
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: Ty France, 3B (San Diego Padres #43)
El Paso Chihuahuas (.476/.577/1.333, 10 H, 6 HR, 9 RBI, 0 SO)
France is a guy that is on many more fantasy radars now than before the season as the 24-year-old made his major league debut this year. It didn’t quite pan out the way many had hoped in the small sample and France was sent back to El Paso. All he has done since then is dominate Triple-A pitching as is evident by his six homer, zero strikeout week.
That deserves a high five ✋#Padres No. 30 prospect Ty France has gone deep 🔥FIVE🔥 games in a row for the @epchihuahuas, tying the team record for consecutive games with a homer.
Live stats for all the @Padres’ top prospects:
https://t.co/87Pdhec6OO
pic.twitter.com/hmrmjmUvW4— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 16, 2019
Honorable Mentions:
Bobby Bradley, 1B (Cleveland Indians #13)
Columbus Clippers (.360/.385/1.040, 10 H, 5 HR, 6 RBI, 2 2B)
Pitcher: Kyle Wright, RHP (Atlanta Braves #9)
Gwinnett Stripers (7.2 IP, W, 10 K, 2 BB, 0 ER, 2 H)
It was just one start for Wright this week, but it sure was a good one as he shut out Syracuse for 7.2 frames while allowing just two hits, two walks, and striking out 10. This outing is very encouraging for both Wright and the Braves as the former first round pick hasn’t exactly had a 2019 full of highlights on the mound. He will be back up in September, if not sooner, but I believe we can expect strictly a bullpen assignment with the occasional spot start.
A good night in Gwinnett for Kyle Wright. His best of the season. #Braves https://t.co/hC6vbrv8Fo
— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) June 15, 2019
Honorable Mentions:
David Paulino, RHP (Toronto Blue Jays #13)
Buffalo Bisons (9 IP, W, 12 K, 3 BB, 1 ER, 6 H)
Double-A
Hitter: Drew Waters, OF (Atlanta Braves #7)
Mississippi Braves (.444/.459/.722, 16 H, 2 HR, 4 2B)
The 20-year old-continues his successful run in Double-A and this week led all of Minor League Baseball with 16 hits. He is in the middle of a 10 game hit streak and showed out with a four hit game against Mobile on Thursday. A fun little battle between Waters and Cristian Pache has been brewing all season in Pearl and Waters may have raised the stakes with last week’s showing.
Drew Waters 2019
.337/.380/.536, .915 OPSLast 10 games, current 24 game On base streak
.459/.487/.784, 1.271 OPS pic.twitter.com/bO8627CPWs— Prospects Braves (@ProspectsBraves) June 16, 2019
Honorable Mentions:
Gavin Lux, SS (Los Angeles Dodgers #4)
Tulsa Drillers (.421/.542/.842, 8 H, 2 HR, 4 SB)
Pitcher: Bowden Francis, RHP (Milwaukee Brewers, NR)
Biloxi Shuckers (13 IP, 2 W, 0 ER, 22 K, 3 BB, 3 H)
Wow. Just, wow. Francis was the most impressive pitcher in Minor League Baseball last week and will more than likely be getting scooped up in deep dynasty leagues where we have no choice but to put some stock in stat lines. Prior to his first outing this week, the 23 year old had 12 starts under his belt on the season and never reached double digit strikeouts. He did it in both starts last week.
#Brewers RHP Bowden Francis is out after six scoreless, one-hit innings for the @BiloxiShuckers. He struck out a career-high 12 batters and departs with a 4-0 lead. Box: https://t.co/XOF1cedISO pic.twitter.com/Lz6QeQHk8M
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) June 11, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Tucker Davidson, LHP (Atlanta Braves #18)
Mississippi Braves (5.1 IP, W, 0 ER, 10 K, 2 BB)
High-A
Hitter: Luis Castro, 1B (Colorado Rockies, NR)
Lancaster JetHawks (.462/.516/1.115, 12 H, 4 HR, 5 2B, 1 SB)
The Rockies first base prospect tore the cover off of the ball last week to the tune of nine extra base hits. The 23 year old alternated between first base and DH and homered in three separate games while collecting an extra base hit in five of seven contests. Castro is an under the radar prospect and while his profile is easy to find in fantasy, there is some pop to the bat that may be worth keeping an eye on.
