Prospects of the Week: April 11 – April 17

Each week during the Minor League Baseball season we pick the hitting and pitching prospects from each level (Triple-A, Double-A, High-A, and Single-A) who, in our opinion, had the best week. The team awards the Prospects of the Week hitters and pitchers for each level, while also presenting other names at each level that are just as deserving of POTW honors. Feel free to reply in the comments with any player who deserves to be mentioned that may not have made our cut.

Any issues with this week’s POTW? Did we miss anyone deserving? Hit us up and set us straight! As always, tweet us @Prospects1500 when you see a great performance that warrants consideration for Prospect of the Week. Enjoy, and make sure you’re keeping an eye out for these prospects in your dynasty leagues.

Triple-A

HITTER: Juan Yepez, 1B/OF (Cardinals #11)
Memphis Redbirds (6 G, .348/.375/.870/1.245, 8 H, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 7 R, BB)
Yepez, and his Memphis teammate Nolan Gorman, had themselves quite a week, although we’re giving the AAA hitter honors to Juan. His 11 RBI tied him for second in MiLB (with Charlotte’s Laz Rivera), only one behind our AA hitter of the week (see below). He’s picking up right where he left off last year following his strong 2021 in AA, AAA, and the Arizona Fall League.

Honorable Mentions:
Ryan Noda, 1B (Dodgers NR)
Oklahoma City Dodgers (6 G, .400/.444/.720/1.164, 10 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 6 R, 2 BB, SB)

Nolan Gorman, 2B (Cardinals #1)
Memphis Redbirds (5 G, .450/.522/1.050/1.572, 9 H, 4 HR, 4 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB)

PITCHER: Max Meyer, RHP (Marlins #1)
Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (1 GS, 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K)
Meyer took the mound Tuesday and dominated an always solid Durham team. He fired 5 perfect innings, striking out 8 before having to leave the game with dehydration. Meyer had zero issues finding the zone, firing 38 of his 53 pitches for strikes, and out of his 7 non-K outs, 6 were on the ground. A very impressive performance. (@stoffer81)

All 15 outs that Max Meyer recorded in his previous start (April 12 vs. Durham) pic.twitter.com/ifxRfWTyZv

— Fish Stripes Prospects Coverage (@FishProspects) April 18, 2022

Honorable Mention:
Hunter Brown, RHP (Astros #4)
Sugar Land Space Cowboys (1 GS, 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K)

Double-A

HITTER: Sean Roby, 3B (San Francisco Giants #43)
Richmond Flying Squirrels (5 G, .467/.619/1.467/2.086, 7 H, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 7 R, 5 BB)
Roby’s 2.086 OPS paced all MiLB this past week. The Giants’ third base prospect had himself a monster week, launching 5 bombs in 5 games and was named Eastern League’s Hitter of the Week.

Honorable Mentions:
Moises Gomez, OF (Cardinals NR)
Springfield Cardinals (5 G, .412/.474/.1.412/1.886, 7 H, 2 2B, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 8 R, 2 BB, SB)
Texas League Hitter of the Week!

Matt McLain, SS (Reds #4)
Chattanooga Lookouts (5 G, .450/.500/.1.250/1.750, 9 H, 3 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 8 R, 2 BB, SB)
Cincinnati’s 1st round pick (17th overall) in last year’s MLB Draft put up stellar numbers this past week, including hitting for the cycle on Sunday – on only 7 innings! McLain earned Southern League Hitter of the Week honors.

PITCHER: Max Castillo, RHP (Blue Jays #47)
New Hampshire Fisher Cats (2 GS, 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 6 BB, 15 K)
The Eastern League Pitcher of the Week has flashed this potential during his minor league career, and this week it was in full effect. 4 innings, no hits, 7 strikeouts in his first outing Tuesday. Then he followed that up with a 5-inning, 1-hit, 8 K performance on Sunday. If Castillo continues this dominance, watch out Eastern League!

Huge congratulations to Pitcher Max Castillo on being MiLB’s Eastern League Double-A Player of the Week! 🏆

Let’s show him some love in the comments! ⚾️❤️ pic.twitter.com/lmnIvLLH2W

— New Hampshire Fisher Cats (@FisherCats) April 18, 2022

Honorable Mentions:
Brayan Bello, RHP (Red Sox #6)
Portland Sea Dogs (2 GS, 10 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 18 K)

Brett Kerry, RHP (Angels NR)
Rocket City Trash Pandas (1 GS, 5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 12 K)
Last week’s AA Pitcher of the Week makes the POTW column again, this time as the Southern League’s Pitcher of the Week. Kerry absolutely devastated Pensacola batters this week, striking out 12 in five innings, with his only blemish, a solo homer. His electric fastball continues to baffle hitters as he’s struck out 2 batters per inning in his two starts. The Angels’ 23-year-old prospect is opening eyes early this season. (@A_Rhodes77)

