Here are Friday's best prospect performers

September 14th, 2019

Here are the best performances by players on team Top 30 Prospects lists from across the Minor Leagues on Friday:

MJ Melendez, C; Austin Cox, LHP; Zach Haake, RHP, (Royals Nos. 9, 21 and 27)
Melendez got things started for Class A Advanced Wilmington with a solo homer -- his second RBI in as many days -- in the second inning. The Blue Rocks would go on to win 2-0 to force a Game 5 in the Carolina League Championship Series.

Cox put together a masterpiece on the mound in a true pitchers' duel. The 22-year-old, a fifth-round pick from last year’s MLB Draft, threw 59 of his 98 pitches for strikes as he carved his way through the Woodpeckers' lineup, yielding just one hit over six scoreless innings.

Haake, a 2018 MLB Draft pick (6th round), was dominant on the mound for Class A Lexington. Haake, who pitched to a 2.70 ERA across two levels in his first full season, threw six no-hit innings, issued just two walks and struck out six. The Legends would go on to win in extra innings via a walk-off home run to win the South Atlantic League title. Royals prospect stats»

Connor Wong, C/3B, (Dodgers No. 28)
Wong has been red-hot throughout the playoffs and that trend continued Friday night as he led Double-A Tulsa to a win in Game 3 of the Texas League finals. The Drillers now lead the best-of-five series, 2-1.

He hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning that proved to be the only offense in the entire game and finished 1-for-3 at the plate. Wong has reached base in all eight postseason games for Tulsa. The 23-year-old, a third-round pick from the 2017 Draft, is hitting .260 in the playoffs and an even .500 through the first three games of the series.

Wong began the season with Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga and after hitting .247 over 71 games, he was promoted to Tulsa and subsequently caught fire, batting .349 over the final 40 games of the year. Dodgers prospect stats»

Taylor Jones, 1B, (Astros No. 28)
Jones, the Astros’ No. 28 prospect, put together a solid performance in a season-ending loss for Triple-A Round Rock, finishing 2-for-4 with a double, homer and a trio of RBIs. Jones gave Round Rock an early lead with an RBI double in the first and then added to his night with a two-run homer in the fourth. Astros prospect stats»

Abiatal Avelino, SS, (Giants No. 27)
Avelino finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs in Triple-A Sacramento's Game 3 win over Round Rock to win the Pacific Coast League title. He put his team on top with a two-run single in the second inning, and got them back into the lead with a two-run single in the eighth inning before the bullpen closed out the victory. Giants prospect stats»