MLB Pipeline's Prospect Team of the Week

May 13th, 2019

MLB Pipeline's Prospect Team of the Week honors the best performances from the previous seven days. Any Minor Leaguer currently on an organization Top 30 Prospects list on our Prospect Watch is eligible.

Since MLB Pipeline started selecting the Prospect Team of the Week in 2015, only two players ever have earned that honor in three consecutive weeks. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the first to do so in 2018, and Austin Riley has matched his feat with his third straight PTOW accolade.

Riley batted .296/.406/.778 with four homers in five games last week, including a two-long-ball performance on Wednesday. The Braves third baseman/outfielder has gone deep 12 times during the previous three weeks to move into a tie for second place in the Minors with 14, one behind Rangers catcher Sam Huff.

Riley is tied with Astros outfielder/first baseman Yordan Alvarez, who's on the verge of creating PTOW history of his own. Alvarez has made the squad four times in the season's first five weeks, leaving him just one shy of matching Guerrero's yearly record of five established in 2018.

Seven of the eight position players on the PTOW this week come from Triple-A, which isn't surprising. The two Triple-A leagues have switched to using Major League baseballs and are averaging 5.42 runs per game while the rest of the Minor League circuits are averaging 4.22.

The complete PTOW, based on games from May 6-12:

C: Alex Jackson, Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A)
(Braves' No. 27 prospect)
.300/.364/.950, 5 G, 20 AB, 6 R, 6 H, 1 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 5 SO

Jackson homered in four of his five games and now has six in 14 Triple-A contests, during which he's batting .269/.333/.635. The sixth overall pick in the 2014 Draft finally made his big league debut this April, going 0-for-10 in three games.

1B: Bobby Bradley, Columbus Clippers (Triple-A)
(Indians' No. 6 prospect)
.500/.550/1.111, 5 G, 18 AB, 4 R, 9 H, 2 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB, 5 SO

Bradley began the week on fire, going 7-for-8 with two doubles, three homers and six RBIs in his first two games on Tuesday and Wednesday. He has hit for power everywhere he has gone in the Minors and continues to do so in 2019, batting .306/.368/.579 with seven homers in 32 contests.

2B: Dawel Lugo, Toledo Mud Hens (Triple-A)
(Tigers' No. 18 prospect)
.471/.500/.765, 4 G, 17 AB, 4 R, 8 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 3 SO, 1 SB

Part of the J.D. Martinez trade with the Diamondbacks in 2017, Lugo is posting the best numbers of his eight-year pro career. He had three multihit games in four tries last week, including a four-hit effort on Friday, and is now batting .342/.386/.475 with a pair of homers in 30 games.

3B: Bobby Dalbec, Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A)
(Red Sox's No. 3 prospect)
.500/.556/1.438, 4 G, 16 AB, 5 R, 8 H, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1 SB

Dalbec has prodigious power and showed it off by ranking second in the Minors in extra-base hits (70) and fourth in homers (32) last season. He went deep three times on Saturday, doubling his 2019 total, and led all Top 30 Prospects last week in homers (four, tied with Jackson and Riley), total bases (23), slugging (1.438) and OPS (1.993). For the year, he's hitting .248/.387/.495 in 30 games.

SS: Luis Urias, El Paso Chihuahuas (Triple-A)
(Padres' No. 3 prospect/MLB No. 22)
.409/.480/.955, 6 G, 22 AB, 6 R, 9 H, 3 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 3 SO

Known much more for his pure hitting ability than his power, Urias already has set a career high with 10 homers this year despite spending two weeks in San Diego. After notching the first two multihomer games of his career on April 27 and 28, he added another on Saturday. In 22 Triple-A games this season, he's raking at a .354/.434/.817 clip.

OF: Yordan Alvarez, Round Rock Express (Triple-A)
(Astros' No. 3 prospect/MLB No. 38)
.400/.464/.840, 6 G, 25 AB, 3 R, 10 H, 2 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 3 BB, 8 SO

Alvarez's monster year continued as he had four multihit games and homered in three of them last week. He's now leading the Minors in slugging (.869), OPS (1.358), extra-base hits (27), total bases (106) and RBI (47) through 33 games, and he ranks second in hitting (.402), on-base percentage (.490) and homers (14).

OF: Austin Riley, Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A)
(Braves' No. 4 prospect/MLB No. 32)
.296/.406/.778, 7 G, 27 AB, 7 R, 8 H, 1 2B, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 5 BB, 5 SO

Riley's third straight huge week not only boosted him into second place in the Minors in homers (14) but also in total bases (94). He tops the International League in both categories as well as runs (31), RBI (35) and extra-base hits (24) while batting .300/.376/.671 through 36 games.

OF: DJ Stewart, Norfolk Tides (Triple-A)
(Orioles' No. 15 prospect)
.313/.368/1.000, 5 G, 16 AB, 5 R, 5 H, 2 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 2 BB, 3 SO

Stewart almost singlehandedly destroyed Pawtucket in a 9-4 win last Wednesday, going 3-for-3 with a double, two homers, a walk and seven RBIs. On pace for the best year of his career since the Orioles made him the No. 25 overall pick in the 2015 Draft, he's hitting .259/.390/.500 with six homers in 32 games.

LHP: Scott Moss, Chattanooga Lookouts (Double-A)
(Reds' No. 15 prospect)
1-0, 0.82 ERA, 2 GS, 11 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 BB, 13 SO, 0.91 WHIP

After leading the Minors with 15 victories a year ago, Moss has made a successful jump to Double-A. He hurled six no-hit innings with 10 strikeouts on Monday before earning his second win of 2019 with five solid innings on Saturday. He ranks second in the Southern League with 45 whiffs in 33 frames and sports a 2-1 record, 3.55 ERA and a .189 opponent average.

RHP: Jose Soriano, Burlington Bees (low Class A)
(Angels' No. 13 prospect)
1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO, 0.50 WHIP

Soriano also had a start with six hitless innings, striking out nine in his gem on Thursday. He has permitted just six earned runs in seven outings this season, going 3-2 with a 1.72 ERA, 32 strikeouts and a .196 opponent average in 31 1/3 innings.

RP: Marshall Kasowski, Tulsa Drillers (Double-A)
(Dodgers' No. 25 prospect)
0-1, 0.00 ERA, 3 G, 1 SV, 4 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 0.50 WHIP

Kasowski topped all Minor League relievers in strikeouts (111 in 64 2/3 innings) a year ago and is blowing hitters away again in 2019. He whiffed eight of the 14 he faced last week and has 26 in 13 1/3 innings to go with a 2.03 ERA and a .167 opponent average.