SAN DIEGO -- The moment was better than Tirso Ornelas could¡¯ve envisioned. And he spent a long, long time envisioning it.
Even longer than the eight-plus years and 3,200 plate appearances he spent in the Padres¡¯ Minor League system. Ranked as San Diego¡¯s No. 11 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Ornelas grew up watching the Padres in nearby Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego.
On Friday, he recorded his first big league hit -- and did so before a sellout crowd at Petco Park, including dozens of friends and family members. He was greeted with a rousing ovation.
¡°It means so much, right,¡± Ornelas said through interpreter Jorge Merlos. ¡°I¡¯m playing in front of the Petco fans. And being that there are so many Mexican fans out here, my family is out here, to be able to do that in front of them, and doing it with the Padres as well -- just because I¡¯ve been in this organization for so long, and they¡¯ve been able to give me that opportunity to be out there and play with them -- it just means so much to me.¡±
In the fifth inning of the Padres¡¯ 1-0 loss to the Rays, Ornelas laced a 2-2 changeup from Rays righty Shane Baz into center field. Ornelas said he hadn¡¯t received the baseball yet, but he knows where it¡¯s going.
¡°First thing I do once I recover it, I¡¯m giving it to my mom,¡± Ornelas said. ¡°She¡¯s been there with me forever.¡±
Called up last weekend, Ornelas became the 28th player born in Mexico to play for the Padres. No other franchise has had more than 20 Mexican-born players.
He signed as a 17-year-old in March 2017 and endured all manner of ups and downs in the Padres system. Clearly, he¡¯s clearly trending upward once again. Ornelas was added to the 40-man roster last summer, then impressed during big league camp this spring.
Amid a spate of injuries, he was called up and has more or less assumed the starting role in left field -- at least against right-handed pitching. But he entered Friday¡¯s game hitless in six at-bats. He¡¯s hitless no more.
¡°That¡¯s pretty special,¡± said manager Mike Shildt. ¡°And that he¡¯s a local, homegrown guy -- local in the geography being pretty close, and a homegrown Padre. A lot to celebrate there. Not a straight line for Tirso to get here. [I] applaud him. It¡¯s good to see him get that first knock.
¡°Let¡¯s see him get a lot more.¡±