LUIS CASTRO. He hits a three-run HR in the 8th, and it’s a one-run game! Luis has reached five times today, scored four times and driven in three. He’s pretty good. #RockTheHawk
BOT 8 | 66ers 10, JetHawks 9 pic.twitter.com/hPMIDm8HBf
— Lancaster JetHawks (@JetHawks) June 17, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Gareth Morgan, OF (Los Angeles Angels, NR)
Inland Empire 66ers (.400/.464/1.000, 10 H, 5 HR, 12 RBI)
Pitcher: Elliot Ashbeck, RHP (San Diego Padres, NR)
Lake Elsinore Storm (7 IP, W, 1 ER, 2 H, 15 K, 0 BB)
Sure, he is 25 in High-A, but you can’t leave this performance off of this list. Ashbeck struck out 15, yes 15, in seven innings in last week’s start against Rancho Cucamonga. He tossed just 86 pitches in the outing and 71 were strikes. Video game numbers.
The National Weather Center declared #Padres prospect Elliot Ashbeck a ‘Superstorm’ on Sunday after the righty set the new high-water mark for punchouts in the Minors at 15 with Lake Elsinore ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️
👀: https://t.co/Ju6tDUNcU4 pic.twitter.com/I6PWSgzXgD
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) June 17, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Shane McClanahan, LHP (Tampa Bay Rays, #9)
Charlotte Stone Crabs (5.1 IP, 0 ER, 10 K, 2 BB, 6 H)
Single-A
Hitter: Michael Gigliotti, OF (Kansas City Royals #13)
Lexington Legends (.467/.543/.600, 14 H, 4 SB, 1 3B, 2 2B)
Two weeks in a row we get a speedster as the Single-A POTW. Typically we see a lot of dingers on this list, but Gigliotti did it with high contact and steals. The Florida native is currently on a 14 game hit streak.
#Royals No. 13 prospect Michael Gigliotti extends his hitting streak to 14 games for @LexingtonLegend.
📈 https://t.co/wINOC66iHf pic.twitter.com/jcTiWMI811
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) June 16, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Jeison Guzman, SS (Kansas City Royals, NR)
Lexington Legends (.400/.429/.520, 10 H, 1 3B, 1 2B)
Pitcher: Luis Gil, RHP (New York Yankees #18)
Charleston RiverDogs (12 IP, 18 K, 1 ER, 3 BB)
Gil had two solid outings last week, but the truly impressive one came against the Rome Braves. The righty went seven shutout innings in that one and struck out 10 while walking just one and allowing only three hits.
Honorable Mention:
Matthew Liberatore, LHP (Tampa Bay Rays #6)
Bowling Green Hot Rods (7 IP, 9 K, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB)
Short Season-A
Hitter: Franklin Labour, OF (San Francisco Giants, NR)
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (.429/.429/.929, 6 H, 2 HR, 1 2B)
Honorable Mention:
George Valera, OF (Cleveland Indians #2)
Mahoning Valley Scrappers (2 HR, 2 2B)
Pitcher: Ryan Conroy, RHP (Baltimore Orioles, NR)
Aberdeen IronBirds (7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 12 K)
Honorable Mentions:
Rodolfo Sanchez, RHP (Tampa Bay Rays #41)
Hudson Valley Renegades (4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K)
Rookie
Hitter: Jeferson Espinal, OF (Arizona Diamondbacks, NR)
DSL D-backs1 (.520/.520/.720, 13 H, 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI)
Honorable Mentions:
Johan Lopez, OF (Tampa Bay Rays, NR)
DSL Rays2 (.462/.481/.885, 12 H, 2B, 5 3B, 10 RBI, 7 SB)
Micah Bello, OF (Milwaukee Brewers #10)
Rocky Mountain Vibes (.600/.643/1.600, 6 H in 10 AB, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 3 BB, SB)
2 Micah Bello 💣's yesterday. pic.twitter.com/s3bzgDma6r
— Brewers Farm (@BrewersFarm) June 17, 2019
Pitcher: Nathan Webb, RHP (Kansas City Royals, NR)
Idaho Falls Chukars (1 GS, W, 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K)
Alrighty then. Nathan Webb has arrived.
4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K in his 2019 debut.
IDF wins 5-2 in their opener.
— Royals Farm Report (@RoyalsFarm) June 15, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Alejandro Duran, RHP (Los Angeles Angels, NR)
DSL Angels (2 G, 1 GS, 10 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K)
If there’s any player we missed who you think should be honored or mentioned as a Prospect of the Week, please comment below or hit us up on Twitter to let us know. Until next week, thanks for reading and keep prospecting!
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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