Williams among 10 top prospect performers Thursday
Rangers' No. 7 prospect swats two solo dingers, extends hitting streak to 6 games for Double-A Frisco
Nick Williams is on a tear through the Texas League. The Rangers' No. 7 prospect connected for a pair of solo homers Thursday as Double-A Frisco blanked Corpus Christi, 7-0.
Williams finished the night 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a stolen base, extending his hitting streak to six games with his 24th multi-hit game of the season and bringing his home run total to 11 for the year. He's now batting .560 (14-for-25) with three homers during the streak and has seen his average climb from .277 to .299 in that span.
Video: Rangers prospect Williams to play in Futures Game
The 21-year-old outfielder is in the midst of his fourth year in the Rangers organization. A Texas native, Williams was selected in the second round of the 2012 Draft. He's hit .294/.346/.485 with 43 home runs and 199 RBIs through 340 career Minor League games.
The rest of the 10 best performances from top Minor Leaguers
• Blue Jays No. 23 prospect Nick Wells set career-best marks for strikeouts and innings pitched by fanning eight in six scoreless innings against the Bristol Pirates. He also picked up his first win of the year in his fifth start for the Bluefield Blue Jays. The southpaw bounced back from a rough start his last time out to limit the Pirates to just two hits and two walks.
• Giants No. 2 prospect Keury Mella held Class A Advanced Stockton hitless for six innings Thursday, eventually ceding a solo shot to Franklin Barreto -- the No. 2 prospect for the A's -- to open the seventh. That was merely a blip in an otherwise stellar outing for Mella, who completed seven innings of one-run ball, allowing only the home run while striking out five batters. He improved to 5-2 on the year for Class A Advanced San Jose, while lowering his ERA to 3.09. The win comes just four days after the 21-year-old right-hander had a rough outing in Sunday's Futures Game, giving up a pair of runs in just 1/3 of an inning.
• Indians No. 2 prospect (No. 41 overall) Clint Frazier had a big night for Class A Advanced Lynchburg, batting 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a stolen base. Frazier boasts a modest five-game hitting streak and raised his average from .255 to .262 in that span. The two-run shot snaps a 15-game homerless drought for the 2013 fifth overall selection, who was considered among the top power hitters in that Draft class. It was Frazier's 20th multi-hit game of the season and fourth with three or more hits.
• Mets No. 3 prospect (No. 65 overall) Michael Conforto increased his home run total to 11 for the year with a solo shot for Double-A Binghamton. Since his first professional at-bat nearly one year ago, Conforto has been moving quickly through the Mets organization. The 10th overall selection in the 2014 Draft, Conforto is hitting .310 through 38 games with the B-Mets and is 4-for-9 with three RBIs in his last two contests.
• Nationals No. 5 prospect Joe Ross tossed five shutout frames, allowing just two hits and no walks while striking out three. Since he joined Triple-A Syracuse in June, the 22-year-old right-hander is 3-1 with a 2.19 ERA through five starts. He's held his opponent to one or no runs in three of those five outings and in eight of his 14 Minor League starts this year.
• Pirates No. 1 prospect (No. 9 overall) Tyler Glasnow was at the top of his game Thursday, tossing seven shutout frames for Double-A Altoona. Glasnow, 21, limited the Flying Squirrels to just three hits and no walks while fanning a season-high nine batters. The seven innings pitched were also a season-high for the right-hander. Glasnow has now held his opponent scoreless in each of his last two starts, spanning 13 innings. He's 4-2 with a 2.12 ERA in 10 starts with Altoona this year.
• Red Sox No. 20 prospect Nick Longhi fell a home run shy of the cycle Thursday, batting 4-for-5 with two singles, a double, a triple, two runs scored and three RBIs. With his third four-hit game of the season, he extended his hitting streak to eight games for Class A Greenville. He's batting 15-for-33 (.455) during the streak, raising his average from .275 to .296 in the process.
• Yankees No. 2 prospect (No. 54 overall) Aaron Judge took the Reds' top prospect deep Thursday, knocking a two-run, first-inning homer against Robert Stephenson, who ranks No. 1 in the Cincinnati farm system. It was the 23-year-old outfielder's second homer since his promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 22 and his 14th on the year. He now has at least one hit in 13 of his last 15 games with the RailRiders.
• Yankees No. 26 prospect Gosuke Katoh got the Pulaski Yankees off to a hot start in the first inning of their Appalachian League matchup with the Burlington Royals with a two-out grand slam, the first of his professional career. Katoh finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs and a walk in the eventual 10-3 win. It was the 20-year-old second baseman's fourth home run this year and the 13th of his Minor League career. He's raised his average 69 points over his last six games, batting 9-for-20 with five walks.