Each week during the Minor League Baseball season we pick the hitting and pitching prospects from each level (AAA, AA, A+, A, A- (Short Season) and Rookie ball who, in our opinion, had the best week. We’re always on the lookout for candidates, so tweet us (@Prospects1500, @berrys_baseball and @Scotty_Ballgame) when you see a great performance.
Jake Berry and Scott Greene award their 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. Enjoy, and make sure you’re keeping an eye out for these prospects in your dynasty leagues.
Triple-A
Hitter: Gavin Lux, SS (Los Angeles Dodgers preseason #4)
Oklahoma City Dodgers (7 G, .500/.595/1.133, 15 H, 5 HR, 12 RBI)
No post Futures Game slump for Lux as the 21 year old continues to destroy Triple-A pitching. In fact, Lux has a hit in every game since he has been called up to Oklahoma City except for one. Lux is arguably the hottest hitter in the minors this July.
If you haven’t seen Gavin Lux, I suggest you watch him smoke these baseballs. Outfielders don’t even move. All 6 of these HR’s are in his last 5 games. pic.twitter.com/XB9kNQ5hhQ
— David Rosenthal (@_therealdrose) July 20, 2019
Honorable Mentions:
Trent Grisham, OF (Milwaukee Brewers preseason #17)
San Antonio Missions (7 G, .536/.606/1.036, 15 H, 3 HR, 5 2B)
Jose Rojas, 3B (Los Angeles Angels preseason #28)
Salt Lake Bees (8 G, 16 H (most in MiLB), .457/.500/.886, 6 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, SB)
Pitcher: James Marvel, RHP (Pittsburgh Pirates NR)
Indianapolis Indians (W, 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K)
Indianapolis hurlers take the honor for Triple-A pitcher of the week as Mitch Keller was the honoree last week. This time however, it is a former 36th round draft pick who made headlines. Marvel allowed just one hit in his six shutout innings and added nine punchouts to a great outing. The California native produced 18 swinging strikes and allowed just two fly balls and zero line drives in the outing.
Honorable Mention:
Brandon Bielak, RHP (Houston Astros preseason #25)
Round Rock Express (W, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K)
Double-A
Hitter: Ryan McKenna, OF (Baltimore Orioles preseason #6)
Bowie Baysox (7 G, .423/.483/.615, 7 SB, 11 H, 1 3B, 3 2B)
McKenna was a thief on the base paths, swiping on average a bag per game last week. Throw in a triple, a few doubles, and double-digit hits, and you got to see a great example of McKenna’s skill set last week.
Another big performance tonight from Ryan McKenna at Bowie. 3 hits, stole three bases as well. OPS up to .717 after a horrendous start to the year. Hopefully he keeps rolling. #Orioles #Birdland
— Jackson (@JacksonHeil) July 17, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Dillon Thomas, OF (Milwaukee Brewers NR)
Biloxi Shuckers (6 G, .458/.440/.875, 11 H, 3 HR, 6 SB)
Pitcher: Tarik Skubal, LHP (Detroit Tigers NR preseason)
Erie SeaWolves (6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 13 K)
Skubal is going to be one of the biggest risers on many lists moving forward as he continues to impress in Double-A. He has struck out double digit hitters in each of his three outings and has allowed just one earned run in 16 innings since the promotion.
And that will be a day for #Tigers Tarik Skubal with an absolute 💎 for his third Double-A start:
Final Line:
▶️ 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 🔥13 K 🔥Three Double-A starts combined:
▶️ 16 IP, 5 H, 2 R (1 ER), 4 BB, 34 K@SeattleUBase— Emily Waldon (@EmilyCWaldon) July 20, 2019
Honorable Mentions:
Tucker Davidson, LHP (Atlanta Braves preseason #18)
Mississippi Braves (W, 8 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K)
Trey Supak, RHP (Milwaukee Brewers, preseason #14)
Biloxi Shuckers (W, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K)
Michael Baumann, RHP (Baltimore Orioles, preseason #25)
Bowie Baysox (2 GS, W, 14.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 14 K, first outing being a 9 IP no hit shutout with 10 Ks)
NO-HITTER!!! Bowie Baysox starter Michael Baumann tosses a no-hitter tonight against the Harrisburg Senators! It was just his third AA start! #Birdland pic.twitter.com/Hyqbcz0MH7
— Birds Watcher (@BirdsWatcherFS) July 17, 2019
High-A
Hitter: Nick Pratto, 1B (Kansas City Royals preseason #8)
Wilmington Blue Rocks (5 G, .438/.500/.938, 9 H, 3 2B, 2 HR, 2 SB)
It was a lackluster week for hitters in High-A, but five extra base hits and a couple of steals earned the Royals prospect POTW honors.
