Giants' No. 4 prospect doing his Level best when it comes to leaving the yard
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Someone might be running out of levels for this gamer.
In the midst of a scorching stretch, Jhonny Level recorded his second two-homer game in the past three days, powering Single-A San Jose to a 9-7 victory over Stockton on Thursday at Excite Ballpark. MLB's No. 64 prospect matched his season high with four hits in the process.
Level belted his first homer of the game -- a solo shot to right-center field off A's righty Sam Stuhr -- in the second inning. The switch-hitting shortstop stuck to the left side with a two-run knock in the seventh off righty Jackson Holmes.
In his fifth multihit game of the month, Level boosted his average to .342 and his OPS to 1.008 over 35 contests this season. The Giants' fourth-ranked prospect finished the night with three RBIs and three runs scored.
Level, who vaulted up 22 spots in Pipeline's ranking market corrections last week, has nine homers which puts him in a four-way tie for the most in the California League alongside Ethan Holliday (COL No. 1/MLB No. 17). Level currently ranks first in slugging and OPS -- the lone qualified hitter to sport a clip above 1.000 on the circuit -- and stands fourth in batting average.
"It's hard to start any better than how he has," Giants senior director of player development Kyle Haines said in late April. "He's a really good player. It's just been great that he's able to showcase how dynamic he can be in stretches. What he's doing is not sustainable.
"The ebbs and flows of the season happen. But I think I'm just happy for him that his hard work and competitiveness are coming out in the results, and he's getting the attention that he deserves, so to speak. I think sometimes he gets lost in some of these talks. This guy's one of the best players in Minor League Baseball, and I'm glad that he's able to show it."
During his two-homer game Tuesday, Level slapped long balls from both sides of the plate. It was Level's third career multihomer game, but the first time the switch-hitter did so from each side of the plate as well as his first time for a full-season affiliate.