Monday's top prospect performers

July 2nd, 2019

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

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST

Blue Jays: Samad Taylor, 2B (No. 20) -- 2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI (Class A Adv Dunedin)
Taylor powered Dunedin to a 5-0 win over Florida with his first career two-homer game, as he hit a two-run shot to left field in the fourth inning and then added a solo shot to left in the sixth to push his season total to three home runs. The 20-year-old hadn't gone deep since April 15, but he has shown some pop in the past, hitting six homers in 2017, followed by nine last year in his first full season. Acquired from Cleveland with Thomas Pannone for Joe Smith in July 2017, Taylor possesses an intriguing blend of hitting ability and speed, though he's batted just .202 in 58 games this season, albeit while swiping 13 bags. Blue Jays prospects stats »

Orioles: Yusniel Diaz, OF (No. 4, MLB No. 90) -- 3-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB (Double-A Bowie)
Diaz hit six home runs in 21 games last month and kicked off July with a solo shot, going back-to-back with Ryan McKenna (Orioles' No. 7) in the first inning of Bowie's win over Hartford. He's gone deep four times in 11 games since returning from the birth of his child on June 21. The headliner in the five-player package that Baltimore acquired from the Dodgers in last summer's Manny Machado blockbuster, the 22-year-old Diaz is finally starting to tap into some of his impressive raw power this season, with eight homers in 48 games. His career high is 11, a total he reached in both 2017 and '18 and seems poised to blow past in his first full season in the O's system. Orioles prospects stats »

Rays: Vidal Brujan, 2B (No. 6, MLB No. 79) -- 2-for-3, R, BB, 2 SB (Double-A Montgomery)
Accounting for much of the Biscuits' offense on Monday, Brujan, playing in just his fourth Double-A game, collected two of his team's five hits and reached base three times from the leadoff spot in Montgomery's loss against Jackson. The pair of steals gives him 27 stolen bases (in 32 attempts) in 48 games this season after he finished second in the Minors with 55 steals in 2018. The 21-year-old switch-hitting speedster has continued to surge toward the Majors this season, as he was promoted to the Double-A level after slashing .290/.357/.386 with 12 extra-base hits in 44 games for Class A Advanced Charlotte. Rays prospects stats »

Red Sox: Bobby Dalbec, BOS (No. 2) -- 2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, BB (Double-A Portland)
After going 0-for-2 with a strikeout and walk in his first three trips to the plate against Yankees No. 4 prospect Deivi Garcia, Dalbec connected on a two-run homer to left field in the sixth inning and then added a solo shot in the eighth en route to his fourth multi-homer game of 2019. The pair of homers gives the 24-year-old three in his last two games and 17 in 75 games on the season, which also puts him more than halfway toward the career-high total of 32 he posted last season in 129 games across two levels. He's hitting .235 overall, with an .860 OPS in the Eastern League. Red Sox prospects stats »

Yankees: Estevan Florial, OF (No. 1, MLB No. 47) -- 2-for-3, 2 R, HR, BB (Class A Adv Tampa)
Florial hit a tape-measure home run to right field in the sixth inning and ultimately scored two runs while reaching base three times out of the leadoff spot, but it wasn't enough to keep Tampa from falling to Daytona, 9-3. The 21-year-old's homer was his second in five games and third overall in a season that's seen him appear in just 22 games after a fractured and dislocated left wrist wiped out his first two months of the season. Since returning, Florial has produced a .214/.290/369 line at the dish. Yankees prospects stats »

AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL

Indians: Tyler Freeman, SS (No. 3, MLB No. 86) -- 2-for-5, 2 R (Class A Adv Lynchburg)
Freeman's multihit performance for the Hillcats was his third in as many days and fifth in 11 games since the Indians promoted him to the Carolina League on June 20. The 20-year-old received the promotion after an impressive first half with Class A Lake County in the Midwest League, where he raked to the tune of a .292/.382/.424 line with 22 extra-base hits as well as 51 runs scored and 11 steals in 61 games. Freeman has done nothing but hit since the Indians selected him with the No. 71 overall pick in the 2017 Draft. In 180 Minor Leagues games, he owns a .320/.391/.457 line with 72 extra-base hits (58 2B), 32 steals and 38/66 BB/K. Indians prospects stats »

Royals: Brewer Hicklen, OF (No. 15) -- 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, SB (Class A Adv Wilmington)
Hicklen, 23, began July with his third three-hit game of the year. The 2017 17th-round pick is hitting .275 through 73 games after hitting .289 over two levels last year. Hicklen got off to a slow start in April, but has seen his average climb each month this year and hit .294 in June. The Alabama-Birmingham product has a unique combination of plus raw power and game-changing speed. Royals prospects stats »