#Angels Double-A RHP Brett Kerry has been named the Southern League Pitcher of the Week for April 11-17. In his last start, Kerry’s line: 5IP, 1ER, 1H, 1BB and 12K. He currently leads all Double-A pitchers with 20 strikeouts this season, walked just one. #GoHalos @trashpandas pic.twitter.com/VonJBSRYG3

— AngelsWin.com (@AngelsWin) April 18, 2022

Jared Shuster, LHP (Braves #9)
Mississippi Braves (1 GS, 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K)

High-A

HITTER: Ceddanne Rafaela, OF/SS (Red Sox #29)
Greenville Drive (6 G, .433/.452/.900/1.352, 13 H, 5 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 10 R, BB, SB)
Ceddanne, the South Atlantic League’s Player of the Week, has to be one of the most popular deep dynasty league pickups or claims this week. Boston’s 5’8″ prospect is on fire to begin his 2022 campaign. There’s one Prospects1500 writer here who’s salivating at the possibility of seeing this kid in Double-A later this season, although 2023 is more likely for that to happen.

Ceddanne Rafaela of the Greenville Drive has been named High-A South Atlantic League player of the week for April 11-17. (Tom Priddy/Four Seam Images) https://t.co/rwHgdw5bmu pic.twitter.com/Ce42xggEmE

— Tom Priddy (@tpriddy) April 18, 2022

Honorable Mention:
Jordan Brewer, OF (Astros #30)
Asheville Tourists (4 G, .500/.611/1.357/1.968, 7 H, 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 10 R, 3 BB, 2 SB)

PITCHER: Tanner Gordon, RHP (Braves #49)
Rome Braves (1 GS, 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 14 K)
Gordon’s outing made it an easy decision for the South Atlantic League to name him SALLY Pitcher of the Week.

Tanner Gordon is not messing around at Rome. 6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 14 K. Absolute dominance

— Eric Cole (@leprekhan) April 16, 2022

Honorable Mentions:
Jared Jones, RHP (Pirates #12)
Greensboro Grasshoppers (2 GS, 8.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 15 K)

Chad Dallas, RHP (Blue Jays #29)
Vancouver Canadians (1 GS, 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K)
It was a very impressive pro debut for Toronto’s 2021 4th round pick out of Tennessee. The former Volunteer righty tossed five hitless innings in his first start for High-A Vancouver and was named the Northwest League’s Pitcher of the Week.

Single-A

CO-HITTERS: Lake Elsinore Storm teammates Max Ferguson, 2B/OF (Padres #24) and Lucas Dunn, IF (Padres NR)
Ferguson (6 G, .444/.621/.556/1.176, 8 H, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 11 R, 10 BB, 9 SB)
Dunn (6 G, .364/.482/.636/1.118, 8 H, 2 2B, 2 3B, 12 RBI, 6 R, 4 BB, 3 SB)
Ferguson, San Diego’s 5th round selection in the 2021 MLB Draft, tallied more stolen bases (9) this past week than many players will put up all season. Amazingly, he walked in 10 of his 29 plate appearances (34.5%). Dunn led all of Minor League Baseball with 12 runs batted in.

Storm playing small ball. Max Ferguson works the walk, steals 2nd and 3rd and scores on Lucas Dunn’s RBI single. Dunn continues to be an RBI machine. It’s 4-1 Storm in the bottom of the fifth. #Padres #Storm

— MadFriars (@madfriars) April 17, 2022

Honorable Mentions:
Jacob Gonzalez, 1B (Pirates NR)
Bradenton Marauders (5 G, .611/.619/.1.056/1.675, 11 H, 2 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R)

Kyler Fedko, OF (Twins NR)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (6 G, .500/.577/.727/1.304, 11 H, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 8 R, 4 BB, 2 SB)

PITCHER: Royber Salinas, RHP (Braves NR)
Augusta GreenJackets (1 GS, 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 13 K)
Atlanta’s 21-year-old righthanded prospect from Venezuela followed up his 4.1 IP, 11K outing April 8 with an absolute gem this past Thursday. Just one hit allowed and 13 strikeouts. 72% of his 68 pitches with strikes, and many starting pitchers don’t put up a 29% SwStr%. You need to grab Salinas in your dynasty leagues now before the rest of the fantasy world picks up on this talent.

Royber Salinas has 24 Ks and 2 BBs in 9.333 innings in A ball so far for a 66.7% K rate. 😮

— Tim Kanak (@fantasyaceball) April 19, 2022

Honorable Mentions:
John Stankiewicz, RHP (Twins NR)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (1 GS, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K)

Patrick Wicklander, LHP (Rays #42)
Charleston RiverDogs (1 GS, 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K)