The idea that the Padres’ Triple-A sluggers are quite comfortable at Southwest University Park isn’t limited to the ball that Ryan Schimpf hit across the street and into downtown or the home run that Alex Dickerson drilled off his home park’s scoreboard.
The so-called defensive-minded catcher of the future has collected a career-high 18 homers in just 63 games, his backup is slugging more than 100 points better and El Paso is Minor League Baseball’s only full-year affiliate with a team batting average above. 300, with much of that production spurred by the comfortable confines of the Chihuahuas’ 3-year-old park.