This is the place A.J. Preller comes to get giddy, to remind him where this whole thing is headed.

The Padres general manager will pop by Parkview Field for a day and leave with a hop in his step and a smile on his face. Like, really. People notice how happy the generally stoic Preller is when he is here.

And it is a wondrous spot, this downtown ballpark with its proportionately scaled beauty and robust crowds.

Apartment balconies look down on left field. The Courtyard Marriott looms over a plaza beyond right-center, with the top of the Hilton visible just beyond that. The 27-story Indiana Michigan Power building dominates the skyline of Indiana’s second-largest city and draws the eye past the batter’s eye in center field. And in the distance is the Lincoln Bank Tower, at 22 stories the tallest building in the state until 1962.


A midday game Tuesday drew almost 4,000 people. The night before, a crowd of 7,320 marked the 18th sellout of the season.

“I love coming here,” Padres director of player development Sam Geaney said as he watched the Fort Wayne TinCaps beat the Dayton Dragons.

It is by no means just the scenery, though, that beckons Padres personnel folks to Northeast Indiana on a regular basis.

No, they come to gauge the progress at the epicenter of the franchise’s future.


This is where six of the team’s top 30 prospects are currently playing — with another on the disable list and another couple players that probably should be included among the best coming up.

That so much of the organization’s talent is here — the lowest level of full-season Single-A — is an indication of how far the Padres are from being competitive in the majors. But a building project starts from the ground, and this is that level.

The TinCaps have four of the 10 youngest players in the Midwest League. Three of those start virtually every day, and the other is a starting pitcher. The average age of Fort Wayne’s position players is a league-low 19.9 years old. Just two of the 15 other teams in the Midwest League have an average below 21.

To be sure, this process is embryonic.


But as Preller and Geaney and the others running the Padres pipeline check in often, what they see confirms what they believed of their young talent.

“I don’t think they’re so young,” Geaney said, “that some of these guys won’t be part of the first (playoff) Padres team.”

If 2020 is the year we see that Padres team, it is not preposterous to think that it would include shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and starting pitchers Michel Baez and Adrian Morejon. At that point, Tatis and Morejon will be 21, and Baez will be 24.

A lot can happen in three years, as much bad as good. Maybe that trio will make it to the big leagues in such short order. Maybe it will be another one or two guys instead. Perhaps it will be none.


But for now, little should make a San Diego fan base starved for hope think anything other than the plan of flooding the system with talent and helping it grow is beginning to blossom in an awesome manner.

Tatis, acquired in the James Shields trade last year and now considered the Padres’ No.4 prospect by MLB Pipeline, has gained 10 pounds and maybe even grown almost an inch since the start of the season. Even with a slow first month, he is in the top 10 in the Midwest League in virtually every offensive category.

Morejon, whose $11 million signing bonus last summer was a franchise record, just made his first start above short-season Single-A. On Saturday, the Cuban who is rated as the organization’s No. 5 prospect, became the second-youngest pitcher in the Midwest League this season and in front of a crowd of 7,888 spread five hits and one run over five innings.

Baez’s 14 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings in his sixth professional start Monday night were the most by a TinCaps pitcher since LaTroy Hawkins fanned 15 in 1993. The 6-foot-8 Cuban might be among the few – if not the only – prospects currently here to move up this season. His fastball, which reached 97 mph and sat around 95 on Monday, has produced 47 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings in his five starts for Fort Wayne. It might soon be time to see how the Padres’ No. 7 prospect mixes it up at a higher level.


Also contributing to the TinCaps are outfielder Jorge Ona (11), third baseman Hudson Potts (23) and starting pitcher Reggie Lawson (27). Starting pitcher Mason Thompson (19) was sent to Arizona on Monday for a rehab assignment.

In what must be considered a sign of organizational depth, a couple other TinCaps who were considered among their former team’s top-30 prospects are not ranked that high for the Padres.

Pedro Avila, who improved to 6-1 by allowing a run over 6 2/3 innings Tuesday, was the Nationals’ No.23 prospect when acquired in exchange for Derek Norris in December. And TinCaps closer Hansel Rodrguez was the Blue Jays’ 18th-ranked prospect when the Padres acquired him last summer in exchange for Melvin Upton Jr.

“It feels special playing with so many special talents here,” Tatis said Tuesday. “It’s been fun right now, and it’s definitely going to be fun in a couple years. There is a lot of talent here. There are guys that are here that are going to be part of the future for San Diego, no doubt.”


Padres executives acknowledge it can be tempting to get ahead of themselves and that tempering expectations is imperative. The years between 18 and 21 comprise a period of immense physical and emotional growth.

Certainly, there are many holes in these kids to be exposed and hills to be climbed by them.

These are players, for the most part, in their first full year in professional baseball. Virtually everyone involved at this level assesses learning how to be a professional as the biggest thing players achieve here. That means keeping to a schedule, developing and maintaining a routine, buying into the organizational philosophy, getting along with teammates and continually making on-field adjustments they are asked to make.

“They just need constant feedback with what they’re trying to do,” TinCaps manager Anthony Contreras said. “… You’re putting a bunch of 18-year-olds together. They don’t know how to do things on their own.”


The growth for most of the players, on their own for the first time, includes learning how to eat right and get enough rest and manging their finances.

“I have guys who have more money in the bank than I do, but I’m having to teach them how to pay their electric bill,” Contreras said.

Contreras’ affection for his young players is evident. But he is clearly still adjusting to relating to the millennial mindset. Even his team last year was markedly older – almost two years older, on average.

“The talent level is heads over the team I had last year, but the guys were older last year,” he said. “… In terms of me dealing with the non-baseball stuff, it was a lot easier. They listened. They knew what being on time meant. Now, I’m dealing with millionaires who are 18-years-old. They feel they can do what they want to. … You have to keep them humble and grounded and let them know, ‘You still have a long way to go.’ You try to keep their head on straight. As cool as they try to act, as big league as they try to act, they get humbled really quick and then they show their age.”


That, too, provides an illustration of this group’s progress and promise.

The TinCaps on Tuesday won their fourth straight game and their 17th in their past 22. Their 25-13 record in the season’s second half is second-best in the Midwest League.

This surge comes after a league-worst 26-44 record in the season’s first half.

The turnaround means something because it’s the same kids putting it together now who were scuffling early.


“You let those guys go through their ups and down, learn from their mistakes, kind of feed off each other, and mix that with the talent, and you see what happens,” Contreras said. “We went through our ups and down the first half. It was frustrating. These guys were going through it for the first time. They didn’t know how to handle it.”

Now they’ll be playing meaningful games in the season’s final month and likely be in the postseason in early September. That’s part of the reason even Baez might be kept here.

Said Preller: “Keeping that group together … we think it would be good for them.”

He would certainly come visit in the postseason.


“I love Fort Wayne, I love the stadium,” Preller said. “You can’t have a better setup. And it’s a good team.”

The Padres can’t ask for more out of this place.

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kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com