Tigers: Brock Deatherage, OF (No. 20) -- 3-for-4, 2B (Class A Adv Lakeland)
Deatherage struggled over the first two months of the season, but has been swinging a hot bat lately. The 2018 Draft pick (10th round) is hitting .243 through 67 games, but has put together back-to-back multihit performances and coming a strong June, during which he hit .286 over 25 games. The 23-year-old doesn't have much power, but evaluators expect him to hit for average and his plus-plus speed allows him to impact the game on the bases and in center. Tigers prospects stats »

Twins: Royce Lewis, SS (No. 1, MLB No. 7) -- 2-for-4, 4 RBI (Class A Adv Fort Myers)
Lewis put the Miracle on the board in the first inning with a sacrifice fly, plated two runs with a single in the seventh and drove home a run via a bases-loaded single in the ninth to finish with a season-high four RBIs. After a surprisingly slow first half in which he batted .226 (.606 OPS) with two homers and 17 RBIs over 62 games, the 20-year-old former No. 1 overall pick (2017) has swung a hotter bat since the Florida State League All-Star break, hitting .259 (.728 OPS) with four homers and 12 RBIs across his last 14 games. Twins prospects stats »

White Sox: Blake Rutherford, OF (No. 8) -- 2-for-5, RBI, SB (Double-A Birmingham)
Rutherford is quickly making up for his slow start this season, as he's now batting .367 in 28 games since the start of June -- a stretch during which he has 13 multihit games. The 22-year-old still has a ways to go, however, after batting just .156/.207/.247 in April and .216/.247/.338 in May. Overall, the former first-round pick (2016), whom the White Sox acquired from the Yankees in July 2017, owns a .262/.299/.365 line in 70 games in his first Double-A campaign. White Sox prospects stats »

AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST

A’s: Jonah Heim, C (No. 29) -- 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI (Triple-A Las Vegas)
Heim extended his hitting streak to seven games with an RBI single in the first and then continued his hot stretch when he hit his eighth homer of the season in the fourth inning of Las Vegas' win over Reno. The 24-year-old began the season with Double-A Midland, but after hitting .285 through 45 games, was promoted to Vegas. Heim, a switch hitter, is typically thought of a a defensive-minded catcher, but he's been raking since arriving in Las Vegas. Heim is batting .479 and has hits in 14 of the 16 games he's played with the Aviators. A's prospects stats »

Angels: Hector Yan, LHP (No. 28) -- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K (Class A Burlington)
Yan threw 51 of his 83 pitches for strikes and command has been a struggle throughout his career, but the zero in the runs column was a nice sight after he surrendered five runs in four innings in his last start. The 20-year-old, whom the Angels signed in 2015, has an above-average curveball and a fastball that sits in the low 90s and can get up to 96, walks are always an issue. Yan has walked 10 over his last 14 1/3 innings and issued 37 free passes through 63 2/3 innings. However, he's also racked up 89 strikeouts during that time and has pitch to a 3.39 ERA. Angels prospects stats »

Astros: Freudis Nova, SS (No. 6) -- 3-for-4, 3 R, 3 2B, RBI, SB (Class A Quad Cities)
Nova hit three doubles on Monday and came around to score each time as he paced the River Bandits' offense in a 7-3 win over Clinton. Signed by Houston for $1.2 million in July 2016, Nova has swung the bat well so far during his introduction to full-season ball, hitting .275/.302/.402 with two homers and seven doubles over his first 26 games in the Midwest League. The 19-year-old stands out for his high offensive ceiling, with the potential to hit for average and some power, but also could develop average-or-better tools across the board needed to stick at shortstop long term. Astros prospects stats »

Mariners: Art Warren, RHP (No. 20) -- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (Double-A Arkansas)
Warren needed just 10 pitches, eight strikes, to rack up two strikeouts and spin a scoreless inning in relief. The 26-year-old missed all of May while on the injured list, but has been lights out all season. Warren has pitched to a 1.15 ERA and held opponents scoreless in 13 of his 16 outings. Over that span Warren has totaled 15 2/3 innings, walked five and struck out 21. Mariners prospects stats »

Rangers: Cole Winn, RHP (No. 2, No. 65 in MLB) -- 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K (Class A Hickory)
Make that back-to-back scoreless starts for Winn, the Rangers' first-round pick from the 2018 Draft. The 19-year-old didn't pitch last summer so the Rangers had to wait to see Winn make his professional debut and after a slow start, the patience has been rewarded. Winn got rocked early and had an ERA over nine through his first six starts, but since then he's spun a pair of scoreless starts and fanned eight over nine scoreless innings. Rangers prospects stats »

