
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: Brent Rooker, OF (Minnesota Twins #6)
Rochester Red Wings (.474/.630/1.263, 9 H, 2 HR, 4 HR, 3 2B, 10 RBI, 5 SO, 6 BB)
It is not surprising to see Rooker on this list again as the 24-year-old is tearing up Triple-A pitching. The Mississippi State product posted a 1.893 OPS with seven extra base hits and six walks. He was riding a ten game hit streak up until Sunday’s game, but did manage two walks in that contest despite going hitless.
🚨BRENT ROOKER HOME RUN SLOW-MO ALERT🚨
Watch @Brent_Rooker19 hit his 11th home run this year in game two of tonight’s doubleheader. pic.twitter.com/Q6YRDtAhXP
— Morrie Silver (@MorrieSilver8) June 22, 2019
Honorable Mentions:
Michael Gettys, OF (San Diego Padres #42)
El Paso Chihuahuas (.310/.333/.828, 5 HR, 9 H, 14 RBI)
Andrew Stevenson, OF (Washington Nationals, No longer prospect eligible, but had to mention the stat line.)
Fresno Grizzlies (.621/.647/1.172, 18 H, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 3 SO, 5 BB)
Pitcher: Tyler Alexander, LHP (Detroit Tigers, NR)
Toledo Mud Hens (7 IP, W, 12 K, 2 BB, 0 ER, 2 H)
The lefty spun a fun, and apparently deceptive one, on Saturday against Rochester. He tallied a whopping 27 strikes looking en route to his 12 punchouts. So, we should take this outing with a grain of salt, because you know, MiLB umpires, but 12K’s and seven shutout innings don’t just happen by circumstance.
LHP Tyler Alexander has been named the IL Pitcher of the Week!
✅ Shut out Rochester on Saturday
✅ Struck out 12 batters
✅ Gave up only two hits
✅ Seven innings of work#RoadToDetroit pic.twitter.com/dEbqqgz2FS— Toledo Mud Hens (@MudHens) June 24, 2019
Honorable Mentions:
David McKay, RHP (Seattle Mariners #40)
Tacoma Rainiers (4 IP, 9 K, 1 BB, 0 ER, 3 H)
Double-A
Hitter: Darick Hall, 1B (Philadelphia Phillies #17)
Reading Fightin Phils (.391/.500/.739, 9 H, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 2 2B)
By no means was it a flashy performance this week from Hall, but it was a consistent one as he reached base in each game and hit safely in all but one. Hall, who is also listed as a pitcher on Baseball Reference despite not toeing the rubber since college in 2016, made the most of his opportunities with runners on base as the 23-year-old drove in 11 runs.
Darick Hall is leading the @EasternLeague in RBIs now with 49. He knocked in two runs this game so far. Keep it up @HallDarick #fightins
— Reading Fightins (@ReadingFightins) June 20, 2019
Honorable Mentions:
Gio Brusa, 1B (San Francisco Giants #45)
Richmond Flying Squirrels (6 G, .400/.520/1.000, 8 H, 3 2B, 3 HR, 8 RBI)
Jazz Chisholm, SS (Arizona Diamondbacks #3)
Jackson Generals (4 G, .538/.611/1.000, 7 H, 2 HR, 4 SO, 4 BB)
Pitcher: Deivi Garcia, RHP (New York Yankees #11)
Trenton Thunder (6 IP, W, 0 ER, 15 K, 1 BB, 1 H)
For what it’s worth, I love Deivi Garcia so there may be some bias here… but not really. The guy flat out embarrassed an opposing Richmond squad when he punched out 15 Flying Squirrels over six innings of shutout, one hit, one walk ball. Garcia faced just 21 batters on the day and racked up the 15 K’s on just 98 pitches, 63 of which were strikes, and 24 of those were swing and miss.
