Hayes, Baddoo lead electric day

March 29th, 2021

While Spring Training stats don't carry all of the weight, it still can be exciting when a young player grabs the spotlight at camp.

Top prospects Ke'Bryan Hayes and Akil Baddoo continued notching big hits for their respective teams as both registered exit velocities over 100 mph in Monday's Grapefruit League action.

Hayes, baseball's No. 9 overall prospect, added his seventh multi-hit game of the spring to boost his average to .429. The 24-year-old singled to right in the first with a 11 0 mph screamer. An inning later, Hayes reached on a single that deflected off Twins pitcher Josh Winder.

The Pirates' top prospect grounded out in his final at-bat before being replaced at third. He committed a fielding error, his first of camp, but he also made a slick play to take a hit away from Rob Refsnyder.

Baddoo crushed a two-run go-ahead blast -- with an exit velocity of 101 mph -- to right that just stayed fair. The Tigers' No. 24 prospect has five Grapefruit League homers, all in his last 25 at-bats. In 24 games, the left-handed slugger raised his slash line to .310/.442/.714.

More notable performances from top prospects:

Tyler Freeman, SS CLE (MLB No. 98)
Freeman got the start at short, batting eighth. Cleveland’s No. 3 prospect singled to right in the third and added an RBI single to right in the seventh for his first multi-hit game of the campaign. Freeman has a 1.093 OPS in 31 plate appearances as he gets an extended look before heading to Minor League camp. Gameday »

Tanner Houck, RHP, BOS
Boston's No. 7 prospect finished Spring Training on his best game of the month. Houck went 4 1/3 scoreless innings, his longest outing of Spring Training, and allowed just two hits and a walk with six strikeouts, double his previous high for 2021. The righty needed just 32 pitches to cruise into the fifth inning and fired 27 of them for strikes, getting five of his six K's swinging. Gameday »

Bryson Stott, SS, PHI
Stott's first career big league camp dinger was the furthest blast of the day at 430 ft. The 2019 first-round pick drilled a solo shot to center with a 104.5 mph exit velocity to pad the Phillies' lead before the Blue Jays took over. Stott has had a quiet spring for the most part, but now has three of his five total hits over his last five at-bats. Gameday »

Ryan Rolison, LHP, COL
In his fourth outing and first start of the spring, Rolison worked through some command issues to pick up his second Cactus League win in a 10-2 victory over the Padres. Rolison allowed one run on one hit in three innings and pitched around three walks, striking out a batter. The outing was a strong rebound for Colorado's No. 2 prospect, who yielded four runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings his last time out against the Reds on March 16. Gameday »

Orelvis Martinez, DH, TOR
Martinez put up his first multi-hit game of Spring Training with his first two extra-base hits in the Grapefruit League. Toronto's No. 6 prospect blasted his first homer of the spring, a two-run shot at 107.7 mph to left-center in the sixth inning after entering as a pinch-hitter. In the next inning, the 19-year-old powered an RBI double to left field. Gameday »

Otto Lopez, 2B/SS, TOR
Seeing action at both middle infield spots, Toronto's No. 12 prospect tallied three singles as part of his team's 18-hit outburst on Monday. Lopez singled on a liner to right in the fifth inning, a bouncer up the middle in the seventh and an infield single to third in the ninth. The three-hit showing pushed Lopez's spring slash line to .400/.471/.400 in 15 at-bats.

Edmundo Sosa, SS, STL
Like Martinez, Sosa also put up his first multi-hit game and first homer of Spring Training. St. Louis' No. 18 prospect laced a single to right field in the bottom of the seventh, then hammered a solo shot to left-center in the ninth. Sosa had just three hits in his first 23 at-bats this spring but boosted his average to the Mendoza line at .200 even after Monday. Gameday »

Luis Gil, RHP, NYY
The Yankees' No. 5 prospect threw nine of his 13 pitches for strikes and struck out all three batters he faced in his second appearance of the spring. Gil reached 98 mph with his fastball according to Statcast data and fanned baseball's No. 3 overall prospect Spencer Torkelson for his final out. Gameday »