Six years into his professional career, Joshua Mears continues to have a ton of swing-and-miss in his game.
But, man, he’s got a ton of power.
Finally healthy again, the Padres’ 23-year-old outfield prospect drove in three runs on his second homer of the season with high Single-A Fort Wayne, leading the TinCaps to a 5-1 win over Wisconsin on Thursday.
Mears also singled in a two-hit game that lifted his batting line to .195/.292/.366 through his first 13 games with the TinCaps, numbers weighed down by a 45.5 percent strikeout rate in this third stint in the Midwest League.
Mears began the season on the injured list with medial tibial stress syndrome in his right leg. He hit one homer while playing three rehab games in Arizona last month before joining the TinCaps.
A second-round pick out of Federal Way High (Wash.) in 2019, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Mears boasts 80-grade raw power, a tool that has been tough to get to in-game because of his tendency to miss pitches in the zone.
Mears paired a career-high 22 homers with a .217/.305/.486 batting line across three levels in 2022, including 14 homers at Fort Wayne and five more in 24 games in his first action in the Double-A Texas League.
But Mears hit .169/.266/.373 and struck out in nearly 48 percent of his plate appearances that year with Double-A San Antonio and repeated Fort Wayne in 2023, when he regressed to hitting .158/.291/.347 with nine homers in 62 games with the TinCaps.
Mears ranked as high as No. 8 in Baseball America’s top-30 Padres rankings in 2022, but he has since fallen out of industry assessments of the system.
Mears’ blast on Thursday was on the front end of back-to-back jobs by him and catcher Colten Bender, who went 3-for-4 with his first homer of the season and his fourth double.
First baseman Griffin Doersching (.669 OPS) sent 2-for-4 with a double.
Left-hander Fernando Sanchez (1-2, 8.25 ERA) allowed one run in seven innings in the start for the win.
Fort Wayne is 28-38.
Thursday’s scoreboard
TRIPLE-A EL PASO (30-42)
Chihuahuas 4, Sugar Land 3: DH Brett Sullivan (.898 OPS) went 2-for-2 with his 11th homer, two RBIs and two hit-by-pitches. RF Tirso Ornelas (.870 OPS) went 1-for-3 with his seventh homer and a walk. LF Graham Pauley (.716 OPS) went 1-for-4 with a double. RHP Alek Jacob (2-0, 7.24 ERA) struck out three over two scoreless innings to earn the win. RHP Gabe Mosser (5.98 ERA) allowed three runs in six innings in the start.
DOUBLE-A SAN ANTONIO (28-38)
Missions 12, Amarillo 10: 3B Marcos Castañon (.696 OPS) drove in three runs on three hits, including his fourth homer and 12th double. LF Cole Cummings (.709 OPS) drove in three runs on two hits, including his fifth homer. 2B Connor Hollis (.604 OPS) went 3-for-6 with two doubles. DH Brandon Valenzuela (.735 OPS) and C Michael De La Cruz (.525 OPS) both had two hits.
LOW SINGLE-A LAKE ELSINORE ( 32-32)
Visalia 2, Storm 1: RHP Eric Yost (4.99 ERA) struck out nine over seven shutout innings of four-hit ball. He walked one. RHP Maikel Miralles (0-1, 18.00 ERA) allowed two runs in the eighth inning in his Storm debut. C Oswaldo Linares (.498 OPS) went 1-for-4 with a double and a run scored. CF Nick Vogt (.703 OPS) went 1-for-3 with an RBI. RF Jacob Campbell (.809 OPS) went 1-for-2 with a triple.
ROOKIE ACL PADRES (16-19)
Mariners 5, Padres 2 (7): CF Spence Coffman (.755 OPS), collected two of the Padres’ three hits, going 2-for-3 with a run scored and his 11th steal. LHP Yovannki Pascual (1-2, 3.15 ERA) struck out five while allowing two runs — one earned — in four innings in the start.
ROOKIE DSL BROWN (1-10)
Guardians 9, Padres 2: 1B Kevin Tamburini (.949 OPS) went 2-for-4 with an RBI. DH Isaac Ponce (.481 OPS) went 1-for-4 with a double.
ROOKIE DSL GOLD (7-5)
Padres 6, Cubs 3 (7): RHP Luis Maracara (1-0, 3.75 ERA) struck out six and allowed a run on four hits and a walk in five innings in the win. 2B Eduarlin Tejeda (.759 OPS) went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. RF Santiago Contreras (.855 OPS) went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored.
