Saturday's top prospect performers

Here's a look at Saturday’s top Minor League performers from each team's Top 30 Prospects list:

Orioles: Grayson Rodriguez, (MLB No. 8), Double-A Bowie
Rodriguez, recently minted as baseball’s top pitching prospect, rebounded from a first-inning homer to finish Saturday’s start with nine strikeouts over five innings, allowing three hits and two runs. The right-hander did not allow a run following the two-run shot to start the game and finished strong, striking out the side and finishing one pitch shy of an immaculate inning in the fifth. Rodriguez showed his overpowering arsenal with 19 swinging strikes. On the year, the 21-year-old has 144 strikeouts in 90 innings, a K/9 of 14.4 and has 24 walks with a 2.60 ERA in 20 starts. Orioles prospect stats »

Rays: Shane Baz, RHP (MLB No. 20), Triple-A Durham
It was business as usual for Baz in Game 1 of Durham’s doubleheader Saturday. The Rays’ top prospect tossed five scoreless innings with five strikeouts, allowing one walk and one hit while lowering his Triple-A ERA to 1.80. Baz registered nine swinging strikes and threw 46 of his 68 pitches for strikes, overpowering Charlotte batters with his running fastball that sits in the high 90’s and his sweeping slider. Baz has always been a promising pitcher but has stepped up his production this season. In 67 2/3 innings spanning 15 starts, he has a 2.13 ERA with 96 strikeouts (36.7 K%) to 11 BB’s (4.3 BB%) and a 0.80 WHIP. Rays prospect stats »

Twins: Austin Martin, OF/SS (MLB No. 38), Double-A Wichita Martin certainly needed a pick-me-up. Baseball’s 38th-ranked and Minnesota’s second-ranked prospect went into Saturday hitting just .175 with a .577 OPS over his past 10 games, so it felt like he had to have a bounce-back performance. And boy, did he bounce back. Martin went 3-for-5 and he drove in three runners for just the third time this season (three RBIs on Aug. 5, four on June 19). Martin also went deep for the fourth time in 2021, with his fifth-inning, two-run dinger driving in Wichita’s 11th and 12th runs of the night. Twins prospects stats »

Pirates: Liover Peguero, SS (MLB No. 92), High-A Greensboro
Peguero, hitting leadoff, was a catalyst for Greensboro’s 12-run offensive onslaught with a three-hit night, including his 13th homer of the season. The 20-year-old drove in three runs and scored two. Peguero has played his entire season for Greensboro, hitting .259/.313/.431 with a .744 OPS. The Dominican has smacked 14 doubles and has shown off his speed with 19 steals. Peguero has sacrificed contact for more power this year, but has struggled to get on base enough to supplement the change in hitting philosophy, although his combination of power, speed and defense at a middle infield position is a coveted skillset. Pirates prospect stats »

Cardinals: Juan Yepez, OF/1B (No. 27), Triple-A Memphis
Yepez’s power stroke seems to be coming along nicely with Memphis. The 23-year-old tied a career high with seven RBIs and went deep twice in the Redbirds’ 14-12 win over the Clippers on Saturday, including a grand slam in the third in the middle of a run of nine straight scores that put Memphis ahead for good. Over his past 10 games, Yepez has been on another planet at the plate. He’s slashing .405/.439/.919 over that stretch with 15 RBIs, seven doubles and as many homers (four) as strikeouts. Cardinals prospects stats »

Marlins: Eury Perez, RHP (No. 7), High-A Beloit
In his second High-A start, Perez was unhittable across 4 2/3 innings of seven-strikeout ball. The only baserunners he allowed came on his first batter of the game (a walk) and his last (a two-out hit batter). The hit batsman eventually came around to score after Perez departed the game, giving the 18-year-old a 0.93 ERA in his first two outings with Beloit and a 1.37 ERA overall. In 65 2/3 innings this year, the 6-foot-8 hurler has notched a 95-to-22 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has allowed only three homers through 17 starts. Marlins prospect stats »

Reds: Mark Kolozsvary, C (No. 27), Triple-A Louisville
Kolozsvary had himself quite the coming out party in Indianapolis. Just four days after being promoted to Triple-A Louisville, Kolozsvary went 3-for-5 with his first two extra-base hits (first-inning home run, ninth-inning double) in the Bats’ 13-10 loss to the Indians. In three games with Louisville -- an admittedly small sample size -- Kolozsvary is slashing .286/.333/.571, a step up from the .233/.341/.438 he had to begin the season with Chattanooga. Reds prospects stats »

Royals: Kyle Isbel, OF (No. 6), Triple-A Omaha
Isbel smacked two extra-base hits, including his 11th homer of the year, and finished a triple shy of the cycle on a 3-for-4 day in Omaha’s 7-1 win. The 24-year-old scored two runs and drove in two, bringing his season RBI total to a career-best 47, surpassing his previous mark of 32 he set in his debut season in 2018. It’s his second game of the season with multiple extra-base hits and Isbel is now batting .265/.360/.427 with 17 doubles and 21 stolen bases in 92 games. Royals prospect stats »