3 Sox, Pratto lead Prospect Team of the Week

MLB Pipeline's Prospect Team of the Week honors the best performances from the previous seven days. Any Minor Leaguer currently on an organization Top 30 Prospects list in our Prospect Rankings is eligible.

It was far from a banner week for the Red Sox at the Major League level. However, perhaps there was some solace to be found among the organization’s prospects. Boston boasts three representatives on this edition of the Prospect Team of the Week (Aug. 16-22) in catcher Ronaldo Hernández, second baseman Nick Yorke and left-handed starting pitcher Chris Murphy. This marks the second time this season that Yorke (Boston’s 2020 first-round pick) has appeared on the PTOW, while the Double-A battery of Hernández and Murphy each appear for the first time.

Royals fans can relate to finding silver linings in the Minor Leagues and should continue to do so with No. 71 overall prospect Nick Pratto, who cracks this list for the third time during his breakout 2021 season. The Triple-A Omaha first baseman is the only representative from the new-look Top 100 to appear on this edition of the PTOW.

This is the latest Prospect Team of the Week:

C: Ronaldo Hernández, Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A)
(Red Sox No. 22)
.500/.563/.929, 5 G, 7-for-14, HR, 3 2B, 5 RBI, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 K, CS

The Red Sox acquired the former Top-100 prospect in a February swap for Chris Mazza and Jeffrey Springs, but he struggled to make much of his offensive stroke through the first three-plus months of the season. Hernández seemed to find himself last week with hits in exactly half of his at-bats and four of his seven knocks going for extra bases. Raw power has never been the issue for the backstop; rather, an aggressive approach that keeps him from taking walks has earned him the most demerits. That didn’t turn around last week, but it should be a boon for him that hits started to fall in. Hernández is hitting .253/.297/.456 with 12 homers in 73 games for Portland this season.

1B: Nick Pratto, Omaha Storm Chasers (Triple-A)
(Royals No. 4/MLB No. 71)
.400/.444/.960, 6 G, 10-for-25, 4 HR, 3B, 11 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 2 SB

The only thing that may stop Pratto’s breakout 2021 is the end of the Minor League season in about five weeks. After a dreadful 2019, the left-handed slugger showed signs of a turnaround at last year’s alternate training site and has proven that his power surge has been very real at both Double-A and Triple-A this summer. His latest big week saw him go deep in four straight games from Thursday to Sunday at home against Columbus. He also picked up multiple hits in four of his six contests, pushing his Triple-A slash line to .282/.365/.673 through 29 games. He has notched 25 homers and posted a .996 OPS through 90 games on the whole in his age-22 season, cementing his place as a Top 100 talent.

2B: Nick Yorke, Salem Red Sox (Low-A)
(Red Sox No. 4)
.478/.500/1.000, 5 G, 11-for-23, 3 HR, 3B, 2B, 10 RBI, 11 R, 2 BB, 2 K

Boston’s decision to take Yorke 17th overall last year certainly raised a lot of eyebrows at the time, considering he was seen as a second-round talent at best. But the Sox always believed in the California native’s bat, and he is proving worthy of that faith in his first full season. Yorke had hits in all five of last week’s games at Lynchburg and picked up two or more in four of them, including a 3-for-6, two-homer performance on Saturday. That was the right-handed slugger’s second career multihomer game, backing up another that happened 13 days prior and also came against the Hillcats. Yorke is hitting .323/.413/.500 with 10 homers in 76 games this season and leads all Boston full-season Minor Leaguers with a 147 wRC+. He is headed to High-A Greenville next following an off-day promotion.

3B: Eddys Leonard, Great Lakes Loons (High-A)
(Dodgers No. 18)
.455/.556/.864, 6 G, 10-for-22, 2 HR, 3B, 2B, 5 RBI, 6 R, 3 BB, 6 K, CS

Playing in his age-20 season, Leonard was promoted to High-A on Aug. 3 and has shown no issues adjusting with a .381/.480/.683 and nine extra-base hits in 17 games at the new level. With a quick swing from the right side, the infielder is certainly hit over power right now, but it’s worth noting that he homered in back-to-back games on Wednesday and Thursday against Lansing. There could be more pop coming down the line as he fills out more than his listed 6-foot, 160-pound frame.

