MERRILL HEATS UP AFTER CHILLY START IN MIDWEST LEAGUE

Maybe Jackson Merrill is finally getting his legs under him.

The Padres’ top prospect homered twice this week at high Single-a Fort Wayne, giving him six on the season as he pulls his campaign together following a tough start as he grappled with two separate bouts with flu-like symptoms.

Warmer weather hasn’t hurt, either.

The 20-year-old was hitting .177/.246/.339 at the end of April, when rainy and sometimes snowy conditions aren’t all that uncommon in the Midwest League.

He’s since hitting .306/ .333/.465 with four homers over his last 34 games, numbers that aren’t all that far off what he did last year at low Single-a Lake Elsinore — .325/.387/.482 — to vault to No. 19 in Mlb.com’s preseason top 100 prospects list.

In fact, while Merrill’s walk rate has shrunk slightly from 8.7 percent to 5.8 percent, his strikeout rate is down from 19.2 percent last year at Lake Elsinore to 12.6 percent with Fort Wayne. The Tincaps are back close to .500 at 29-32 after starting the season 10-22.

“I think it’s still early,” Padres Assistant Farm Director

Mike Daly said last month as Merrill began to heat up. “He hasn’t been overwhelmed, he isn’t striking out and there’s a lot growth for every player that goes through adversity.

“The team is playing better and Jackson has been a big part of that turnaround.”

Groome and gloom

Meantime, Jay Groome can’t seem to get going.

In Triple-a El Paso’s 8-1 loss at Round Rock on Thursday, the 24-year-old left-hander allowed eight runs before completing the third inning.

Only five runs were earned, but he still walked four and allowed five hits, including his 12th home run in 14 starts.

Groome is 1-6 with a 9.80 ERA, 57 strikeouts, 50 walks and a .337 opponent average in 592⁄3 innings with the Chihuahuas.

Groome competed for a big-league job this spring after posting a 3.16 ERA in 10 starts with El Paso last year following his inclusion in the Eric Hosmer trade.

He figured to be in line for a callup at some point this season.

But something will have to change if he’s going to get back on the Padres’ bigleague radar.

Power surge

Believe it or not, Tirso Ornelas is still only 23 years old.

So, there’s still time to develop in-game power, and Friday was a step in the right direction.

Ornelas homered, doubled and drove in four runs in Double-a San Antonio’s 12-9 win at Amarillo.

The blast was the sixth of the season for Ornelas, who has seen his slugging percentage jump from .304 in April to .349 in May to .645 midway through June via three homers and seven doubles in 14 games.

It’s a welcome trend for a hitter with a .375 career slugging percentage over 1,980 atbats since signing for $1.5 million out of Mexico in July 2016.

For the season, Ornelas is hitting .263/.368/.419 over 60 games for the Missions.

Around the farm

El Paso (AAA): OF José Azocar has homered twice in 12 games since his demotion to the Pacific Coast League. He is hitting .305/.317/.441 in 60 plate appearances. Azocar hit five home runs last year at El Paso and nine the year before in the Texas League but is still looking for his first big-league homer.

San Antonio (AA): The Missions (34-27) had a fourgame lead on Amarillo heading into Saturday. They were 10-15 in early May.

Fort Wayne (A+): 1B

Nathan Martorella is up to 11 home runs and 44 RBIS while hitting .269/.383/.495 in 60 games to start the year.

Lake Elsinore (A): C

Ethan Salas, 17, is hitting .220/.375/.320 with a homer and six RBIS in 13 games since starting his career in the California League.

ACL Padres (R): RHP

Dylan Lesko is facing hitters on back fields as he prepares to make his professional debut this summer. The Padres drafted Lesko 15th overall last summer after he had Tommy John surgery.

DSL Padres (R): SS Ismael Javier leads both Padres teams in homers (two), RBIS (10) and hits (13) while posting a .394/.475/.576 batting line through his first nine games.