Tuesday's top prospect performers

July 21st, 2021

Here's a look at Tuesday’s top Minor League performers from each team's Top 30 Prospects list:

Tigers: Spencer Torkelson, 3B (MLB No. 3), Double-A Erie
Colt Keith, 3B (No. 15), Low-A Lakeland

Torkelson tallied two extra-base hits for Erie for the second time this season en route to a 2-for-5 day at the plate. He clubbed a solo homer in his first at-bat and drilled a double in his second, giving him four doubles and eight homers through 28 Double-A games. The Tigers’ No. 1 prospect is batting .237 with an .889 OPS with Erie.

Keith, who came into Tuesday batting .340 in his first 15 games in July, went 2-for-3 with a homer, four RBIs and two walks against Dunedin. The 19-year-old has posted a .394 on-base percentage and has drawn 16 walks in his 28 games this season with Lakeland. Tigers prospects stats »

Giants: Marco Luciano, SS (MLB No. 12), Low-A San Jose
Luis Matos, OF (No. 7), Low-A San Jose
Will Wilson, SS (No. 12), Double-A Richmond

The power numbers have taken a dip over the past month for the Giants’ top prospect, but that didn’t stop Luciano from belting his league-leading 16th homer of the year on Tuesday. Luciano’s homer highlighted a 2-for-5, three-RBI night for the 19-year-old. The two-run homer was just his second of July, but he has been an on-base machine with his .413 OBP in 51 July at-bats.

Another day, another Matos multihit game. The 19-year-old went 3-for-5 with a homer, two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored for San Jose, giving him six multihit games in his past 10 contests and a hit streak of seven games. In that 10-game span, Matos has brought his average up 15 points, from .294 to .309, and he now owns an .824 OPS with 46 RBIs, 19 doubles and 16 stolen bases through 60 games.

Wilson had his best night at the plate since being called up from High-A Eugene on July 6. He went 3-for-5 with three RBIs in Richmond’s 9-5 win over Akron. The former first-round pick was batting .251 with an .837 OPS to go along with 10 homers and 26 RBIs in 49 games with Eugene before getting called up to Richmond. Wilson has gotten hits in nine of his first 13 games with the Flying Squirrels, but is batting .218 with one homer and four RBIs since making the leap to Double-A. Giants prospect stats »

Blue Jays: Jordan Groshans, SS (MLB No. 32) Double-A New Hampshire
Groshans recorded his second multihit game in a row and his fourth in 10 games as the Jays’ No. 3 prospect went 3-for-4 with a walk, two RBIs and one run scored in New Hampshire’s 9-8 loss on Tuesday. The 2018 first-rounder (12th overall) brought his slash line up to .288/.366/.448 with 27 RBIs and 27 walks through 43 Double-A games this season. Blue Jays prospect stats »

Dodgers: Keibert Ruiz, C (MLB No. 41) Triple-A Oklahoma
The Dodgers’ top prospect has fared well this season while with Oklahoma City, and he had yet another strong showing at the dish on Tuesday. Ruiz went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double and two RBIs against Reno. The 23-year-old switch hitter has been a productive run producer while in Triple-A as he has hit 13 home runs and driven in 37 runs with a .958 OPS in 46 games. Dodgers prospect stats »

Twins: Jordan Balazovic, RHP (MLB No. 75), Double-A Wichita
If it feels like we’re talking a lot about Balazovic lately, it’s because we are. It’s hard to top the career performance of 11 strikeouts across seven one-hit innings that he had in his last outing, but Balazovic still dominated with six strikeouts over seven scoreless innings (4 hits, 1 walk) this time out. The Twins’ top pitching prospect has now tossed four scoreless outings in a row, the longest such streak in his career. Over that stretch, Balazovic has given up just 10 hits (no homers), four walks and has fanned 30 batters across 25 2/3 innings. His ERA is down to 2.44 through nine starts. Twins prospect stats »

D-backs: Blake Walston, LHP (No. 5), High-A Hillsboro
Walston had a career night on the mound for Hillsboro, fanning a career-best 11 over a career-high eight innings. On top of that, the D-backs’ top pitching prospect took a no-hitter into the seventh before giving up a leadoff homer. That would be the only run he’d give up, and after allowing a single in the bottom of the eighth, Walston struck out the last batter he faced to cap off the stellar outing. The D-backs’ first-round pick from the 2019 Draft, Walston threw 69 of his 98 pitches for strikes and fanned five batters in a row in the second and third innings to bring his season strikeout total to 88 through 62 1/3 innings. D-backs prospect stats »

Marlins: Kyle Nicolas, RHP (No. 15), High-A Beloit
After a pair of rough outings, Nicolas delivered one of his best starts of the season for the Snappers. The righty tied a season-high with six innings of work and struck out 10 batters while giving up just one run on three hits against Cedar Rapids. Nicolas came into Tuesday’s ballgame having given up 12 runs in his last 8 2/3 innings. Marlins prospect stats »

Rangers: Justin Slaten, RHP (No. 25), High-A Hickory
Two starts ago, Slaten fanned a career-high 10 batters after never striking out more than seven in a game. On Tuesday, he matched that as he recorded another 10 strikeouts across five scoreless innings of three-hit ball, throwing 50 of his 78 pitches for strikes. The 2019 third-rounder has spun three scoreless starts in his past four outings, tallying 30 strikeouts and five walks over 20 innings in that span. Rangers prospect stats »

Rays: Drew Strotman, RHP (No. 17), Triple-A Durham
Across his past four starts, Strotman has been tough to score against and he continued that trend Tuesday. The 24-year-old righty threw five scoreless innings and struck out four batters while allowing five hits and three walks against Charlotte. He has limited opposing hitters to two runs over his past 19 innings for Durham. Rays prospects stats »

Rockies: Chris McMahon, RHP (No. 8), High-A Spokane
McMahon spun his first scoreless outing of the season as he held Tri-City to four hits and two walks across five innings. The 2020 Draft pick (46th overall) fanned six, including a strikeout to get himself out of a first-and-third, two-out jam in the first inning to kickstart his night. On the season, McMahon is pitching to a 4.31 ERA with 73 strikeouts across 71 innings (14 starts). Rockies prospect stats »

White Sox: Bailey Horn, LHP (No. 23), High-A Winston-Salem
Horn turned in his best High-A start since getting called up on July 1, tossing three hitless innings with five strikeouts in Winston-Salem’s 6-0 shutout of Jersey Shore. The 2020 fifth-rounder worked around three walks to prevent any runs from scoring, setting the tone for the rest of the night. Across two levels, Horn has a 5.09 ERA with 43 strikeouts through 35 1/3 innings. White Sox prospect stats »

Yankees: Ezequiel Duran, 2B (No. 15), High-A Hudson Valley
Duran clubbed two home runs and finished a double shy of the cycle on a busy 3-for-5 night at the plate, driving in a career-high six runs, scoring three and walking once. The 22-year-old started his night off with an RBI triple to drive in the first of 17 runs that Hudson Valley would score. After striking out in the third, Duran smacked two home runs in back-to-back innings -- a two-run shot in the fourth and a three-run bomb in the fifth -- for his first multihomer game of the season and the second of his career. Duran brought his average up to .286 with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs through 62 games. Yankees prospect stats »