Deivi Garcia’s last two starts:
11 IP, H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 24 SO.— Josh Norris (@jnorris427) June 25, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Dustin May, RHP (Los Angeles Dodgers #2)
Tulsa Drillers (2 GS, 14 IP, 19 K, 0 BB, 3 ER, 9 H)
High-A
Hitter: Sean Bouchard, 3B/OF (Colorado Rockies #46)
Lancaster JetHawks (.4 G, .750/.789/1.688, 12 H, 4 HR, 3 2B, 2.477 OPS led all of MiLB)
Look, small sample size aside, Bouchard had 12 hits in 16 at bats last week and on top of that, seven of them were for extra bases. Add in three walks to just 2 strikeouts, that’s good enough for POTW in my book.
SEAN BOUCHARD. He leads off the bottom of the 8th with a HR, his second of the night. He is 7-for-7 so far this series.
BOT 8 | JetHawks 12, Quakes 6 pic.twitter.com/fMURYaLTXq
— Lancaster JetHawks (@JetHawks) June 22, 2019
Honorable Mentions:
Jhailyn Ortiz, OF (Philadelphia Phillies #6)
Clearwater Threshers (7 G, .333/.455/.889, 5 HR, 9 H, 11 RBI)
Marcus Wilson, OF (Boston Red Sox, NR – was Arizona’s #34 before trade to Boston)
Salem Red Sox (4 G, .615/.688/1.1615, 8 H, 2B, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB, 2.303 OPS is second in all of MiLB, behind only Bouchard)
Marcus Wilson Named Carolina League Player of the Weekhttps://t.co/1s2NAkkKh8 pic.twitter.com/q27eF7HRKN
— Salem Red Sox (@salemredsox) June 24, 2019
Devin Mann, 2B (Los Angeles Dodgers #40)
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (4 G, .588/.650/1.353/2.003, 10 H, 4 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI)
Pitcher: Noah Zavolas, RHP (Milwaukee Brewers, NR)
Carolina Mudcats (9 IP, W, 0 ER, 2 H, 11 K, 0 BB)
It isn’t often we see a complete game shutout from a High-A pitcher, but that is exactly what we got from Zavolas in a 101 pitch effort. The 23-year-old faced just two over the minimum in his dominant outing.
Noah Zavolas tossed his first career complete game shutout on Sunday for the @CarolinaMudcats.
9 IP | 2 H | 0 R | 0 BB | 11 K pic.twitter.com/PuTbm6luBI
— Brewers Player Dev (@BrewersPD) June 24, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Tommy Romero, RHP (Tampa Bay Rays, #43)
Charlotte Stone Crabs (2 G, 1 GS, 11.2 IP, 2 W, 0 ER, 13 K, 4 BB, 5 H)
Single-A
Hitter: Matt Whatley, C (Texas Rangers, NR)
Hickory Crawdads (.625/.813/1.125, 1 HR, 5 H, 3 SB, 7 BB, 0 SO)
Let’s make it three weeks in a row for the Single-A POTW to earn the honors in an unconventional way. Then again, would it be considered unconventional after three weeks in a row…? Deep. Anyway, Whatley only managed five hits last week, but he walked seven times in just four games to zero strikeouts and he threw in three stolen bags. The dinger doesn’t hurt either. His OPS for the week was 1.938!
Congrats to Matt Whatley for being named SAL Player of the Week! Whatley has hit .625 with 7 walks and 3 steals since the second half started! 🔥 #CrustaceanDomination pic.twitter.com/qD8hqAOJjZ
— Hickory Crawdads (@HickoryCrawdads) June 24, 2019
Pitcher: Well, let’s just call them Tri-Pitching Prospects of the Week, because we will just be splitting hairs between these three stat lines. Man, the best stuff happens in low level minor league ball.
