Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres
Three Padres prospects -- right-hander Zech Lemond, catcher Marcus Greene Jr. and infielder River Stevens -- are spending the winter summering in the Australian Baseball League.
Lemond and Stevens are playing for the Canberra Cavalry, and Greene is with the Adelaide Bite.
Lemond, 24, the Padres' third-round pick in the 2014 Draft out of Rice University, is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA over nine innings spanning seven appearances. Lemond has allowed four hits, issued four walks and a hit batter with 12 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .133 against Lemond, who has a 0.89 WHIP. Lemond went 6-6 with a 7.30 ERA in 20 games (14 starts) between Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio in 2016.
Greene, 22, is hitting .250 (16-for-64) with four homers and 14 RBIs in 16 games. He went deep in three straight games (and four times in a five-game span) early last week. Greene, who was acquired from the Rangers in the August 2015 trade that sent Will Venable to the Rangers, batted .189 with six homers and 17 RBIs in 49 games between Class A Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore last season.
Stevens, 24, the Padres' ninth-round pick in the 2012 Draft, is off to a 7-for-25 (.280) start in Australia. Stevens hit .237 with eight homers and 39 RBIs in 116 games for both full-season Class-A affiliates and San Antonio in 2016.
In other news, outfielder Jabari Blash is 1-for-9 with a double, an RBI and three walks in his first three games with Escogido of the Dominican Winter League. He is one of five Padres currently active in the Dominican Republic.
Center fielder Manuel Margot is hitting .259 (37-for-143) with a .303 on-base percentage and a league-leading 14 steals for the Toros del Este. Right-handers Jose Rafael De Paula and Michael Dimock (2-1) each have a 0.00 ERA for the Toros.
Right-hander Bryan Rodriguez, 25, has a 0.96 ERA in five relief appearances covering 9 1/3 innings for the Gigantes del Cibao. Rodriguez went 7-13 with a 4.46 ERA between San Antonio and Triple-A El Paso in 2016.
The Mexican Pacific League reports Charles Fisher, 33, has signed a contract with the Padres' El Paso affiliate. Fisher, a 6-foot-4 right-hander who played his college ball at Lewis-Clark State College, is 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA in 30 relief appearances with Obregon. He has allowed 19 hits and nine walks with 40 strikeouts in 32 innings. Opposing hitters are batting .188 against Fisher.
Fernando Perez is hitting .341 (30-for-88 with six doubles, three homers, 12 RBIs and 17 runs scored) with a .398 on-base percentage for Hermosillo of the Mexican Pacific League, although his playing time at first has been reduced over the past two weeks. Right-hander César Vargas has a 2.13 ERA in nine relief outings spanning 12 2/3 innings for Hermosillo. He has given up 13 hits and six walks with 13 strikeouts.
Right-hander Gerardo Reyes has a 1.04 ERA in 12 appearances covering 8 2/3 innings for Obregon.
Shortstop José Rondón is batting .248 (31-for-125) with a .321 on-base percentage in 43 games between two clubs in Venezuela. Left-hander Jose Castillo has a 0.00 ERA in 11 innings over 10 appearances for Magallanes in Venezuela.