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST

Braves: Patrick Weigel, RHP (No. 16) -- 4 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K (Triple-A Gwinnett)
Weigel, 24, faced two over the minimum and struck out a season-high nine in his best start of the season. He threw 73 pitches, 47 for strikes. The 6-foot-6 right-hander owns a 3.38 ERA over 34 2/3 frames for the Stripers, though Monday's performance marked the first time in nine outings -- and the third time in 16 outings this season -- that he has not allowed a walk. While Weigel's control has been an issue for him this season, with 28 walks and seven hit batters in 50 1/3 frames overall, he's held hitters to a .188 average in 2019 and .218 for his career. Braves prospects stats »

Marlins: Isan Diaz, 2B (No. 6) -- 1-for-1, HR (Triple-A New Orleans)
The Baby Cakes' contest against Memphis was suspended in the top of the second inning, but not before Diaz gave them an early lead with a first-inning solo shot. It was the fifth homer in 10 games and 19th of the season for Diaz, who's set to match his career high the next time he jumps the yard. He's hitting .298 with 53 RBIs, too, as he continues to make a strong case for a big league promotion sometime in the near future. The two teams will resume the suspended game on Tuesday. Marlins prospects stats »

Mets: Brett Baty, 3B -- 1-for-5, HR, 4 RBI (Gulf Coast League)
Baty, whom the Mets signed for $3.9 million after popping him with the No. 12 overall pick in this year's Draft, connected on a grand slam for his first professional home run and has hit safely in five straight games to begin his career. The 19-year-old left-handed hitter showed off his power potential by hammering the first pitch of his second at-bat over the wall to the opposite field. As the owner of one of more gorgeous swings in the 2019 class, Baty's hot start in the GCL gives Mets fans plenty of reason to be excited about the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder's very bright future in the game. Mets prospects stats »

Phillies: Francisco Morales, RHP (No. 8) -- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K (Class A Lakewood)
Entering in the sixth inning as piggyback reliever after Victor Santos worked the first five frames, Morales proceeded to face two over the minimum while allowing one hit over four scoreless frames to earn his first career save. The 19-year-old righty has dominated across his last five outings (three starts), pitching to a 0.83 ERA with nine hits allowed in 22 2/3 innings. He's lowered his season ERA from 5.40 to 3.60 in the span, and, overall, he's racked up 83 strikeouts in 55 innings (13.6 K/9) for the BlueClaws in 2019. Phillies prospects stats »

Nationals: Israel Pineda, C (No. 7) -- 2-for-4, R, 2B (Class A Hagerstown)
Pineda's multihit effort was his second in as many games and fourth in his last 10 contests, during which he's batting .282. The 19-year-old backstop has had a challenging campaign so far in the South Atlantic League, hitting .219/.287/.333, though he does have five home runs and has shown promising plate discipline, with 57 strikeouts and 19 walks in 57 games. Defensively, Pineda has hosed 40 percent of basestealers in 49 games behind the plate, albeit while committing 17 passed balls. Nationals prospects stats »

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL

Brewers: Brice Turang, SS (No. 2, MLB No. 92) -- 2-for-2, 2 R, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB (Class A Wisconsin)
Turang reached base four times out of the leadoff spot, drawing a pair of walks to go along with a triple and his second home run of the season, a sixth-inning solo shot. He ultimately accounted for two of the Timber Rattlers' five hits and both of the team's runs as they fell to Beloit, 3-2. Taken with the No. 21 overall pick in the 2018 Draft, Turang, 19, has been anything but overmatched this year in the full-season Midwest League, where he's now hitting .293/.392/.386 with 18 extra-base hits, 20 steals and nearly as many walks (47) as strikeouts (50) through 76 games. Brewers prospects stats »

Cubs: Paul Richan, RHP (No. 18) -- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K (Class A Adv Myrtle Beach)
Richan matched his career high in strikeouts, fanning nine batters for the second time in three starts, while completing seven innings in the longest start of his career. The performance netted the 22-year-old his eighth win in 13 starts in the Carolina League and ended a recent rough patch in which he had allowed 18 earned runs in 26 innings (6.23 ERA) across his previous five starts. Altogether, Richan, whom the Cubs took in the supplemental second round in the 2018 Draft, has compiled a 4.15 ERA with 65 strikeouts and 16 walks in 69 1/3 innings in his first full season. Cubs prospects stats »