GOODBYE BASEBALL! Nick Pratto crushes a game-tying home run over the RF wall against former Blue Rock Anthony Bender to tie it at four in the 9th! His 7th of the season. pic.twitter.com/FD1sORUGsF
— Wilmington Blue Rocks (@WilmBlueRocks) July 21, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Cal Mitchell, OF (Pittsburgh Pirates preseason #6)
Bradenton Marauders (4 G, .500/.588/1.214, 7 H, 1 2B, 3 HR, 13 RBI)
Cal Mitchell has been named Florida State League’s Player of the Week. pic.twitter.com/AeUKGFuv3B
— Bradenton Marauders (@The_Marauders) July 22, 2019
Pitcher: Phil Pfeifer, RHP (Atlanta Braves NR)
Florida Fire Frogs (W, 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 17 K)
It has been a weird career for Philip Phreakin’ Pfeifer, as he is affectionately known around the Berry’s Baseball Twitter world. But I haven’t seen a start like this from a guy like him in a long, long time. 17 strikeouts on 94 pitches is almost unheard of, but these weren’t give me strikes as Pfeifer produced a whopping 35% swinging strike rate.
Philip Pfeifer notched 17 K’s!
S E V E N T E E N !
To say the #Braves prospect twirled a 💎 for @FireFrogsBB would be an understatement.
📰: https://t.co/zNtXENTXIl pic.twitter.com/3MUDttXhge— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) July 19, 2019
Honorable Mentions:
Reiss Knehr, RHP (San Diego Padres NR)
Lake Elsinore Storm (8 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K)
Jonathan Bowlan, RHP (Kansas City Royals, preseason #31)
Wilmington Blue Rocks (2 GS, W, 14 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 18 K, first outing was complete game 9 IP no hit, shutout with 9 Ks)
What a night for @WilmBlueRocks‘ Jonathan Bowlan! He fired a no-hitter and struck out nine in the process. 👏👏👏#AlwaysRoyal | #Royals pic.twitter.com/sDH2a9uo1T
— FOX Sports Kansas City (@FSKansasCity) July 16, 2019
Single-A
Hitter: Michael Siani, OF (Cincinnati Reds #6)
Dayton Dragons (6 G, .500/.571/.583, 12 H, 1 3B, 4 SB)
Speed is the name of Siani’s game and he showed that last week with his Single-A leading four stolen bases.
End of 3 innings in Kane County…Dragons trail it, 2-0. Michael Siani has a hit to extend his hitting streak to 10 straight games.
— Dayton Dragons (@DragonsBaseball) July 22, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Miguel Aparicio, OF (Texas Rangers preseason #42)
Hickory Crawdads (6 G, .364/.375/1.045, 8 H, 4 HR, 3 2B)
Jackson came off of the Triple-A All Star break with a four hit, two homer game to start off the second half hot.
Pitcher: Andy Fisher, LHP (Cincinnati Reds NR)
Dayton Dragons (5 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K)
Undrafted Andy Fisher was nearly perfect in his Single-A debut as he faced just two hitter over the minimum. He was pounding the strike zone in Saturday’s start against Kane County and tossed a career high 76 pitches. A relatively unknown arm, Fisher is a four year college guy who should make quick work of the lower levels.
Mid 6, still a 0-0 game. Dragons starter Andy Fisher was absolutely brilliant in his first Midwest League start tonight. 5 no-hit innings. No walks. 8 strikeouts. The 2019 Big Ten 1st Team All-Conference (Illinois) was impressive.
— Dayton Dragons (@DragonsBaseball) July 21, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Seth Corry, LHP (San Francisco Giants preseason #27)
Augusta Green Jackets (W, 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K)
Short Season-A
Hitter: Ezequiel Duran, 2B (New York Yankees preseason #29)
Staten Island Yankees (6 G, .462/.500/.846, 12 H, 2 HR, 4 2B)
Honorable Mention:
Nick Decker, OF (Boston Red Sox preseason #12)
Lowell Spinners (5 G, .500/.588/1.143, 7 H, 3 HR)
Pitcher: Jhenderson Hurtado, LHP (Oakland Athletics NR)
Vermont Lake Monsters (W, SV, 8.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 K)
Honorable Mentions:
Ryan Conroy, RHP (Baltimore Orioles NR)
Aberdeen IronBirds (W, 11 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K)
Jackson Rutledge, RHP (Washington Nationals #4)
Auburn Doubledays (2 GS, 7 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, most recent outing being 4 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)
Rookie
Hitter: Alexander Guerra, C (Chicago Cubs NR)
AZL Cubs 2 (6 G, .478/.586/1.043, 11 H, 3 HR, 1 3B, 2 2B, 17 RBI!)
Honorable Mentions:
Junior Perez, OF (San Diego Padres NR)
AZL Padres 2 (6 G, .414/.433/.862, 12 H, 3 HR, 1 3B, 2 2B)
Luis Matos, OF (San Francisco Giants preseason #29)
DSL Giants (6 G, 15 H, .500/.485/.733, 4 2B, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 5 SB)
Jairo Pomares, OF (San Francisco Giants preseason #17)
AZL Giants Black (4 G, 11 H, .550/.571/1.200, 5 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 12 RBI)
Pitcher: Jeisson Cabrera, RHP (Los Angeles Dodgers NR)
AZL Dodgers 1 (9 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 14 K)
Honorable Mention:
Sandy Gaston, RHP (Tampa Bay Rays NR)
GCL Rays (6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K)
I reside in Carrollton, Georgia and love everything baseball. I graduated from the University of West Georgia with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Management. I have a passion for the minor leagues and have high hopes of visiting as many minor league parks as I can. I enjoy the statistical side of the game, especially sabermetrics. I am also an avid baseball card collector and fantasy baseball player.
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