Friday's top prospect performers

August 11th, 2018

Here's MLB Pipeline's roundup of the top prospect performances in the Minor Leagues on Friday.
What more can be said about Vladimir Guerrero Jr.? His torrid season continues, and his bat is doing plenty of talking. The 19-year-old Blue Jays prospect, ranked the No. 1 prospect in baseball, homered in his third straight game during Triple-A Buffalo's 5-4 victory over Toledo. He's hitting .433 (13-for-30) with two doubles and the trio of homers since his promotion from Double-A New Hampshire.

MILB Video - Title: Guerrero Jr. homers in third straight game - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=2369542983

Guerrero, son of Hall of Fame outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, slashed .402/.449/.671 with 14 homers in 61 games for New Hampshire, and is continuing his rapid ascension toward the Majors.
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Other top prospect performances from Friday's action:
Twins No. 2 prospect Alex Kirilloff, the No. 30 overall prospect in baseball, went 3-for-3 with a double and sacrifice fly in Class A Advanced Fort Myers' 6-4 victory over Florida. The 20-year-old right fielder is hitting .371/.394/.543 in 43 games since his promotion from Cedar Rapids, where he slashed .333/.391/.607 with 13 homers in 65 games.
White Sox No. 5 prospect , the No. 44 prospect overall, gave up a run on two hits and struck out six over 5 2/3 innings during Double-A Birmingham's 18-2 rout of Montgomery. He did walk five batters, though he worked around his control issues to lower his ERA to 1.94 over eight starts since his promotion from Class A Advanced Winston-Salem, where he posted a 2.89 ERA over 13 starts.
In the same game, Chicago's No. 8 prospect, , capped a huge performance with two homers in the ninth inning, a solo shot and later a grand slam. Overall, the catcher was 3-for-6 with six RBIs, and is hitting .246 with 14 homers in 105 games.

MILB Video - Title: Collins' grand slam - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=2370019983

• A pair of Astros prospects starred for Class A Advanced Buies Creek as Seth Beer (No. 7) and J.J. Matijevic (No. 20) each homered in a 6-4 victory over Frederick.
Beer, whom the Astros selected 28th overall in this year's Draft, went 2-for-4 with his first homer at the Class A Advanced level, and is 9-for-34 (.265) since his promotion from Class A Quad Cities, where he posted a .934 OPS in 29 games.
Matijevic belted a two-run homer in the first inning for his 15th of the season. The left fielder has homered in four of his last five games and is hitting .261/.330/.510 in 69 games for Buies Creek this season.
• T.J. Zeuch, the Blue Jays' No. 16 prospect, tossed six scoreless innings in Double-A New Hampshire's 4-1 victory over Richmond. He yielded four hits, walking none and striking out five to lower his ERA to 3.12 in 17 starts for the Fisher Cats this season. Over his past two outings, the right-hander has turned in 12 scoreless frames.
Brewers No. 3 prospect Corey Ray continued his power surge at the plate with his third homer in five games during Double-A Biloxi's 3-2 win over Tennessee. The center fielder has hit 25 homers in 113 games for Biloxi this season, after hitting a career-high seven in 112 games for Class A Advanced Carolina in 2017.

MILB Video - Title: Ray's 25th homer - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=2369482683

• Michael Rucker, the Cubs' No. 13 prospect, threw six strong innings in Double-A Tennessee's 3-2 loss to Biloxi. He gave up a run on one hit, walking one and fanning four. He's yielded just three runs over his last three starts (1.59 ERA). Overall, he's posted a 3.12 ERA in 22 starts this season.
Mets prospects (No. 5) and Adrian Hernandez (No. 14) turned in strong performances, with Kilome striking out 10 over 6 2/3 innings for Double-A Binghamton, and Hernandez going 3-for-4 with a homer -- his third in four games -- in the DSL.
Kilome gave up two runs on six hits, walking two in the 5-2 loss to Reading. In three starts for Binghamton, the right-hander has a 2.95 ERA. Prior to being traded from the Phillies in the deal that sent to Philadelphia, Kilome had a 4.24 ERA in 19 starts for Reading.

MILB Video - Title: Kilome's 10th strikeout - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=2369753283

Rays No. 22 prospect Tobias Myers tossed seven scoreless frames in Class A Bowling Green's 2-0 loss to West Michigan. He gave up four hits, walked two and struck out six, and has a 0.96 ERA (three earned runs in 28 innings) over his last four starts. Overall, the 20-year-old right-hander owns a 3.50 ERA in 20 appearances (18 starts) this season.
• Twins No. 19 prospect Luke Raley went 3-for-5 with a triple, homer and three RBIs in Double-A Chattanooga's 8-2 victory over Jackson. The outfielder/first baseman is hitting .273/.349/.481 with 19 homers across two levels this season, including eight games at Double-A over which he's batting .250 (7-for-28) with a pair of homers.