Friday's top prospect performers

July 24th, 2021

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

Braves: Drew Waters, OF (MLB No. 25), Triple-A Gwinnett
Waters left the yard for the second game in a row on a 2-for-4 night at the plate in Gwinnett’s 17-8 victory, tallying his fourth multihit game in his past 10 contests. The Braves’ No. 2 prospect drove in three runs and scored three, giving him 23 RBIs on the season. Waters is three homers away from tying his career high of nine, which he set back in 2018 across two levels, and the 22-year-old is slashing .252/.344/.416 through 54 games with Gwinnett and is batting .326 over his past 10 games. Braves prospect stats »

Dodgers: Keibert Ruiz, C (MLB No. 41), Triple-A Oklahoma City
Bobby Miller, RHP (No. 5), High-A Great Lakes

Ruiz clubbed three homers in a game for the first time in his career -- his fourth multihomer game of the season -- and added a double and a walk in his perfect 4-for-4 night at the plate. The slugging catcher drove in five runs in Oklahoma City’s win, which ties the career high he set back in 2016. The four-hit game brought his average up to .309 and his OPS up to 1.026 on the season as he extended his hit streak to seven games. The 23-year-old has also accumulated 43 RBIs, 16 home runs and as many walks (23) as strikeouts.

Miller tossed five innings of Great Lakes’ no-hitter against Lake County, issuing just one walk and setting a season-high in both innings and strikeouts (7). The 2020 first-rounder (29th overall) has given up three or fewer earned runs in each of his 13 appearances this season, giving him a sparkling 2.03 ERA in his first Minor League season with 53 strikeouts across 44 1/3 innings. Fellow 2020 Draft pick Clayton Beeter got the night started with two hitless innings of his own. Dodgers prospect stats »

Reds: Austin Hendrick, OF (MLB No. 67), Low-A Daytona
On July 2, Hendrick had two home runs to his name. He has doubled that total in three days, clubbing his fourth homer of the year on Friday night as part of Daytona’s 7-5 extra-inning win. The Reds’ fifth-ranked prospect drove in two runs on that one swing, and he added a single and a walk to his 2-for-4 performance. He’s dealt with some injuries this year, but the 12th overall pick of the 2020 Draft is batting .209 with a .776 OPS and 16 RBIs through 35 games this season. Reds prospect stats »

Cardinals: Zack Thompson, LHP (No. 4), Triple-A Memphis
The Memphis-Louisville game was full of thrills, and Thompson had the tall task of facing off against the Reds’ hard-throwing No. 2 prospect, Hunter Greene. Thompson emerged unscathed, giving up no runs, four hits and one walk across six strong innings, the longest outing of his career. The Cardinals’ first-round pick in the 2019 Draft, Thompson racked up five strikeouts in the best start of his young career. He owns a 7.66 ERA with 43 strikeouts across 51 2/3 innings this season. Cardinals prospect stats »

Orioles: Mike Baumann, RHP (No. 7), Double-A Bowie
Coby Mayo, 3B (No. 14), FCL Orioles
Garrett Stallings, RHP (No. 26), High-A Aberdeen

Baumann held Hartford to just two hits over six scoreless innings, fanning seven along the way. The righty gave up a single on the second pitch of the game and wouldn’t give up another until the top of the sixth, when the leadoff man singled again. Baumann struck out the next two batters and induced a popup to keep the shutout intact, his first since June 13. Baumann threw 55 of his 85 pitches for strikes and now owns a 4.89 ERA with 39 strikeouts through 38 2/3 innings in Double-A.

Mayo recorded the first multihomer game of his career in a battle between both FCL Orioles teams. The 2020 fourth-rounder went 3-for-4 with five RBIs, three runs scored, two stolen bases, a walk and a strikeout. Mayo’s 60-grade power has been on full display this week; he hit his first professional homer on Thursday and had a career-best nine total bases on Friday. He has walked in eight straight games, and has reached base in 14 of the 15 games he’s played. Mayo is slashing .314/.426/.529 with a .956 OPS in 61 plate appearances in the FCL.

