Saturday's top prospect performers

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

Red Sox: Triston Casas, 1B (MLB No. 18), Double-A Portland
Jay Groome, LHP (No. 8), Double-A Portland
Connor Seabold, RHP (No. 13), Triple-A Worcester
The homer train keeps trucking for Casas, who left the yard twice on Saturday after homering three times in a doubleheader on Friday. It’s amazing how quickly a story can change, isn’t it? After homering just once in 61 at-bats in August, Casas has five home runs in 13 at-bats so far in September. The 21-year-old is certifiably on fire. Oh, and he’s reached base in 11 of 17 plate appearances this month, which works out to a crisp .647 on-base percentage.

A long, injury-plagued road has kept Groome from climbing too high on Boston’s organizational ladder since the team selected him 12th overall in 2016. But in his Double-A debut, Groome posted an encouraging stat line that included 10 strikeouts (a career-high) over five innings of scoreless, two-hit ball. His promotion came after he posted a 5.29 ERA in 18 starts with High-A Greenville. Dating back to 2016, Groome made 38 starts below Double-A prior to his debut at that level.

Seabold’s up-and-down season is back on the upswing, thanks to six innings of scoreless, one-hit ball. In his past six starts, Seabold has allowed one hit and zero runs three times; in his other three starts, he allowed 10 runs in 14 1/3 innings (6.38 ERA). All told, the 25-year-old has 44 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings at Triple-A, which he reached this season for the first time in his career. Red Sox prospect stats »

Mariners: George Kirby, RHP (MLB No. 35), Double-A Arkansas
Coming off his worst outing, Kirby returned with his best. He allowed zero runs on four hits in six innings while striking out seven, matching his second longest outing as a pro. The 20th overall pick in the 2019 Draft allowed four runs in just one inning during his last start, but his early returns in Arkansas have been great. Kirby has allowed only one other run across his other three starts in Double-A, which equates to a 2.93 ERA overall. Mariners prospect stats »

Dodgers: Michael Busch, 2B (MLB No. 78), Double-A Tulsa
Busch has built a nice little hot streak over this past week, and that continued with a monster 3-for-3 night in which he homered twice and added a double while driving in six runs. Since Aug. 29, Busch is 13-for-25 (.520) with three home runs, five doubles, four walks and a whopping 14 RBIs. His OPS this season is up to .855, up 91 points from where it was two months ago. A call to Triple-A might not come in the next couple of weeks, but Busch is making a great impression for the 2022 campaign. Dodgers prospect stats »

Orioles: Colton Cowser, OF (MLB. No. 79), Low-A Delmarva
Cowser collected a trio of Low-A “firsts,” including his first home run, his first three-hit game and his first game with multiple extra-base hits. The fifth overall selection in this year’s Draft went 3-for-6 with five RBIs and two runs scored, adding to what has been an excellent debut pro campaign. He hasn’t displayed much power with Delmarva — in his first 14 games he had just three extra-base hits, all of which were doubles — but he’s constantly on base. Cowser has hit safely in 13 of 15 Low-A games, with a .481 on-base percentage in that span. Teammate and No. 9 O's prospect Connor Norby also had a standout game, going 3-for-5 with a homer, a walk, two RBIs and four runs scored. Orioles prospect stats »

Brewers: Alex Binelas, 3B/1B (No. 17), Low-A Carolina
Binelas exploded for three doubles and two runs scored, marking his second three-hit game as a pro (and first in which all three hits went for extra bases). The 21-year-old has reached safely in all but one of his 16 games with Carolina, boasting a .286/.370/.540 slash line in that span. He also has the same number of hits (18) as he has strikeouts. Brewers prospect stats »

Cubs: Jordan Nwogu, OF (No. 26), Low-A Myrtle Beach
Nwogu notched the first four-hit game of his young career, with a home run, a stolen base and two RBIs to go with it. Thanks to a pair of home runs over his past five games, Nwogu has added back 31 points to his slugging percentage and brought his OPS up to .757. The 22-year-old has also been impressively efficient on the basepaths, with 15 steals in 17 attempts. Cubs prospect stats »

Marlins: Braxton Garrett, LHP (No. 12), Triple-A Jacksonville
About a month ago, Garrett tossed five scoreless innings for the Marlins at the big-league level. This time, he did that in Triple-A while striking out seven and allowing just two hits and a walk. The 24-year-old has bounced to and from the Majors on four separate occasions this season, and outings like this one will help him make a case for a fifth try. He now has a 4.26 ERA in 14 starts with Jacksonville. Marlins prospects stats »

Nationals: Cole Henry, RHP (No. 8), High-A Wilmington
Henry continues putting distance between himself and the elbow soreness that sidelined him for 2 1/2 months, and the results continue to improve. Washington’s second-round pick in 2020 threw five innings of two-hit, scoreless ball while walking two and fanning six. Add that to his impressive work last time out, and here’s what his High-A totals are since returning from injury: nine innings, four hits, three walks, 12 strikeouts and … zero runs. Not too shabby. Nationals prospect stats »

Rays: Tommy Romero, RHP (No. 18), Triple-A Durham
After five hitless, scoreless innings, Romero is truly on a roll. He still owns an unimpressive 4.97 ERA over his eight-start stint with Durham, but his results have been far better of late. In his past four outings, Romero has a 1.71 ERA while striking out 28 batters in 21 innings. In truth, a few rough starts (including one in which he allowed six runs while recording just one out) have bloated his numbers. But the 24-year-old is on the brink of the Majors for a reason. Rays prospect stats »