Tuesday's top prospect performers
Here's MLB Pipeline's roundup of the top prospect performances in the Minor Leagues on Tuesday.
Stephen Gonsalves has been one of the best pitchers in the Minors over the past six weeks and that trend continued as he led Triple-A Rochester to a 2-0 win over Indianapolis.
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The Twins No. 4 prospect (No. 72 overall) has had some ups and downs while struggling with consistency this season, but since getting rocked for nine runs in four innings on June 11, Gonsalves has been dominant.
After firing seven scoreless frames against the Indians, the lefty has allowed one earned run or less in seven straight starts and has posted an ERA of 0.45 (two earned runs allowed over 40 1/3 innings) in that span. Gonsalves has also posted back-to-back scoreless starts (13 innings).
Gonsalves struck out four and scattered five hits through his seven innings, but the most encouraging stat of the night may have been the fact that he threw 68 of his 98 pitches for strikes and didn't issue a walk. Although Gonsalves has been keeping runs off the board, he has walked five batters three times over his past seven outings. Overall, Gonsalves has walked 56 (compared to 97 strike outs) across 97 1/3 innings this season.
MILB Video - Title: Gonsalves' fourth strikeout - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=2304704283
Other top prospect performances from Tuesday's action:
• No. 30 overall prospect Keston Hiura (Brewers' No. 1) and Corey Ray (Brewers' No. 6) led Double-A Biloxi to a win. Hiura hit his 11th homer of the season as part of a 2-for-5, three-RBI performance. Meanwhile, Ray hit his seventh leadoff homer of the season as part of a 2-for-5 performance and now has 20 homers and 30 stolen bases through 98 games, in his first taste of Double-A.
MILB Video - Title: Watch: Hiura goes yard - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=2306617683
• No. 50 overall prospect Tyler O'Neill (Cardinals' No. 2) showed off his 60-grade power with his sixth two-homer game of the season for Triple-A Memphis. O'Neill, who has 28 homers (including his three in the Majors) this season, went 3-for-6 with three RBIs in Memphis' win. The 23-year-old hit a solo homer in the first and then capped his night with a two-run blast in the seventh.
MILB Video - Title: O'Neill hits two-run homer - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=2305588083
• No. 66 overall prospect Alex Kirilloff (Twins' No. 3) extended his hitting streak to eight games with his third straight three-hit performance for Class A Advanced Fort Myers. The 2016 first-round pick hit his 16th homer of the season as part of a perfect 3-for-3 night at the plate. Kirilloff, who also drew a walk, is hitting .370 through 29 games with the Miracle after hitting .333 through 65 games with Class A Cedar Rapids to begin the season.
• Astros No. 30 prospect Josh James notched double-digit strikeouts for the sixth time this season as he fanned 11 for Triple-A Fresno. James, who now has 139 strikeouts through 86 2/3 innings across two levels this season, walked four but yielded just two hits. The right-hander threw 107 pitches (65 strikes) and gave up just one unearned run.
MILB Video - Title: Watch: James records 11th strikeout - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=2306628283
• Mets No. 20 prospect Will Toffey certainly made a strong impression on his new teammates, hitting his sixth homer of the season in his first game with Double-A Binghamton. Toffey, who was traded from the A"s to the Mets on Saturday as part of the Jeurys Familia deal, hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning as part of a 2-for-4 effort. Prior to the trade, Toffey was hitting .244 through 48 games with Class A Advanced Stockton.
MILB Video - Title: Watch: Toffey connects on homer - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=2306618583
• Pirates No. 15 prospect Will Craig had a perfect night at the plate for Double-A Altoona. Craig, who went 3-for-3, collected a trio of extra-base hits as he doubled twice and hit his 17th homer of the season. The 23-year-old started off with an RBI double in the first, went deep to begin the seventh and the concluded the seventh with another RBI double.
• Red Sox No. 9 prospect Mike Shawaryn picked up the win for Double-A Portland as he threw seven innings for the fourth time this season. The right-hander, who threw 56 of his 88 pitches for strikes, worked around five hits and two walks to put together his fourth scoreless start of the year. Shawaryn also struck out four and lowered his ERA to 3.29 through 18 starts.
• Royals No. 9 prospect Foster Griffin picked up his second straight win in one of his best starts this season for Double-A Northwest Arkansas. The 22-year-old lefty has a 5.66 ERA through 21 appearances, but was dominant through 6 1/3 scoreless innings. Griffin threw 45 of his 74 pitches for strikes, issued one walk, struck out one and gave up just a pair of hits.
MILB Video - Title: Watch: Griffin notches 3rd strikeout - Url: http://www.milb.com/r/video?content_id=2306246283
• Tigers No. 9 prospect Gregory Soto led Class A Advanced Lakeland to a win with 6 2/3 scoreless innings. The 23-year-old lefty threw 63 of his 97 pitches for strikes in what turned out to be a solid bounceback start. After giving up five runs in his last outing, Soto carved his way through the Dunedin lineup, notching six strikeouts and surrendering just a trio of hits.
• Trevor Larnach, the Twins' first-round pick from June's Draft, continued his fast start with a 4-for-5 night for Rookie-level Elizabethton. Larnach, who collected his first career double and drove in four runs, has a hit in all five games he's played and is slashing .450/.522/.500.