Stallings struck out five over five innings of scoreless ball against Hudson Valley, giving up three hits and walking one. He worked around a leadoff double in the second by inducing a groundout before striking out the last two batters of the inning on three pitches each. The 23-year-old is having a fantastic July, pitching to a 0.95 ERA in four starts (19 innings) with 15 strikeouts. Orioles prospect stats »

Padres: Jordan Humphreys, RHP (No. 24), Double-A San Antonio
Humphreys has not gotten off to a great start this season, but rebounded on Friday night with his best performance to date. The right-hander tossed five scoreless innings in San Antonio’s 4-0 win, striking out five and yielding a walk and three hits. Humphreys was DFA’d by the Giants to begin the year, but was scooped up by the Padres. He made his season debut on June 24, has started five games and thrown 15 2/3 innings. With his scoreless start, he lowered his ERA from 9.28 to 6.32. Padres prospect stats »

Phillies: Mickey Moniak, OF (No. 11), Triple-A Lehigh Valley
Ethan Lindow, LHP (No. 22), High-A Jersey Shore
Logan O’Hoppe, C (No. 24), High-A Jersey Shore

Moniak put together the fourth three extra-base hit performance of his career, and his second this season in Lehigh Valley’s 11-4 win over Worcester. The 2016 Draft’s No. 1 overall pick went 3-for-5 with a triple, two doubles, three RBIs and a run scored. After a sluggish start to the year, including a tough stint in Philadelphia, Moniak has flipped a switch in July, slashing .317/.353/.571 in 63 at bats and tallying six doubles, two triples, two homers, 13 RBIs and two stolen bases. On the year, Moniak has 10 doubles, five triples, 10 dingers and a .773 OPS for the IronPigs.

Lindow turned in his third straight outing without an earned run on Friday, striking out five over six strong innings of four-hit ball. The 22-year-old worked around four hits and a walk to keep Winston-Salem off the board as he threw 51 of his 84 pitches for strikes. The 2017 Draft pick has a 2.49 ERA in eight games (seven starts) with 36 strikeouts for Jersey Shore this season.

O’Hoppe, hitting out of the two-hole, went 2-for-4 with a homer, a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. His 10th big fly of the season came in the top of the ninth, adding two more insurance runs to Jersey Shore’s lead. It was the 21-year-old’s first dinger since July 8. O’Hoppe rode a nine-game hit streak to start July, but has cooled off since then. On the year, the catcher is slashing .265/.328/.453 with a .781 OPS. Phillies prospect stats »

Rays: Taj Bradley, RHP (No. 17), Low-A Charleston
Bradley kept his stellar season rolling with five scoreless innings in a 5-3 win over Charleston. The 20-year-old punched out six, walked one and allowed two hits in his second straight scoreless start. Bradley now has seven scoreless starts of more innings on the year. Since allowing eight runs over his first three starts, the right-hander has allowed just five runs over nine starts and 45 innings pitched. Bradley lowered his season ERA to 1.96 with his performance Friday night. Rays prospect stats »

Royals: MJ Melendez, C (No. 13), Double-A Northwest Arkansas
Brewer Hicklen, OF (No. 24), Double-A Northwest Arkansas

A pair of Royals prospects powered Northwest Arkansas to a victory on Friday. First, Melendez extended his Double-A home run lead, clubbing his 21st dinger of the season to help cut his team’s deficit to 4-2 in the third. He then doubled to lead off the sixth and eventually came around to score, making it a one-run game. Melendez finished the night 2-for-5 and is slashing .280/.363/.593 with 14 doubles and 54 RBIs through 65 Double-A games

Hicklen, though, was the hero for the Naturals -- his first homer of the night tied the game at four in the seventh, and his second homer was a three-run shot in the top of the ninth to propel Northwest Arkansas to a 7-4 victory. It was Hicklen’s first multihomer game of the season and the fourth of his career as the former 2017 Draft pick tallied a 3-for-4 night at the dish. Royals prospect stats »

Red Sox: Blaze Jordan, 1B (No. 10), FCL Red Sox
Jordan homered and hit his first professional triple in a career-high six-RBI performance for the FCL Red Sox in their 9-1 win against the FCL Twins. The 18-year-old went 2-for-4 and added a run before being replaced in the seventh inning. Jordan started his time in the FCL slowly, but his bat has quickly caught fire in his current five-game hitting streak. In that span, Jordan has gone 7-for-22 with two doubles, a triple and two homers. The 2020 third-rounder has also driven in 13 runs during his streak. Red Sox prospect stats »