Before the Padres traded Dillon Head to the Marlins last month, the 19-year-old outfielder had no problem showing respect for his elders.
Homer Bush Jr. is the fastest player in the system.
It’s hard to argue with a 6.14-second 60-yard dash and the 22-year-old Bush bagged that time twice before the 2024 season began.
For context: 5.8 seconds is the fastest time ever clocked in that sprint and it was done twice in the early 1970s by Herb Washington and Mel Pender.
Washington briefly parlayed his speed into a stint as a “designated runner” on the Oakland Athletics’ 1974 world championship team.
Bush hopes to do quite a bit more with his top tool.
The Padres’ fourth-round pick last year, Bush saw his 19-game on-base streak snapped on Tuesday.
In that stretch, he paired a .312/.440/.443 batting line with his first homer of the season, five doubles and an 11-for-11 showing in stolen bases.
For the season, Bush leads the system with 29 steals on 33 attempts. The recent on-base streak helped push his batting line to .270/.375/.324 after he hit .213/.333/.213 as one of many TinCaps who struggled with the colder temperatures in April.
As a matter of fact, Bush didn’t collect his first extra-base hit, a double, until May 8.
Touted by the Padres as the fastest player in the entire 2023 draft, Bush hit .325/.422/.440 at three stops last summer, collected three home runs in 44 games and even homered during Double-A San Antonio’s Texas League postseason series.
The opportunity to contribute in San Antonio enticed Bush, but he was determined not to become enamored with the longball even while adding strength this offseason.
“I want to be the player that I am and I want to tap into other aspects of my game, but I want to let it happen naturally,” Bush said before the start of the season. “It’s about getting stronger. The big thing that people always talk about is power, but I have no reason to chase it.”
Especially at the expense of his best asset: His speed.
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Bush estimates he put on about 15 pounds of muscle, with a hat tip toward the Padres’ strength training coaches and the team’s dieticians as he looked to add strength while not sacrificing an ounce of his speed.
While he’s not aiming for a specific power number, Bush was not shy about setting lofty goals on the bases as he prepared to head to Fort Wayne to start his first full year in pro ball.
One hundred steals.
He’s certainly fallen off that pace after a cold April, but getting on base more consistently as he has of late certainly bodes well for the rest of the season.
“I just want to show up every day and be the best version of myself,” Bush said before the season. “If I do that consistently over the course of 100-plus games I’ll end up in a pretty cool place.”
Friday’s scoreboard
TRIPLE-A EL PASO (29-38)
Chihuahuas 8, Albuquerque 5: RF Oscar Mercado (.805 OPS) drove in three runs and hit his 10th homer, tops in the Padres system. C Brett Sullivan (.860 OPS) hit his eighth homer. 2B Nate Mondou (.864 OPS) went 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored. LHP Austin Davis (2.84 ERA) struck out a batter in a scoreless ninth for his sixth save. RHP Gabe Mosser (6.17 ERA) allowed four runs in five innings in the start. RHP Paul Fry (2-1, 5.36 ERA) struck out of the four batters he faced in earning the win.
DOUBLE-A SAN ANTONIO (28-32)
Corpus Christi 11, Missions 3: RHP Ryan Bergert (1-6, 6.26 ERA) allowed nine runs — six earned — on eight hits and a walk over 2⅔ innings in the loss. 3B Jarryd Dale (.416 OPS) and DH Juan Zabala (.555 OPS) both hit their first homers of the season.
HIGH SINGLE-A FORT WAYNE (26-35)
Lake County 3, TinCaps 2 (10): RHP Henry Baez (3.94 ERA) struck out three and allowed a run on three hits and four walks in 5⅔ innings in the start. DH Devin Ortiz (.733 OPS) went 2-for-4 with a run scored. C Ethan Salas (.564 OPS) went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.
LOW SINGLE-A LAKE ELSINORE (30-29)
Storm 5, Stockton 2: SS Leodalis De Vries (.680 OPS) went 1-for-2 with a double off the wall, an RBI, two walks and two runs scored. 1B Romeo Sanabria (.937 OPS) went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a walk and a run scored. RHP Eric Yost (1-2, 5.76 ERA) threw five shutout innings in relief for the win.
ROOKIE ACL PADRES (16-15)
Dodgers 10, Padres 9: LF L.J. Jones (1.286 OPS) drove in five runs on three hits, including his fourth homer. 1B Kaden Hollow (.972 OPS) drove in two runs on two hits, including his first homer. Padres relievers allowed six runs in the ninth to blow the game.
ROOKIE DSL BROWN (1-6)
Athletics 9, Padres 5: LF Joan Sierra (.776 OPS) went 1-for-4 with his first homer, two RBIs, a walk and two runs scored. 3B Juan Martinez (.833 OPS) went 1-for-2 with a double, an RBI and two walks.
ROOKIE DSL GOLD (4-4)
Padres 3, Blue Jays 1 (7): RHP Anderson Ortiz (1-0, 3.00 ERA) struck out six over 3 ⅔ innings in relief in the win after RHP Jose De Rosa (1.35 ERA) opened the game with three shutout innings. LF Gustavo Marquez (.874 OPS) went 3-for-3 with two runs scored.