SS: Romy Gonzalez, Charlotte Knights (Triple-A)/Birmingham Barons (Double-A)
(White Sox No. 21)
.476/.476/1.095, 5 G, 10-for-21, 3 HR, 4 2B, 10 RBI, 6 R, 0 BB, 2 K, SB

Gonzalez wrapped up his time at Double-A by becoming a member of the 20-20 club (20 homers, 21 steals) and then announced his presence with authority after a midweek promotion to Triple-A. The 24-year-old hit two homers in his Charlotte debut Saturday, including a walk-off, two-run blast to give the Knights a 7-5 win over Norfolk. He followed that up by going 4-for-5 with three doubles a day later. An 18th-round pick out of Miami in 2018, Gonzalez doesn’t have any plus tools, but he’s certainly made the most of his power and speed this summer, making him a standout in an otherwise lowly Chicago system.

OF: Orlando Martinez, Rocket City Trash Pandas (Double-A)
(Angels No. 27)
.458/.480/.875, 7 G, 11-for-24, 2 HR, 3B, 2 2B, 4 RBI, 5 R, BB, 5 K

Martinez enjoyed home cooking in Madison, Alabama in a seven-game series against Chattanooga, picking up multiple hits in five of the seven contests. He also homered in consecutive games on Friday and Saturday. That plays into a theme of the year for the 23-year-old outfielder. Martinez has been slightly above-average for Double-A with a 108 wRC+ in 86 games this season, but has been much better at home (.305/.348/.563, nine homers) than he’s been on the road (.209/.275/.360, six homers). That split is something worth monitoring down the stretch.

OF: Jake McCarthy, Reno Aces (Triple-A)
(D-backs No. 23)
.400/.500/1.067, 4 G, 6-for-15, 2 HR, 2 3B, 5 RBI, 6 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 2 SB, CS

Fun fact: McCarthy has played 35 games for Double-A Amarillo and 47 for Triple-A Reno this season. He has an .822 OPS at both stops. The 24-year-old outfielder played only four games last week but made the most of it with strong performances at the plate. His standout showing came Sunday when he finished 3-for-4 with a homer and a triple. Speed remains McCarthy’s best asset, and his three steals last week pushed his season total to 29, most by an Arizona farmhand in 2021.

OF: Nick Plummer, Springfield Cardinals (Double-A)
(Cardinals No. 10)
.333/.571/.833, 6 G, 6-for-18, 2 HR, 3B, 2B, 3 RBI, 6 R, 9 BB, 5 K, 3 SB, CS

Let’s get this out of the way -- nine walks? Only Cleveland High-A outfielder George Valera had more among ranked prospects with 10 last week. Plummer’s nine free passes came in 28 plate appearances, meaning he didn’t have to lift the bat much in his big week against Wichita. When he did, he still did plenty of damage with four of his six hits going for extra bases. It was just another strong string of performances during the 25-year-old’s breakout season in Springfield. Plummer is hitting .283/.404/.489 with a career-high 13 homers through 90 games, and the Cardinals announced Monday that he has been promoted to Triple-A Memphis.

LHP: Chris Murphy, Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A)
(Red Sox No. 11)
1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 0.29 WHIP

Having been robbed of a first full season in 2020, the 2019 sixth-rounder is doing his best to make up for lost time, having already climbed to Double-A. His outing last Tuesday at home against Binghamton was his first scoreless appearance through three starts for Portland and arguably his best performance of the entire campaign. Murphy sports three above-average pitches in his fastball, slider and changeup and has had little issue generating strikeouts with the Sea Dogs, having fanned 21 in 17 innings while sporting a 2.12 ERA since his promotion from High-A Greenville earlier this month.

RHP: Drey Jameson, Amarillo Sod Poodles (Double-A)
(D-backs No. 17)
1-0, 0.63 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 14 1/3 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 22 K, 0.70 WHIP

The Midland RockHounds won’t want to see Jameson again anytime soon. The Amarillo right-hander faced Midland twice last week and left many of the A’s prospects shaking their heads. He fanned a career high 12 over 7 1/3 scoreless innings on Tuesday and followed that up with 10 more punchouts and only one earned run allowed over seven frames on Sunday. Jameson, who earns at least 55 grades on all four of his pitches, has fanned double-digit batters in three of his four starts with Amarillo following a promotion earlier this month. His 41 total strikeouts in August lead the Minor Leagues.

RP: Will Klein, Quad Cities River Bandits (High-A)
(Royals No. 28)
1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 0 GS, 3 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K, 0.60 WHIP

The 2020 fifth-rounder was virtually untouchable last week, striking out nine of the 12 South Bend batters he faced over a pair of relief appearances. Adding to the promise of those two outings was the fact that he walked only one batter. Klein is the typical promising relief prospect who throws hard but can be inconsistent with control. True to form, he has fanned 98 batters but walked 38 over 57 innings with Quad Cities in his first taste of the Minors.