San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
AT 18, LIZARRAGA LOOKS LIKE AN ACE WHILE HELPING STORM TO CAL TITLE
Under A.J. Preller, the Padres have never been shy about pushing their youngest prospects.
The latest exhibit: Victor Lizarraga.
The 18-year-old righthander concluded his first full year in pro ball with a strong 61⁄3 innings, helping low Single-a Lake Elsinore to a 3-2 win on the road Tuesday to sweep Fresno out of the California League Championship Series.
Center fielder Jakob Marsee went 3-for-4 with two RBIS, shortstop Jackson Merrill went 2-for-4 and right fielder Albert Fabian went 2for-4 with a double and two runs scored in helping the Storm to their first title since 2011 and fourth overall.
Lizarraga struck out four and was through six shutout innings before Sterlin Thompson’s two-run homer chased him from the game with 50 of his 85 pitches thrown for strikes.
He finished with four hits and three walks allowed in a victory preserved by righthander Duncan Snider closing the game with 22⁄3 shutout innings, which included fetching a popup to end the game with runners on first and second.
The 6-foot-3, 180-pound Lizarraga won’t turn 19 until Nov. 30 but he started both Storm road playoff wins after going 8-3 with a 3.43 ERA, 95 strikeouts and a 1.28 WHIP in the regular season.
The run began with nine strikeouts over 52⁄3 innings of two-run ball last week at Inland Empire.
“He’s got that make-up factor,” Storm manager Eric Junge said. “He’s got that killer instinct. I think he’s a pitcher, not just a thrower. He’s got size. He’s got strength. He’s got the baby face, so when you get around him he’s definitely a 19-yearold kid. But he’s kind of like a 2-year-old puppy with huge paws, and they’re rambunctious and they’re aggressive and that’s kind of how he is.
“On the mound, he becomes a different kind of animal and really gets after it.”
It helps knowing what to do with a 90-94 mph fastball that he throws to both sides of the plate, one he’s not afraid to finish with at the top of the zone. A hard, 86-89 mph change-up with run and drop is his chief secondary weapon, a potential 60grade pitch, but a developing curve that sits in the high 70s to low 80s provides a slower wrinkle. Lizarraga also throws a slider, but the Padres asked him to shelve it this year to focus on other offerings as he settles into his first full year of pro ball.
After all, Lizarraga signed in January 2021 for $1 million as Mexico’s top amateur prospect. The Padres thought enough of him to have him bypass the Dominican Summer League to make his professional debut in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League last year, setting him up to begin his first full professional season in a California League filled with college-aged players.
As of August, Lizarraga was the fourth youngest player in the league and the youngest arm, according to Baseball America, which ranks him the seventh-best prospect in the Padres’ system.
“From what we’ve seen this year, he’s the real deal,” Junge said. “He’s made pitches when he’s needed to. He’s a bulldog.”
Around the farm
El Paso (AAA): INF/OF Brandon Dixon (1.367 OPS) hit his 13th homer on Friday and RHP Pedro Avila (7-2, 4.62) struck out nine over six innings of one-run ball in a 6-2 win that pushed El Paso’s lead in the Pacific Coast League’s East Division to three games with five games left to the season.
San Antonio (AA): The Missions were swept in the Texas League playoffs, losing to Frisco 7-3 and 5-2 to drop their first-round, bestof-three series.
Lake Elsinore (A): Merrill, the Padres’ first-round pick last year and the top prospect in the system, was a force in the playoffs, hitting .647/.684/.882 with four doubles, seven RBIS, two walks, one strikeout and three steals in the Storm’s four playoff games, all wins. Although he missed time to a fracture in his wrist and a leg injury, Merrill hit .339/.395/ .511 with six homers, 40 RBIS and 11 steals in 55 games between the Storm and a rehab assignment in Arizona.
jeff.sanders@sduniontribune.com