Saturday's top prospect performers

March 23rd, 2019

Pirates prospects Ke’Bryan Hayes (Pittsburgh's No. 2 per MLB Pipeline, No. 46 overall) and Oneil Cruz (No. 4, No. 95) each homered in opposite ends of Pittsburgh’s split-squad games on Saturday.

Hayes, who is hitting .333 in Spring Training, provided all of the Pirates’ offense in a 12-3 loss to the Red Sox. The 22-year-old hit a three-run homer, his third of spring, in the sixth inning and went 1-for-4. Bryan Reynolds, the Pirates’ No. 8 prospect, was also in that game and raised his average to .308 with a 2-for-3 performance.

Cruz, playing in the Pirates’ 5-3 win over the Phillies, put his tremendous power on display with a monster go-ahead homer to right in the fifth inning.

Here’s how other top prospects performed on Saturday:

• No. 3 overall prospect Eloy Jimenez (White Sox No. 1) broke out of his Spring Training funk with a 3-for-3 performance, including a homer, in a 5-1 win over the Dodgers, just hours after signing his six-year, $43 million extension. Jimenez, who now appears likely to crack the White Sox Opening Day roster, began the day just 4-for-26 in Spring Training. But after spending some time in Minor League camp this week, he appears to have found his offensive rhythm.

• No. 4 overall prospect Victor Robles (Nationals’ No. 1) lifted his Spring Training average to .362 with a perfect 2-for-2 day in a 4-4 tie with the Cardinals. Robles came through with a two-run double in his first at-bat, then singled up the middle in his next trip to the plate before exiting the game.

• No. 26 overall prospect Francisco Mejia (Padres’ No. 4) put together another strong offensive performance in an 11-4 win over the Angels and is now hitting .364 in Spring Training. Mejia came through with RBI singles in both the third and fourth innings and finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

• No. 51 overall prospect Pete Alonso (Mets’ No. 1) continued to swing a hot bat and Ronny Mauricio (Mets’ No. 3) showed that his age hardly matters as the Mets topped the Braves, 12-2. Alonso, who is hitting .375 in Spring Training, extended his hitting streak to six games with his 3-for-5 performance. He also scored a trio of runs and made a nice diving stop in the field.

Mauricio, 17, is the youngest player to play in big league Spring Training this year, but his youth hasn’t slowed him down. After he went 1-for-4 in his debut on Friday, he followed that up with a 2-for-3, two-RBI performance against the Braves.

• Cardinals No. 4 prospect Dakota Hudson extended his scoreless streak to 12 innings as he put up zeros in six straight frames against the Nationals. Hudson, who has pitched to a 1.25 ERA in 21 2/3 innings this spring, yielded three hits and struck out three. The right-hander has limited opponents to a .192 batting average and held them scoreless in four of his six appearances.

• Tigers No. 8 prospect Christin Stewart was responsible for all four of Detroit's first-inning runs in its 8-7 win over the Rays. The outfielder cleared the bases with a three-run double, his lone hit of the game, then scored one batter later on an RBI single from John Hicks.