Thursday's top prospect performers

May 28th, 2021

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

Giants: Marco Luciano, SS (MLB No. 13), Low-A San Jose
Luciano is heating up. The Giants’ No. 1 prospect got off to a slow start this season, but he boosted his average to .260 with a perfect 3-for-3 night at the plate, his second consecutive multihit performance. Luciano collected an RBI single in the first, hit his fourth homer of the year in the fourth, walked in the sixth and doubled in the seventh. The 19-year-old has limited professional experience as he played just 47 games in 2019, but did spend the 2020 season working out at the Giants’ alternate training site. Giants prospects stats »

Orioles: Grayson Rodriguez, RHP (MLB No. 21), High-A Aberdeen
Rodriguez put together another strong effort as he threw 47 of his 69 pitches for strikes across five innings of one-run ball. The 21-year-old gave up two hits and struck out nine, bringing his season total to 40 through 23 1/3 innings. Brooklyn scratched across a run in the first inning and picked up a single in the second, but that was the extent of the damage and once Rodriguez got rolling, he was dominant. The right-hander retired the final 11 batters he faced, eight of which went down via a strikeout. Orioles prospects stats »

Blue Jays: Jordan Groshans, SS (MLB No. 35), Double-New Hampshire
Gabriel Moreno, C (No. 7), Double-A New Hampshire
The duo of Groshans and Moreno led the charge in New Hampshire’s 10-run outburst Thursday afternoon. Groshans got the offense going with his first homer of the season in the first inning, a two-run shot that extended his hitting streak to seven games. The 21-year-old also singled to record his second multihit performance in three games. Groshans has gone 9-for-29 with three extra-base hits and five RBIs during his hitting streak.

It was more of the same for Moreno, who continued his blistering start to the season with an RBI triple during his fourth three-hit game of the year. The 21-year-old added a pair of singles and is now slashing .393/.457/.639 with eight extra-base hits, 19 RBIs and 12 runs in 61 at-bats. Moreno opened the year with an 11-game hitting streak and has reached safely in all but one of the 15 games he’s appeared in. Blue Jays prospects stats »

Pirates: Oneil Cruz, SS (MLB No. 51), Double-A Altoona
Cruz belted his first home run since May 12 and added a single, driving in three runs to help lead Altoona to a win over visiting Erie. The homer, Cruz’s first extra-base hit since May 20, was a two-out, three-run shot in the bottom of the fifth inning that gave the Curve the lead for good. Cruz now has five hits in his last five games and has lifted his OPS to .735 for the young season. Pirates prospects stats »

Braves: Shea Langeliers, C (MLB No. 59), Double-A Mississippi
Langeliers only had one hit, but it was a big -- no, grand -- one. The 2019 first-round pick put Mississippi on the board with a grand slam in the third inning. Langeliers has homered four times this season and is hitting .220 through 16 games. He finished 1-for-3, but also drew a walk and scored a pair of runs. While he has gotten off to a bit of a slow start, the backstop has shown some signs of heating up and has hits in three straight games. Braves prospects stats »

Twins: Jhoan Duran, RHP (MLB No. 85), Triple-A St. Paul
Duran came out firing as he struck out the side in both the first and second innings. The right-hander did give up a single in the first and three more reached in the third and fourth, but that doesn’t take away from the dominant effort. Duran threw 38 of his 66 pitches for strikes as he struck out eight and gave up just one hit over four scoreless innings. The lights-out performance is simply par for the course for Duran this season as he’s fanned 14 over seven innings in his two starts. Twins prospects stats »

Cardinals: Alec Burleson, OF (No. 16), Double-A Springfield
Burleson has been red-hot since being promoted to Double-A and that stretch continued with a 3-for-5 performance Thursday. The 22-year-old hit his sixth homer of the year, drove in three and is now hitting .370 through seven games with Springfield. Burleson started the season with High-A Peoria, where he hit .286 through 11 games. Cardinals prospects stats »

Rangers: Cole Winn, RHP (No. 3), Double-A Frisco
Winn was unhittable as he picked up his first win of the season. The 2018 first-round pick (15th overall) threw 43 of his 74 pitches for strikes as he cruised through six scoreless innings. While Winn didn’t surrender any hits, he did issue a trio of walks. However, his six strikeouts helped him avoid any real danger as he lowered his ERA to 2.08. Winn has held opponents scoreless in two of his four starts this season and struck out 25 over 21 2/3 innings. Rangers prospects stats »

Nationals: Tyler Dyson, RHP (No. 23), High-A Wilmington
Having pitched effectively out of the bullpen in his first four outings of the season, Dyson stepped into the rotation Thursday and didn’t disappoint. The 23-year-old tossed five hitless innings against Greensboro to lower his ERA 0.98. Dyson struck out three and walked three during his 66-pitch effort. The Bradenton, Fla., native extended his scoreless streak to 12 2/3 innings. Nationals prospects stats »

Yankees: Oswald Peraza, SS (No. 4), High-A Hudson Valley
Peraza racked up a career-best five hits for his eighth multihit game of the season in 21 played. The 20-year-old doubled twice in Hudson Valley’s seven-run first inning and drove in his team’s final run of the night with a third double in the eighth. In between, he added a pair of singles. Peraza bumped his slash line to .310/.381/.563 and his three doubles nearly matched his season total in that category entering Thursday night (four). Yankees prospects stats »