Scott Sunitsch, LHP (Milwaukee Brewers )
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (6 IP, 11 K, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 H)
Joey Cantillo, LHP (San Diego Padres)
Fort Wayne TinCaps (6 IP, 10 K, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 H)
Alex Royalty, RHP (Cleveland Indians )
Lake County Captains (6.2 IP, 10 K, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 H)
Short Season-A
Hitter: Fernando Kelli, OF (Chicago Cubs #49)
Eugene Emeralds (.417/.440/.833, 10 H, 1 HR, 2 3B, 2 2B, 3 SB)
Former Cubs correspondent Dan Hogan wrote about Kelli back in February 2018, dubbing him The Quickest Cubs’ Minor Leaguer. In addition to his 3 swipes this week the 20-year-old Eugene outfielder tallied 10 hits and has a .980 OPS through his first 10 games of the season.
Fernando Kelli rounds second and watches his two-run homer sail over the left-field wall Sunday in Eugene, pic.twitter.com/G4NrFK5J0S
— Jared Ravich (@JaredRavich) June 24, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Obie Ricumstrict, OF (Texas Rangers, NR)
Spokane Indians (.333/.400/.630, 9 H, 3 2B, 3B, HR, 9 RBI, 2 SB)
Sean Roby, 3B (San Francisco Giants, NR)
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (10 H, 1 3B, 2 2B)
Pitcher: Ethan Hankins, RHP (Cleveland Indians #4)
Mahoning Valley Scrappers (2 GS, 8.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 12 K)
You can’t say much more than Wow! Hankins’ first two appearances of 2019 saw him go a combined 8.2 innings of hitless ball. His stint in Low-A Mahoning Valley may be a short one.
Mahoning Valley Scrappers RHP Ethan Hankins has yet to allow a Hit on the season after his first two starts. Tonight vs Auburn Hankins threw 4.2 shutout innings walking one & striking out 8.
Tonight: 4.2(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 1BB 8SO
First 2 starts: 8.2(IP) 0H 0R 0ER 2BB 12SO 0.00 ERA pic.twitter.com/NcMLHYgHp7
— Indians Prospective (@indiansPro) June 23, 2019
Honorable Mention:
Taylor Lehman, LHP (Philadelphia Philles, NR)
Williamsport Crosscutters (2 GS, 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 10 K)
Lehman is an interesting 23-year-old in Low-A. Drafted in the 34th round back in 2014, but decided to attend Penn State. He wasn’t selected in the 2018 draft but did sign a free agent contract with the Phillies last year and saw his first pro action in Gulf Coast League rookie ball.
Rookie
Hitter: CJ Abrams, SS (San Diego Padres, NR – for now)
AZL Padres 1 (5 G, .522/.542/.7873, 12 H, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, SB)
The 6th overall pick in the recent MLB Draft came out of the gates on fire this past week, hitting safely in all 5 games. Abrams was 4-4 with a HR in his pro debut Tuesday.
Another hit for @Padres @CJAbrams01 !!
Now…watch this speed. This is another single up the middle. Gets past the CF and CJ FLYS to third. Wanted to go home bad. Great patience at the plate, owns the zone and showing off the speed in a big way. #Dude#ProspectOne pic.twitter.com/fj0fQKiAoH
— The Welsh (@IsItTheWelsh) June 19, 2019
Honorable Mentions:
Flemin Bautista, 2B (Chicago Cubs, NR)
DSL Cubs2 (5 G, .444/.545/1.111, 8 H, 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 12 RBI)
Clay Dungan, SS (Kansas City Royals, NR, 2019 9th round pick)
Idaho Falls Chukars (5 G, .545/.600/.864, 12 H, 10 R, 5 2B, 3B, 5 RBI)
Pitcher: Junior Mieses, RHP (Arizona Diamondbacks, NR)
AZL Dbacks (1 GS, 5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 69% SwStr%)
Honorable Mention:
Nash Walters, RHP (Milwaukee Brewers, NR)
Rocky Mountain Vibes (2 GS, 9 IP, 2 H, 6 BB, 10 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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