
UTSA’s Arturo Guajardo pitching against Middle Tennessee on April 9 at Roadrunner Field. – photos by Joe AlexanderArturo Guajardo is second among UTSA pitchers in appearances this season with 12, all in relief. He has a 3-1 record with one save and a 6.05 ERA in 19 1/3 innings.
Last summer, Guajardo played for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio in the Texas Collegiate League. He appeared in 10 games in relief and had a 2-0 record with a 1.96 ERA.
The 6-foot-2 right-hander is a redshirt senior from Laredo. He played at Laredo Community College and Laredo United High School before coming to UTSA.
Guajardo did not play at UTSA did not play at UTSA prior to this season.
Arturo Guajardo
Arturo Guajardo
Arturo Guajardo
Arturo Guajardo
Arturo Guajardo
Arturo Guajardo
Arturo Guajardo
Arturo Guajardo
Arturo Guajardo
Arturo Guajardo pitching for the Flying Chanclas de San Antonio at Wolff Stadiun during the 2020 Texas Collegiate League season. – photo by Joe Alexander
Robbie Podorsky playing in the San Antonio Missions’ first series of the season against the Corpus Christi Hooks on May 6, 2021. – photos by Joe AlexanderRobbie Podorsky wasn’t picked until the 25th round of the 2017 amateur baseball draft. The Padres took Podorsky No. 738 overall out of McNeese State in Louisiana.
Podorsky showed he could hit from the very beginning of his pro career. He played 11 games in rookie ball in the summer of 2017 and batted .400. In short-season Class-A that summer, he batted .302 in 37 games with nine extra-base hits and 13 RBIs.
This season, the 26-year-old outfielder is in his first season in Double-A. He played in every one of the San Antonio Missions’ first six game and leads the team with a .435 batting average and has a 1.171 OPS. He has one double, one triple, four walks and five RBIs along with two stolen bases.
San Antonio Missions infielders and San Diego Padres prospects CJ Abrams (2) and Eguy Rosario (19) at the Missions’ season opener Tuesday, May 4, 2021, at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi. – photos by Joe AlexanderCJ Abrams and Eguy Rosario were together in the San Diego Padres’ 2021 spring training in Arizona.
The two Padres prospects are together early this season with the San Antonio Missions. Abrams was the starting shorstop and Rosario the starting second baseman for the Missions on opening day on May 4.
Abrams is 20 years old and was a first-round draft pick, No. 6 overall, by the Padres in 2019. He batted 8-of-25 (.320) with one home run, three doubles, four walks and five RBIs in the Missions’ just completed six-game series in Corpus Christi.
Rosario is 21 years old and from the Dominican Republic. He is off to a slower start at the plate, going 1-of-16 with three walks while seeing action in four of the Missions’ first six games.
UTSA players line up to celebrate after beating 19th-ranked Old Dominion 12-10 Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader at Roadrunner Field. – photos by Joe AlexanderUTSA’s bid for an upset of 19th-ranked Old Dominion got off to a fast start.
The Roadrunners got home runs by Griffin Paxton and Dylan Rock and a bases-loaded triple by Leyton Barry to score nine runs in the first inning of a 12-10 victory in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday at Roadrunner Field.
Even after jumping out to a 9-3 lead, the victory didn’t come easy. UTSA went scoreless over the next four innings and Old Dominion fought back to take a 10-9 lead after five innings of the seven-inning game.
UTSA put together two hits, a walk and a hit batter in the bottom of the sixth inning and take the lead back.
Roadrunners relief pitcher Arturo Guajardo came in with one out in the sixth and got final five outs to finish the game for UTSA.
Update: UTSA beat Old Dominion 11-0 in Saturday’s second game to sweep the doubleheader. UTSA pitchers Jacob Jimenez, Grant Miller and Hunter Mason combined to hold Old Dominion to two hits.
UTSA piled up 23 runs and 27 hits in the two seven-inning games of the doubleheader. UTSA didn’t bat in bottom of seventh in either game, so all their offense basically came in 12 innings.
The four-game weekend series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. at Roadrunner Field.
Joshua Lamb singles with the bases loaded in the first inning to drive in Dylan Rock (top right) with UTSA’s first run of the game.Shea Gutierrez singles with the bases loaded in the first inning to drive in Nick Thornquist (top right) with UTSA’s second run of the game.Leyton Barry triples with the bases loaded in the first inning to give UTSA a 5-3 lead.UTSA’s Chase Keng (4) scores with Joshua Lamb (2) close behind on Leyton Barry’s first-inning triple.UTSA’s Shea Gutierrez (left) heads home to score from first on Leyton Barry’s first-inning triple.UTSA’s Chase Keng (4), Joshua Lamb (2) and Shea Gutierrez (3) all scored in the first inning on a triple by Leyton Barry (top), who slides into third.UTSA’s Joshua Lamb (2), Shea Gutierrez (center) and Chase Keng (4) celebrate after they scored on a first-inning triple by Leyton Barry.Leyton Barry looks into the UTSA dugout after hitting a bases-loaded triple in the first inning to give the Roadrunners a 5-3 lead.UTSA’s Griffin Paxton hits a three-run homer to give the Roadrunners an 8-3 lead in the first inning.Griffin Paxton celebrates with UTSA coach Pat Hallmark on the way home after hitting a three-run homer in the first inning.UTSA’s Griffin Paxton (left) and Jonathan Tapia (1) celebrate at home after Paxton’s three-run homer in the first inning.The Roadrunners celebrate after Griffin Paxton (22) hit a three-run homer in the first inning.The Roadrunners celebrate after Griffin Paxton (22) hit a three-run homer in the first inning.Dylan Rock blasts a home run to score for the second time in the first inning and give UTSA a 9-3 lead.Dylan Rock waves at the UTSA dugout as he rounds third base after hitting a first-inning home run.The Roadrunners celebrate after Dylan Rock (27) hit a first-inning home run to give UTSA a 9-3 lead.The Roadrunners celebrate after Dylan Rock (27) hit a first-inning home run to give UTSA a 9-3 lead.Leyton Barry advances to third base in the sixth inning on a hit by Jonathan Tapia.Leyton Barry heads home after an Old Dominion error. Barry scored on the play to tie the game 10-10 in the bottom of the sixth inning.Jonathan Tapia (1) makes it to third after a single and an Old Dominion error in the sixth inning.Griffin Paxton singles in the bottom of the sixth to drive home two runs and give UTSA a 12-10 lead.Jonathan Tapia (1) scored the go-ahead run and Josh Kileen scored right behind him on a hit by Griffin Paxton to put UTSA in front 12-10 in the bottom of the sixth inning.Josh Kileen (5) heads for home on the play that gave UTSA the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth inning.Josh Kileen slides safely into home in the bottom of the sixth inning with UTSA’s final run of the game.UTSA reliever Arturo Guajardo recorded the final five outs of the game for the Roadrunners.Left fielder Leyton Barry catches a fly ball for the final out in UTSA’s victory over Old Dominion.UTSA’s outfielders celebrate after the final out against Old Dominion.
