MLB Pipeline's Prospect Team of the Week

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

August is typically known as the “Dog Days of Summer.” Someone forgot to tell the players on this week’s Prospect Team of the Week.

If these players hit a wall in the long Minor League season, they’ve pushed through it to finish on a high note. This is also the first edition of PTOW to feature 2019 draftees, who were just added to our prospect rankings in late July, and there are two of them on this week's team.

Here is this week’s PTOW, based on games from Aug. 5-11.

C: Daulton Varsho, Jackson Generals (Double-A)
(D-backs' No. 5 prospect)
5 G, .421/.421/.947, 4 R, 2 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 5 SO

The Futures Game participant has been red-hot in the second half and this week, which featured a pair of three-hit games (with a homer in each). The 2017 draftee is now hitting .331/.424/.592 in the second half of the Southern League season. This is Varsho’s first PTOW nod since his summer debut.

1B: Luken Baker, Palm Beach Cardinals (A Adv)
(Cardinals' No. 27 prospect)
5 G, .500/.579/.938, 5 R, 4 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 2 SO

Palm Beach is one of the hardest places to hit in the Minors, especially if you’re a power-first guy like Baker. But he looks like he’s finishing strong, especially after a week that saw him have a pair of three-hit games. In eight August contests, the 2018 draftee has hit .440/.533/.760.

2B: Ramon Urias, Memphis Redbirds (Triple-A)
(Cardinals' No. 30 prospect)
6 G, .591/.667/1.227, 5 R, 2 2B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 4 BB, 4 SO

Urias now has a seven-game hitting streak going and had four multihit performances last week, headlined by a two-homer game on Monday and a four-hit, four-RBI showing on Friday. The career .301 hitter in the Minors has put up a .375/.495/.681 line since the All-Star break.

3B: Andy Young, Reno Aces (Triple-A)
(D-backs' No. 23 prospect)
6 G, .450/.522/1.300, 7 R, 2 2B, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, 4 SO

This is the second time in three weeks Young has made the PTOW, though last time he did it as a second baseman. Young went 5-for-8 with three homers and five RBIs in his first two games of the week and homered for a third straight game on Thursday. He’s now hitting .441/.525/1.176 in 10 games this August.

SS: Bryson Stott, Williamsport Crosscutters (short-season)
(Phillies' No. 3 prospect)
7 G, .458/.536/.917, 5 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 4 BB, 5 SO

The No. 14 overall pick in the 2019 Draft, Stott is finding his groove in the New York-Penn League. He had five two-hit games last week, capping it off with a pair of homers on Sunday. After initially struggling when arrived in the league (.192/.300/.385 in 15 July games), the UNLV product has now hit .385/.455/.667 in 11 games this month.

OF: Nick Schnell, Princeton Rays (Rookie)
(Rays' No. 14 prospect)
6 G, .500/.593/1.182, 9 R, 2 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 5 BB, 6 SO, 2 SB

Schnell hit in all six games he played in the Appalachian League last week, kicking things off by going 5-for-8 in his first two games, the second of which was a two-homer performance. He finished off the week by going 4-for-8 with another homer to bring his line this August (10 games) up to .378/.477/.865.

OF: Peyton Burdick, Clinton LumberKings (Class A)
(Marlins' No. 29 prospect)
7 G, .394/.429/.758, 5 R, 6 2B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 1 BB, 7 SO

Burdick may have been a well below-slot signing in the third round of this year’s Draft, but he sure isn’t hitting like one. He’s now hit in nine straight and drove in at least two runs in four games this past week. He looks very comfortable in full-season ball, with a .313/.394/.533 line over 46 games.

OF: Gilberto Celestino, Cedar Rapids Kernels (Class A)
(Twins' No. 21 prospect)
7 G, .419/.455/.677, 5 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 3 SO, 3 SB

Celestino is ending his first taste of full-season ball on a high note. His standout game this past week was a 5-for-5 performance on Saturday, and he finished the week off with his second homer of the week. The 20-year-old has erased a rough first half (.218/.293/.313) with an outstanding .351/.417/.530 second-half showing.

LHP: Seth Corry, Augusta GreenJackets (Class A)
(Giants' No. 9 prospect)
0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 SO, 0.60 WHIP

This is back-to-back PTOW appearances for Corry, and his third time on the squad in the past six weeks. The lefty hasn’t given up an earned run since July 13, a run of five starts. He now has a 0.65 ERA and .122 batting average against in 10 second-half starts and currently leads the South Atlantic League in ERA (1.64) and strikeouts (148).

RHP: Joe Ryan, Charlotte Stone Crabs (Class A Adv)
(Rays' No. 16 prospect)
0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 13 SO, 0.14 WHIP

Ryan’s nearly perfect start on Wednesday shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been watching his first full season. He’s only allowed more than two earned runs in a start once all year and has given up one or less earned runs in each of his last seven starts. That’s led to a 0.85 ERA and .143 BAA in the second half while he’s racked up 159 strikeouts in 110 1/3 innings across two levels of A ball.

RP: James Karinchak, Columbus Clippers (Triple-A)
(Indians' No. 21 prospect)
0-0, 1 SV, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO, 0.38 WHIP

The year began with Karinchak being the Team of the Week reliever for the first two weeks of the season, but this is his first time back since then, making him the first relief pitcher to appear on the PTOW three times in the same season. The move to Triple-A was rough at first, but if his two outings this week, which included a save and an appearance where he struck out all four batters he faced, are any indication, he’s figuring it out.