Time, in baseball more than any other sport, is the greatest asset in judging any given draft class.

A baseball prospect needs time to develop. Time to mature. Time to figure out who he is.

That rarely stops this Padres regime from pushing the envelope, as shown in the months following the June draft.

Their third-rounder raced to Double-A San Antonio in time for the Texas League playoffs. Their 38th overall selection started his first game in the short-season Northwest League on his 19th birthday. Perhaps as aggressive as anything in the A.J. Preller era, their top pick — 18-year-old Ryan Weathers — was attempting to pitch low Single-A Fort Wayne into the Midwest League playoffs after a handful of rookie-ball starts.


This is the Padre way.

“Ryan was one of the most advanced high school players I’ve ever seen,” said Chris Kemp, who in 2018 pulled double duty as the Padres’ international scouting director and minor league field coordinator. “From a strike-throwing ability, from his competitiveness, from his pure pitch ability, we thought he could go pretty quickly and compete at that level. The big thing was to challenge him and get him moving forward.”

Which is a challenge offered to just about every prospect in the system.

Again, time will determine just which players emerge as the Padres’ best picks of the 2018 class, but an informal survey of personnel in player development, scouting and the front office shows who has a head start in the race to Petco Park.


BEST HITTER

SS Owen Miller: A third-rounder out of Illinois State, the 21-year-old Miller collected 100 hits in zooming out of short-season Tri-City to low Single-A Fort Wayne and onto Double-A San Antonio’s playoff roster. Among Padres minor leaguers with at least 300 plate appearances, his .336 batting average paced the system and his .336/.386/.460 batting line across both levels demonstrates both Miller’s ability to cover the plate (he struck out 41 times in 75 games) and hit for extra bases. The Padres even believe he’ll grow into more power — he has four homers among his 26 extra-base hits — as good hitters often do.

BEST POWER

INF Sean Guilbe: A 12 th -round pick out of a Pennsylvania high school, the 18-year-old Guilbe required a $300,000 signing bonus to keep him from a commitment to Tennessee. The right-handed-hitting prospect included five homers among his 16 extra-base hits in 40 games in the rookie-level Arizona League and projects for even more long balls as he acclimates to pro ball (Guilbe hit four homers while hitting .170 over his final 27 games).

A 12 -round pick out of a Pennsylvania high school, the 18-year-old Guilbe required a $300,000 signing bonus to keep him from a commitment to Tennessee. The right-handed-hitting prospect included five homers among his 16 extra-base hits in 40 games in the rookie-level Arizona League and projects for even more long balls as he acclimates to pro ball (Guilbe hit four homers while hitting .170 over his final 27 games). Worth noting: 2B Lee Solomon, a 25th-rounder out of Lipscomb, led the class with seven homers in Arizona while batting .298/.365/.517 in 41 games.

Xavier Edwards, a shortstop from North Broward Preparatory High School in Florida, poses for photographs with Tony Gwynn Jr. after being selected No. 38 by the San Diego Padres during the first round of the Major League Baseball draft Monday, June 4, 2018, in Secaucus, N.J. (Frank Franklin II / AP)

BEST DEFENDER

SS Xavier Edwards: A runner-up to Miller with the bat after hitting .346 in his first 45 games as a pro, the 19-year-old Edwards — pick No. 38 out of a Florida high school — has enough arm to remain at shortstop and plays with arguably more game speed than any of the organization’s 2018 draftees. He’s certainly undersized at 5-foot-10 and 155 pounds, but Edwards’ footwork and smoothness of his actions in the middle of the infield draws eyes to him. A right wrist injury limited the switch-hitting Edwards to mostly swinging left-handed this season, although he’s expected to reintegrate the right-handed swing during the fall instructional league.

FASTEST RUNNER / BEST ATHLETE

OF Jawuan Harris: Of the many multi-sport athletes selected in the 2018 draft, the ability of the 21-year-old Harris to warrant playing time at Rutgers as a receiver, defensive back and kick returner speaks volumes of his genetic gifts. Most polled for this survey believe Harris could edge Edwards in a straight up sprint, even if Edwards’ “game speed” is the best of the class. Of course, Harris is a work-in-progress prospect on the diamond who hit .433 over his last 10 games to lift his rookie-ball batting line to .225/.360/.375.

BEST FASTBALL

RHP Dylan Coleman: A heavy workload at Missouri State forced an early shutdown after the 21-year-old Coleman fanned 29 batters while posting a 3.18 ERA in 22 2/3 innings as a reliever who moved from short-season Tri-City to low Single-A Fort Wayne. His short-arm-slotted fastball was up to 98 mph with life this summer.

BEST SECONDARY PITCH

LHP Ryan Weathers: A mid-90s fastball from the left-side plays up even more off a plus change-up with late fade and drop that mirrors his two-seamer. The No. 7 overall pick more than held his own as the Padres pushed from rookie ball (3.86 ERA) to low Single-A Fort Wayne (3.00). Weathers, the son of a veteran of 19 major league seasons, struck out 18 against four walks over 18 1/3 innings spread across both levels.

BEST PRO DEBUT

Miller: Miller has already homered in the Double-A playoffs, his reward after hitting .335 in the Northwest League and .336 in the Midwest League. His 100-hit campaign bodes well for bypassing high Single-A Lake Elsinore to start 2019 at San Antonio, one level (or maybe two) below Fernando Tatis Jr.

Miller has already homered in the Double-A playoffs, his reward after hitting .335 in the Northwest League and .336 in the Midwest League. His 100-hit campaign bodes well for bypassing high Single-A Lake Elsinore to start 2019 at San Antonio, one level (or maybe two) below Fernando Tatis Jr. Close second: Edwards hit .384/.471/.466 to force his way out of rookie ball despite missing a large chunk of time to a wrist injury that shelved his right-handed swing. He hit .314/.438/.360 in 24 games in the Northwest League and swiped 22 bases in 23 attempts across both levels.

WAIT AND SEE

OF Dwanya Williams-Sutton: The 21-year-old fifth-rounder rivals Guilbe in the raw power department, but was limited to 27 games at short-season Tri-City due to various nagging hand injuries. He was productive when he was in the lineup, pairing a .256/.320/.400 batting line with two homers and 14 RBIs.

The 21-year-old fifth-rounder rivals Guilbe in the raw power department, but was limited to 27 games at short-season Tri-City due to various nagging hand injuries. He was productive when he was in the lineup, pairing a .256/.320/.400 batting line with two homers and 14 RBIs. Also: LHP Alexuan Vega, a sixth-rounder out of a Puerto Rican high school, at times flashes a plus slider. It’s inconsistent, but it’s a weapon that should help the 19-year-old improve upon a difficult pro debut in which he walked (13) as many as he struck out over 15 innings (10.80 ERA).

CLOSEST TO THE MAJORS

Coleman: As fast as Miller moved this summer, Coleman could find himself on the “Phil Maton track” if the organization decides his fastball-slider combo is best used in relief. The Missouri State workhorse’s four-pitch mix as a starting pitcher will have the organization debating the best path forward heading into spring training.

Padres pitching prospect Ryan Weathers, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2018 draft, advanced to low Single-A Fort Wayne in his draft year. (Fort Wayne TinCaps)


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jeff.sanders@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @sdutSanders