Thursday's top prospect performers

September 10th, 2021

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

Orioles: Grayson Rodriguez, RHP (MLB No. 8), Double-A Bowie
Another day, another scoreless start for Rodriguez. The top pitching prospect in baseball threw three perfect innings against Harrisburg, striking out five. Though it was only the second perfect start of his Minor League career (he also tossed three perfect innings on Aug. 16, 2019), Thursday marked Rodriguez’s sixth scoreless start since being promoted to Double-A, a number that doesn’t include his July 18 outing in which he allowed a single unearned run. He now has 116 punchouts and just 22 walks in 17 starts with Bowie -- so forgive Baltimore fans for counting down the days until GrayRod makes his Major League debut. Orioles prospects stats »

A’s: Colin Peluse, RHP (No. 18), Double-A Midland
Peluse’s promotion to Midland has started off as successful as the RockHounds could’ve hoped. With six scoreless innings Thursday, Peluse still owns a 0.00 ERA (11 innings) through two starts with Midland. He still has yet to issue a walk at the Double-A level as his command has remained steady. Over his past five appearances (including his last three with High-A Lansing), the 23-year-old owns a 0.66 WHIP. A’s prospects stats »

Astros: Yainer Diaz, C (No. 14), High-A Asheville
After leaving Low-A Fayetteville on Aug. 17 with a slash line of .300/.336/.443, Diaz has taken it to another level (no pun intended) upon his promotion to Asheville. The 22-year-old went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and three RBIs against Rome on Thursday, giving him a .361/.412/.738 line through 17 games with the Tourists. Diaz didn’t keep great control of the running game, as the Braves stole two bases against him on the night, but he continued to produce at a high rate at the plate. Astros prospects stats »

Braves: Bryce Elder, RHP (No. 11), Triple-A Gwinnett
Elder’s start with Gwinnett went much smoother the second time around, tossing seven scoreless innings, giving up only one hit and striking out seven. Elder got his longevity back on track after only lasting four innings last Friday. With his seven-inning performance against Columbus, the 22-year-old has made it through six frames in nine of his past 11 starts and five frames in 11 of his past 12. Even better, Elder continued to mow down opposing hitters -- with seven strikeouts Thursday. He has at least five in each of his past 14 outings. Braves prospects stats »

D-backs: Dominic Fletcher, OF (No. 19), Double-A Amarillo
Fletcher hadn’t homered in nearly a month since his last one on Aug. 10, but, boy, did he end that drought in impressive fashion. The 24-year-old went deep twice Thursday night, hitting a solo shot in the fourth and another in the eighth, the latter ultimately proving to be the difference on the scoreboard. He now has a streak of three consecutive multihit games and since the calendar flipped to September, Fletcher is hitting .429 with a 1.162 OPS. D-backs prospects stats »

Pirates: Endy Rodriguez, C/OF (No. 19), Low-A Bradenton
Rodriguez’s solid approach at the plate continued to pay dividends Thursday, as the 21-year-old went 3-for-4 with a home run and a double against Clearwater. That raised his average to .291 and his OPS to .887, with 41 of his 99 hits going for extra bases. And after tying a season-worst with three strikeouts in Game 2 of the doubleheader against the Threshers on Wednesday, Rodriguez followed it up without a single punchout Thursday, keeping his total at 73 in 340 at-bats this season. Pirates prospects stats »

Royals: Nick Loftin, SS (No. 10), High-A Quad Cities
Loftin continues to move past his early season struggles at the plate. The 22-year-old went 4-for-5 against Peoria on Thursday (his second time this year with at least four hits) and through six September games, Loftin owns an impressive .455/.600/.591 slash line. That stretch is indicative of his rebound at the plate over the past month-plus, as he’s hitting .369 since the beginning of August. Loftin’s four-hit night also brought his season average to .282, the highest it has been since it sat at .300 on May 11 (Loftin’s third game of the year). Royals prospects stats »