Here are Wednesday's 10 best prospect performers

August 29th, 2019

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

Jeter Downs, SS, Dodgers No. 6
Downs has been on fire lately and that continued Wednesday as he homered twice, his second two-homer game of the year, as part of a 2-for-3 game with Double-A Tulsa. Not only has Downs homered three times over the past two games -- giving him a career-high 23 on the season -- but he’s also put together four straight multihit performances (8-for-14) and driven in five runs during that span. The 21-year-old, acquired as part of the Yasiel Puig trade during the offseason, has fared well during his first season with the Dodgers’ organization and is slashing .277/.366/.530 through 150 games across two levels. Dodgers prospect stats »

Will Stewart, LHP, Marlins No. 27
Stewart struck out nine and gave up just two hits as he fired a complete-game shutout (seven innings) for Class A Advanced Jupiter. The 22-year-old, a 20th-round pick from the 2015 Draft (Phillies) has had some struggles this season and has pitched to a 5.43 ERA through 24 games (22 starts). Stewart gave up nine runs in 3 2/3 innings on Aug. 14, but has strung together back-to-back quality starts since. Marlins prospect stats »

Forrest Whitley, RHP, Astros No. 2
Whitley carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning but ultimately couldn’t finish the frame for Double-A Corpus Christi. The 21-year-old, a first-round pick from the 2016 Draft, has struggled with consistency this season and although he struck out eight, he also issued four walks. However, those walks never came back to haunt Whitley as he limited the rest of the damage to just one hit through 5 1/3 scoreless innings. The scoreless start was just Whitley’s second of 2019 after he held opponents scoreless in five of his eight starts a season ago. Astros prospect stats »

Johan Oviedo, RHP, Cardinals No. 12
After failing to get out of the first inning (1/3 IP, 4 ER) in his last start, Oviedo was much sharper this time around. The Springfield Cardinals (Double-A) pitcher cruised through 7 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up five hits and striking out 10. Oviedo, a 21-year-old, whom the Cardinals signed in 2016, has pitched to a 5.30 ERA through 22 starts with Springfield this season. Cardinals prospect stats »

Cole Winn, RHP, Rangers No. 4
Winn had everything working as he fired seven scoreless innings for Class A Hickory. The 2018 first-rounder threw 60 of his 80 pitches for strikes as he set a career high for innings. Winn, who gave up four hits and struck out five, has had his fair share of ups and downs this season and has pitched to a 4.52 ERA, but on Wednesday he showed why he was a first-round pick. Rangers prospect stats »

Drew Rom, LHP, Orioles No. 19
Rom bounced back from one of his worst starts of the year with one of his best. The 19-year-old, a 2018 fourth-round pick, gave up seven runs over 3 2/3 innings in his last start, but on Wednesday, he didn’t even yield a hit. Pitching for Class A Delmarva, Rom threw 47 of his 75 pitches for strikes and carved his way through the Lakewood lineup for five innings. Rom, who struck out six, retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced, a walk standing as the lone blemish on his stat line. Orioles prospect stats »

Adbert Alzolay, RHP, Cubs No. 5
Alzolay has given up one run or fewer in three of his past four starts after Wednesday’s gem for Triple-A Iowa. The Cubs’ No. 5 prospect was unhittable for four innings, threw 32 of his 61 pitches for strikes and was two walks away from being perfect. Alzolay retired nine of the 10 batters he faced through three innings and then punctuated his outing as he struck out the side in the fourth. The 24-year-old has pitched across three levels this season, including the Majors as he made his debut in June and appeared in three games. Cubs prospect stats »

Alex Jackson, C, Braves No. 25
Jackson has a career-high 28 homers after going deep twice for Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday. He now has five two-homer games this season after hitting a solo shot in the seventh and then a three-run blast in the eighth to finish 2-for-4 with four RBIs. The 23-year-old doesn’t hit for much average, but he has plenty of power and has now homered 36 times over the past two seasons. Braves prospect stats »

Jeremiah Jackson, SS/2B, Angels No. 5
Jackson has only played in 57 games this season, but that’s clearly plenty of time to rack up 22 homers. The 19-year-old has put his power on display through the season and did so once again Wednesday as he homered as part of a 3-for-4, two-RBI night with the Rookie-level Orem Owls. Jackson, a second-round pick from last year’s Draft, is hitting .279 this season and has hit eight homers over 16 games in August. Angels prospect stats »

Julio Rodriguez, OF, Mariners No. 3
Rodriguez showed why Mariners’ fans are so excited to see him in the future as he extended his hitting streak to nine games with a perfect 5-for-5 performance for Class A Advanced Modesto. The five hits marked a career best for the Mariners’ No. 3 prospect, who doubled twice, tripled and drove in four runs. Rodriguez hasn’t been with Modesto long -- he was promoted on Aug. 15 -- but he’s clearly had no trouble adjusting to the higher level and is batting .587 through 12 games. Prior to his promotion, Rodriguez hit .293 over 67 games with Class A West Virginia. Mariners prospect stats »