Luis Urias hits 3 home runs for El Paso

April 28th, 2019

Luis Urias apparently isn’t happy about being back in the Minor Leagues, and he’s taking out his frustration on opposing pitchers during an extraordinary power surge in which he’s hit five home runs in under 24 hours for Triple-A El Paso.

After recording the first multi-homer game of his career in 499 professional games on Saturday night, the Padres’ No. 3 prospect (No. 22 overall) went deep in his first three trips to the plate in a six-RBI performance in the Chihuahua’s series finale against Las Vegas.

Batting second and starting at shortstop, Urias put El Paso on the board for a second straight day when he deposited a 3-1 pitch over the wall in left field for a two-run home run.

He went the other way in his next at-bat, connecting on a three-run homer to right-center field in the second inning, and added a solo shot to center field in the fourth. The three-homer outburst pushed Urias’ season total to six, leaving him two short of the career-high total that he achieved over 120 games with the Chihuahuas in 2018.     

The Padres’ decision to break camp with Fernando Tatis Jr. effectively forced the 21-year-old Urias to the Minors to begin the season. He spent just four days there, going 6-for-18 with a homer and four runs scored, before receiving a promotion to San Diego.

But after he collected two hits in 24 at-bats with 11 strikeouts over 11 games in the big leagues, the Padres optioned Urias back to Triple-A.

Back in the Pacific Coast League, Urias has compiled a trio of three-hit performances while hitting safely in five of six games.