Here are Sunday's 10 best prospect performers

September 2nd, 2019

Here are the 10 best performances by players on team Top 30 Prospects lists from across the Minor Leagues on Sunday:

Jarred Kelenic, OF Mariners No. 1
Kelenic hit a pair of home runs and drove in a career-high five runs as Double-A Arkansas rallied to score six times in the top of the ninth to defeat Amarillo, 10-7. MLB's No. 22 prospect's first homer came in the fourth inning, when he connected on a two-run blast to right field, while his second dinger, a three-run shot off Trey Wingenter, tied the game with two outs in the ninth. It was the third multihomer game this season by the 20-year-old outfielder, who has produced a very impressive .292/.366/.537 line with 22 homers, 58 extra-base hits and 20 steals across three levels in his first full season. Mariners prospect stats »

Nick Raquet, LHP Nationals No. 29
In his final start this season, Raquet put it all together. The Nationals’ No. 29 prospect struck out a career-high 11 batters and allowed just four hits in six scoreless innings as Class A Advanced Potomac blanked Frederick, 2-0. He recorded six groundouts without issuing a walk in the stellar outing, throwing 63 of 91 pitches for strikes. The 23-year-old left-hander struggled early in the season but dominated down the stretch, going 6-1 with a 2.82 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 54 1/3 frames over his final 10 starts. Nationals prospect stats »

Roansy Contreras, RHP Yankees No. 13
Contreras’ starts have been money in the bank for Class A Charleston recently. The Yankees’ 13th-ranked prospect struck out eight Greenville hitters while allowing just one hit and one walk across six scoreless frames in Charleston’s 8-0 win, marking Contreras’ eighth straight start with at least five innings pitched, two or fewer earned runs allowed and four or fewer hits yielded. After posting a 4.57 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and .259 average against across 69 1/3 innings in the first half, the right-hander has gone 7-2 with a 2.21 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and .170 average against in the second half. Contreras' season ERA now stands at 3.33 to go with a 1.07 WHIP and 113/36 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Yankees prospect stats »

Luis Garcia, RHP Astros No. 29
Make it four double-digit strikeout performances in five starts at Class A Advanced Fayetteville for Garcia. The Astros’ No. 29 prospect punched out 12 batters in six innings against Down East on Sunday to help the Woodpeckers win the second-half Southern Division title in the Carolina League. He allowed one run on three hits and three walks and threw 63 of 94 pitches for strikes. Garcia now has 52 strikeouts over his last 27 innings after Sunday’s 12-K start -- he struck out a career-high 13 on Aug. 14 -- and overall he’s racked up 168 strikeouts in 108 2/3 innings across two levels. Astros prospect stats »

Tyler Phillips, RHP Rangers No. 15
Phillips held tough in an old-fashioned pitchers' duel, striking out a career-high 10 hitters while permitting just one run on three hits and two walks in Double-A Frisco’s 2-1 win over Northwest Arkansas. Texas’ 15th-ranked prospect has allowed three or fewer earned runs in seven of his last eight starts to salvage a slow start to the season and get his ERA with Frisco below 4.00. Rangers prospect stats »

Edwin Rios, 3B/1B/OF Dodgers No. 18
Rios reached base four times and matched his season high in RBIs in a big night at the plate for Triple-A Oklahoma City. After going 0-for-1 with a pair of walks in his first three plate appearances, the Dodgers’ No. 18 prospect connected on a three-run homer in the sixth and a two-run double in the eighth to finish 2-for-3 with five RBIs. The dinger was Rios’ fourth in his last five games and 31st of the season in the Pacific Coast League, where he’s slashed .270/.340/.575 with 56 extra-base hits and 91 RBIs in 104 games. He should be back with the Dodgers at some point this month after batting .286 with five extra-base hits (2 HR) in 17 big league games earlier in the season. Dodgers prospect stats »

Adley Rutschman, C and Zac Lowther, LHP Orioles Nos. 1 and 10
Rutschman knocked his second homer for Class A Delmarva as part of a 2-for-4 night that helped him snap a 1-for-13 mini-slump. That gives Rutschman four dingers across 37 professional games since the Orioles selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in June, and it seems only a matter of time before his bat warms up again with Delmarva the way it tore up New York-Penn League pitching to the tune of an .894 OPS with the Aberdeen IronBirds.

Double-A Bowie suffered a tight, 2-1 loss to Richmond, but it wasn’t for lack of effort by starter Lowther. Baltimore's 10th-ranked prospect shut down the Flying Squirrels with nine strikeouts across six innings, permitting just four hits with no walks. Lowther has been extremely consistent all year long for Bowie, allowing three or fewer earned runs in all but three of his 26 starts, and his season ERA now stands at 2.55 with a .197 batting average against and 1.11 WHIP. Orioles prospect stats »

Vidal Brujan, 2B and Josh Lowe, OF Rays Nos. 3 and 12
Lowe and Brujan helped Double-A Montgomery prevail in a slugfest against Pensacola, going a combined 6-for-7 in the Biscuits’ 11-7 victory. Brujan, the Rays’ third-ranked prospect, went 3-for-4 with a walk to break a three-game hitless streak. The second baseman is now batting .266 across 54 games since his promotion. Lowe, Tampa Bay’s No. 12 prospect, went 3-for-3 and smacked his 18th homer to plate a pair of runs for Montgomery. The slugger is working on a four-game hit streak as the Biscuits wrap up their season Monday before facing Jackson in the first round of the playoffs Wednesday night. Rays prospect stats »