Wednesday's top prospect performers

June 17th, 2021

Here's a look at Wednesday's top Minor League performers from each team's Top 30 Prospects list:

Rays: Wander Franco, SS (MLB No. 1), Triple-A Durham
Franco is having exactly the type of month you’d expect from the game’s top prospect, with hits in all 13 games and a healthy dose of extra-base knocks. He added to that total with a pair of triples in four at-bats, bringing his June batting average up to .423 (22-for-52). You might be wondering if this is the first multi-triple game for the 20-year-old, and the answer is actually no. He tripled twice on July 4, 2018, for the Princeton Rays in Rookie ball. Rays prospect stats »

Royals: Bobby Witt Jr., SS (MLB No. 7), Double-A Northwest Arkansas
Witt managed to accomplish the three hardest parts of the cycle, but he came up a single short in a 3-for-5 night with one RBI and a run scored. That marked his second career game with a trio of extra-base hits (the other was his three-homer game back on May 30). In his past seven games, the Royals’ top prospect is 10-for-30 (.333) with two doubles, two triples and two home runs. Royals prospect stats »

Rangers: Josh Jung, 3B (MLB No. 49), Double-A Frisco
Nothing says, “I’m back” quite like a 3-for-5 night with a home run and four RBIs. Jung, who began the year on the injured list with a stress fracture in his left foot, accomplished that Wednesday in just his second game of 2021. The Rangers’ top prospect, selected eighth overall in 2019, is up in Double-A for the first time and looking to make the most of it. He posted an .831 OPS across two levels (primarily High-A) back in 2019. Rangers prospect stats »

Mets: Ronny Mauricio, SS (MLB No. 52), High-A Brooklyn
Mark Vientos, 3B (No. 8), Double-A Binghamton

Since his move up to High-A at the start of the season, Mauricio’s on-base numbers are down, but his power numbers are up. His 2-for-4 night was highlighted by a home run, his seventh of the season. In 2019, Mauricio had four homers over 470 at-bats in High-A; now, he’s almost doubled that mark through 128 at-bats. June hasn’t been the 20-year-old’s best month (.659 OPS in 14 games), but perhaps his two-run shot can spark a hot stretch.

With four hits in the past two nights, Vientos has equaled his hit production from the first seven games in June. He went 2-for-4 with a double and a home run Wednesday, marking just his second game with multiple extra-base hits this season. Still, he’s had a bit of a power surge of late, with three homers and a double over his past five games. Mets prospect stats »

Athletics: Brayan Buelvas, OF (No. 13), Low-A Stockton
Buelvas has had no problem leaving the yard this season, and he homered twice more from the leadoff spot on Wednesday (his first career multihomer game). That puts his home run total up to seven in 92 at-bats. Given that the 19-year-old had just three homers in 238 at-bats two years ago, it’s fair to wonder if he’s still gaining strength and growing into his body. Given that Buelvas is listed at 5-foot-11 and just 155 pounds, he might have more filling out to do still, and even more power to come. Athletics prospect stats »

Braves: Jared Shuster, LHP (No. 6), High-A Rome
Coming off his first professional win, which happened to come during his worst pro outing (three runs on six hits in three innings), Shuster shut down his opponent with four scoreless frames. He allowed a hit and a walk while striking out six and bringing his strikeouts-per-nine rate up to 12.6 (21 strikeouts in 15 innings). Atlanta’s first-round pick from the 2020 (25th overall) Draft needed just 48 pitches to complete a career-best four innings. Braves prospect stats »

D-backs: Blake Walston, LHP (No. 5), Low-A Visalia
Walston’s longest, and best, start of 2021 came in the form of 6 2/3 scoreless innings. He allowed three hits while walking two and fanning eight to earn the win for Visalia. Arizona’s first-round pick in 2019 (26th overall) has enjoyed a 12.4 strikeouts-per-nine rate since entering the pro ranks. This season, all seven of his starts have featured at least one strikeout per inning, and no fewer than six strikeouts per outing. D-backs prospect stats »

Reds: Noah Davis, RHP (No. 27), High-A Dayton
Davis began his second pro season with a hard-luck 0-4 record despite pitching to a 3.93 ERA through seven starts. On Wednesday, he turned in the best outing of his young career, tossing six innings of scoreless, one-hit ball. He also struck out seven and allowed just one walk. For the Reds’ 2018 11th-rounder, it marked his longest career outing and his fifth game of seven-plus strikeouts this year. Reds prospect stats »

Tigers: Kody Clemens, 2B (No. 13), Triple-A Toledo
Paul Richan, RHP (No. 30), Double-A Erie
In his third Minor League season, Clemens is justifying his promotion to Triple-A with a .304/.347/.543 slash line in 11 games. He suffered a forearm strain on his non-throwing arm in early May, but the 25-year-old has been a strong presence in the middle of the Mud Hens’ order since returning on June 1. Wednesday’s 3-for-5, three-RBI effort extended his hit streak to five games and included his first home run of the year.

Richan has faced some bumps in the road through his first six Double-A starts (all this season), but he turned in his best outing on Wednesday: six innings, one run allowed and six strikeouts. The 24-year-old has now allowed just one run in his past 11 2/3 innings, with 12 strikeouts versus one walk in that span. Tigers prospect stats »

White Sox: Jake Burger, 3B (No. 12), Triple-A Charlotte
Burger put an end to his June power outage with a double and a home run, not to mention four RBIs. He entered the night with just a .311 slugging percentage in 12 games this month, as well as a homerless skid that extended back to May 23. Even so, the 2017 first-round selection (11th overall) has managed an .826 OPS so far this season, as he tries to continue distancing himself from an injury-riddled past. White Sox prospect stats »

Yankees: Luis Medina, RHP (No. 7), Double-A Somerset
Josh Breaux, C (No. 19), High-A Hudson Valley

Medina has had better nights from a run-prevention standpoint, but this time he flashed his wipeout stuff with 10 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings in his Double-A debut. Bouncing back from his roughest start of the season (five runs in five innings), the 22-year-old allowed three runs this time on five hits. The strikeouts are the headliner, though, as he’s now up to 60 in 38 1/3 innings (14.1 K/9). Walks remain an issue -- he’s surrendered two or more in all eight starts -- but at least he’s proving he can also generate plenty of whiffs, too.

Breaux recorded multiple hits just twice in his first 27 games, and now he’s done it twice more in his past two games. The 23-year-old backstop collected a career-high four hits, including a double, to bump his average back up to the Mendoza Line. His strikeout-to-walk rate (37-to-7) could use some work, but Wednesday’s output is certainly something to build from. Yankees prospect stats »