Cardinals: Dylan Carlson, OF (No. 2, MLB No. 88) -- 2-for-4, 2B, HR, BB (Double-A Springfield)
We're a little more than halfway into the season and Carlson has already set a new career high in home runs with 12. He reached that mark Monday when he crushed a solo shot in the sixth inning of Springfield's loss against Tulsa in a game that saw him reach base three times from the leadoff spot and finish with a team-high two hits. The 20-year-old switch-hitter continues to impress this season during a breakout campaign in which he's batting .285/.365/.511 with a Texas League-leading 32 extra-base hits. He's doing damage from both sides of the plate, too, sporting a .291/.344/.545 line with four homers against lefties (55 at-bats) and a .284/.369/.502 line with eight homers (229 ABs) against right-handed hurlers. Cardinals prospects stats »

Pirates: Mason Martin, 1B (No. 28) -- 1-for-2, HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB (Class A Greensboro)
Martin has driven in nine runs in his past two games after he followed up a five-RBI showing Sunday by hitting a grand slam Monday to help lead Greensboro over Hagerstown, 9-7. What's more, the 20-year-old first baseman has 17 RBIs over his last eight games and leads the South Atlantic League in that category with 79 -- a total he's reached in just 77 games and that is 21 more than the next closest player. He also leads the circuit with 21 homers and 163 total bases. Pirates prospects stats »

Reds: Jose Siri, OF (No. 9) -- 2-for-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI (Double-A Chattanooga)
Siri hit both of his home runs off of flame-throwing righty Jorge Guzman (Marlins' No. 10), as he took him deep for a two-run shot in the third inning and then added another two-run shot in the sixth to record his first multi-homer game of the season. The toolsy, 23-year-old outfielder has seen his power back up as he's climbed through the Minors. After hitting a career-high 24 home runs as a part of a 20-20 campaign (46 steals) in 2017, Siri went deep 13 times last season and now has nine homers through 75 games in '19. He has, however, continued to rack up steals, going 41 for 52 on the basepaths since the start of 2018. Reds prospects stats »

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST

D-backs: Pavin Smith, 1B (No. 16) -- 2-for-5, 2B, HR, 5 RBI (Double-A Jackson)
Smith's sixth homer of the year was a three-run shot that capped a seven-run second inning in Jackson's 10-3 win over Montgomery. He added a two-run double in the eighth to finish with a season-high five RBIs. After a rather disappointing first full season last year in the California League, where he batted .255/.343/.392 line with 11 homers and 37 extra-base hits in 120 games, the former 2017 first-rounder (No. 7 overall) out of the University of Virginia has produced a nearly identical line this year in Double-A, with a .253/.336/.396 line in 72 games. D-backs prospects stats »

Dodgers: Miguel Vargas, 3B/1B (No. 27) -- 4-for-6, 4 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, SB (Class A Great Lakes)
After hitting a pair of home runs on Monday for the Loons, Vargas now has more home runs in his past two games (4) than he'd had in his first 121 career games (3). The 19-year-old from Cuba has recorded back-to-back games with four hits, including two home runs, four runs and four RBIs and is batting .462 during his nine game-hitting streak. Overall, Vargas has produced a .325/.399/.464 line with 27 extra-base hits and 45 RBIs in 70 games this season in the Midwest League. Dodgers prospects stats »

Giants: Franklin Labour, OF (No. 23) -- 2-for-4, 2 HR, BB (Class A Short Season Salem-Keizer)
The Giants have brought Labour along slowly since they signed him for $70,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2015, but the 21-year-old outfielder is finally rewarding the organization for its patience with a red-hot start in 2019. He leads the Northwest League with seven home runs through just 17 games after he crushed a pair of home runs, both solo shots, to power Salem-Keizer over Spokane. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder's power surge this season comes after he totaled seven home runs in 153 games across the first three seasons of his career. Giants prospects stats »

Padres: Tucupita Marcano, 2B (No. 17) -- 3-for-4, 3 R, RBI, BB (Class A Fort Wayne)
The 19-year-old posted his second three-hit performance in four games and now has 71 hits, to go along with a .286/.343/.359 line, in 61 games for the TinCaps in his first full season. A 6-foot, left-handed hitter, Marcano has plus contact skills and consistently drives the ball to all fields with a compact swing, all while demonstrating an approach the belies his age. He's also an above-average runner, but has gains to make as a basestealer. He appears to be yet another international steal for the Padres, who signed Marcano out of Venezuela for $320,000 in July 2016. Padres prospects stats »

Rockies: Tyler Nevin, 1B/3B (No. 6) -- 2-for-5, R, 2 2B (Double-A Hartford)
Nevin broke out at the plate last year in the California League (.328/.386/.503, 13 HR, 25 2B) and continued to rake in the Arizona Fall League, posting a .426 average to win the league batting title. The 22-year-old has struggled this season to build on that progress in Double-A, where he's hitting .234/.334/.336 with 17 extra-base hits through 74 games after Monday's performance. Rockies prospects stats »