Saturday's top prospect performers

June 27th, 2021

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

Royals: Bobby Witt Jr., SS (MLB No. 7), Double-A Northwest Arkansas
Daniel Lynch, LHP (MLB No. 21), Triple-A Omaha

It’s never a surprise when Bobby Witt Jr. almost hits for the cycle -- this time, he fell a triple short -- but he certainly made up for it by having a career night at the plate. His four hits and five RBIs are both career highs for the 2019 No. 2 overall pick. Witt Jr. did it all, starting his night off with a double in his first at-bat before crushing a three-run home run in the second. He recorded two more singles to give him eight total bases on the night. After a slow start in May, the Royals’ top prospect is now batting .341 in June.

Lynch threw 56 of his 90 pitches for strikes as he worked his way through five scoreless innings. The 24-year-old lefty matched his season high with seven strikeouts, yielded four hits and walked three. Lynch has pitched to a 4.24 ERA through eight games (seven starts) with Omaha this season. He’s also appeared in three Major League games. Royals prospects stats »

Orioles: Grayson Rodriguez, RHP (MLB No. 19), Double-A Bowie
Water is wet, the sky is blue, Grayson Rodriguez struck out eight batters in a game. Yup, Saturday’s game was the fourth time this season he’s fanned eight, and he’s done it in back-to-back starts. The 21-year-old tossed five scoreless innings of one-hit ball with one walk. Rodriguez has had no trouble adjusting to Double-A -- he’s struck out 36 batters and given up just five earned runs in 24 2/3 innings since his promotion on June 2. Orioles prospects stats »

Angels: Reid Detmers, LHP (MLB No. 58), Double-A Rocket City
It was something of a lopsided start for Detmers, but even after giving up five runs on seven hits across six innings, it’s hard to ignore the career-high 16 strikeouts, topping his previous high of 14 he set in his last start. Detmers has struck out a whopping 46 batters over 21 innings in June, and he’s recorded double-digit strikeouts in three of his past four games. Angels prospects stats »

Phillies: Mick Abel, RHP (MLB No. 60), Low-A Clearwater
Phillies fans have been waiting for a start like this. The No. 15 overall pick of the 2020 Draft tossed what was easily the best start of his young professional career: a season-high five innings, no runs, no hits, one walk and eight strikeouts. Abel has now recorded eight punchouts, his season high, in back-to-back starts and looks poised to start going deeper into games. Phillies prospects stats »

D-backs: Tommy Henry, LHP (No. 12), Double-A Amarillo
Henry tossed a career-high 6 2/3 innings on the mound in Amarillo’s 5-2 win on Saturday, striking out seven and yielding just one run on four hits. It’s the first start all season that the lefty didn’t issue a walk. The No. 74 overall pick from the 2019 Draft, Henry bounced back nicely from a shaky start his last time out as he looks to find his footing in his first full season in the Minors. D-backs prospect stats »

Pirates: Liover Peguero, SS (No. 4), High-A Greensboro
Hudson Head, OF (No. 5), Low-A Bradenton
Acquired from the D-backs as part of the Starling Marte trade in 2020, Peguero continues to do what he does best: hit. The 20-year-old belted two home runs for the first time in his career on a 3-for-4, three-RBI night at the plate, giving a glimpse of the power that might come as he gains strength and experience. It’s his ninth multihit game of the season and the second that he’s recorded three hits.

Head, a 2019 third-round Draft pick, has taken some time to adjust to the minors, but after belting a homer for the second game in a row on a 3-for-4, five-RBI night at the plate, he is slowly improving his average. He’s now riding a six-game hitting streak in which he’s scored nine runs, hit three homers and driven in 11. His slugging percentage has rocketed from .349 to .439 in those six games, and his OPS is now at a season-high .850. Pirates prospects stats »

Rangers: Cole Winn, RHP (No. 3), Double-A Frisco
Jonathan Ornelas, IF/OF (No. 22), High-A Hickory

The Rangers’ top pitching prospect tossed five scoreless innings of one-hit ball, issuing just one walk and striking out seven. Since giving up five earned runs on June 8, Winn has only surrendered one run in his past three starts and boasts an 0.83 WHIP and a .120 BAA on the season. Frisco has the second-lowest team ERA in the Central division, and Winn’s 2.56 ERA is a big part of that.

Ornelas’ 3-for-4, two homer, three-RBI night at the plate was all-around his best game of the season and the first time in his career that he’s gone deep twice in one game. Ornelas is not a big power hitter, and it took him until June 16 to hit his first long ball of 2021, but he was able to connect for a terrific night at the plate. Rangers prospect stats »

White Sox: Kade McClure, RHP (No. 24), Double-A Birmingham
It was an encouraging outing for McClure, who has struggled to keep runners off the basepaths in 2021. The 6-foot-7 righty struck out eight batters and gave up just two hits and one walk over five scoreless frames to help lower his ERA by 77 points, from 5.94 to 5.17. It’s the second time in the past three games that McClure has tossed a scoreless outing. White Sox prospects stats »

Yankees: Anthony Volpe, SS (No. 11), Low-A Tampa
Hayden Wesneski, RHP (No. 30), Double-A Somerset

Volpe made the most of a doubleheader, going 4-for-5 with five runs scored, a homer, a walk and two doubles in two games. The 20-year-old has taken off in June, raising his OPS to an elite 1.049, good for eighth overall in the Southeast division. Not only has he boosted his average from .239 at the end of May to .305 after Saturday’s twin billing, but he’s scored 10 runs in Tampa’s past six games and boasts a .505 OBP this month.

It’s safe to say that Wesneski’s second start in Double-A went much better than his first. After a rough debut with Somerset, the 23-year-old looked more like himself, giving up just two hits and two walks over six innings while striking out seven. Wesneski started the year in High-A Hudson Valley but earned a call-up after posting a 1.49 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings across seven starts. Yankees prospects stats »