22-year old righty starting pitcher Simon Castro came into this season as the Padres’ #2 prospect according to Baseball America and he’s showing why this year in the minors. Castro has pitched in 17 games (16 starts) in AA-ball this year and he is 5-3 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He has only given up 73 hits in 90 2/3 innings this year while whiffing 78 batters showing what kind of stuff he has. Teams are going to be asking for Castro when the Padres go looking for a big bat in the next couple of weeks and they should just say no.

The Padres have claimed 25-year old lefty swinging outfielder Quintin Berry off waivers from the Phillies. Berry played in 66 games in AA-ball this year and he was 50 of 238 (.210 avg, .606 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 2 homers, 25 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. He has now played five years in the minors appearing in 523 games and he is 524 of 1,962 (.267 avg, .692 OPS) with 307 runs scored, 13 homers, 153 RBIs and 196 stolen bases. It never hurts to add a player like Berry who has a lot of speed and he will begin his career with the Padres in AA.

The Padres have released 32-year old lefty swinging catcher Eric Munson. Munson played in 47 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 27 of 134 (.201 avg, .732 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 7 homers and 20 RBIs. The Padres have more than enough guys that can’t hit so Munson wasn’t going to help them anyways. No loss there.

23-year old lefty reliever Aaron Poreda is pitching well in the minors so far this season. He came into this season as the Padres’ #10 prospect according to Baseball America. Poreda has pitched in 26 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA-ball so far this year and he is 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He has only allowed 23 hits in 37 1/3 innings this season but he has walked 33 batters which is way too many. Poreda has now pitched in 85 games (54 starts) in his minor league career and he is 18-17 with a 2.97 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. He got his first taste of the majors last season working in 14 games (0 starts) for the White Sox and Padres in which he was 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. If Poreda can just tighten up his control a bit he could be a huge asset for the Padres out of the pen.

24-year old righty reliever Ernesto Frieri is looking good in AAA for the Padres. Frieri has pitched in 21 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this year and he is 2-1 with 10 saves, a 2.35 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has whiffed 31 batters while only allowing 9 hits in 23 innings pitched this year. Frieri made his major league debut last season with the Padres pitching in 2 games and working 2 scoreless innings. If the Padres need a reliever at some point this season Frieri will get a call if he keeps pitching like he is right now.