Bill Center, longtime sportswriter for U-T San Diego, is an employee of the Padres.
Three Padres Minor Leaguers will be starting winter league playoffs on Monday, while three others continue playing in Australia and catcher-pitcher Christian Bethancourt prepares for the Friday opener of the Panamanian League.
Infielder-outfielder Jose Pirela and shortstop Jose Rondon will be playing in the Venezuela playoffs, while infielder Fernando Perez will be playing for Hermosillo in the Mexican Pacific League playoffs.
Pirela, 27, hit .343 in 38 games for third-place Zulia during the regular season in Venezuela. He had nine homers, two triples and two homers for 16 RBIs and 29 runs scored. He had a .409 on-base percentage and a .485 slugging percentage for an .894 OPS.
Pirela plays left field and hits third in the batting order for Zulia. Had he had enough at-bats to qualify, Pirela would have finished fifth in the league in batting average and eighth in OPS.
Rondon, 22, hit .263 in 55 games in Venezuela. He had seven doubles, three triples and a home run in 167 at-bats with 15 RBIs and 25 runs scored. He also had a .332 on-base percentage. Rondon was acquired by the Padres in the July 18, 2014, trade that sent closer Huston Street to the Angels.
Rondon, who bats seventh in the order for Aragua, is expected to compete for the Padres' shortstop job in Spring Training. He is ranked among the Top 12 prospects in the Padres' system.
Perez, 23, is playing first base for Hermosillo, which finished second in the second half of the Mexico season. The left-handed hitter batted .315 for Hermosillo during the regular season with six doubles and three homers for 14 RBIs and 18 runs scored in 43 games. He also had a .385 on-base percentage and a .454 slugging percentage for an .839 OPS.
Perez would have finished fourth in batting in the MPL if he had enough at-bats to qualify. He also would have finished 10th in on-base percentage and 11th in OPS. Perez is a product of Otay Ranch High and was the Padres' third-round pick in the 2012 Draft.
In Australia, catcher Marcus Greene Jr. was 6-for-14 with a homer and five RBIs last week for Adelaide to raise his season batting average to .304. The 22-year-old, who was acquired by the Padres from Texas in the Aug. 18, 2015, trade that sent outfielder Will Venable to Texas, is tied for the ABL lead with six homers and leads the league with 22 RBIs.
Second baseman River Stevens is hitting .306 with Canberra. Right-handed pitcher Zech Lemond is 1-0 with a save and a 0.00 earned run average over 11 innings with Canberra. Lemond, the Padres' third-round pick in the 2014 Draft, has allowed four hits and five walks with 14 strikeouts. He has a 0.82 WHIP.
Several Padres finished the regular season with playoff-bound teams but are not on the postseason roster.
Outfielder Jabari Blash is not on Escogido's postseason roster in the Dominican Republic.