Wednesday's top prospect performers
Here's a look at Wednesday's top Minor League performers from each team's Top 30 Prospects list:
Mariners: Julio Rodríguez, OF (MLB No. 5), Double-A Arkansas
Rodríguez’s hitless stretch reached 13 at-bats until he ended it with an exclamation point. The 20-year-old belted a grand slam in his second plate appearance for his second home run since his promotion to Double-A and first since July 2, a span of 29 at-bats. Rodríguez is batting .262/.404/.452 with Arkansas and .308/.409/.547 with 20 extra-base hits, 36 runs and 29 RBIs in 39 games across two Minor League levels this season. Mariners prospects stats »
Giants: Marco Luciano, SS (MLB No. 12), Low-A San Jose
Luciano has struggled in July, but looked a bit more like himself Wednesday as he went 3-for-4 with a double, RBI and a pair of runs scored. The 19-year-old drove home a run with an RBI double in the sixth and is hitting .271 through 56 games in his first full season. The Giants signed Luciano back in 2018 and he raked across two levels in his 2019 professional debut. Giants prospects stats »
Cardinals: Nolan Gorman, 3B (MLB No. 28), Triple-A Memphis
Gorman got off to a slow start with Memphis, entering play Wednesday hitless in three straight games and batting .103 through 10 games. However, the Cardinals’ No. 2 prospect appeared to break out of his funk as he hit his first Memphis homer and collected a trio of hits. He got things started with a three-run homer in the first and then added a pair of singles on his way to a 3-for-4 night. Cardinals prospects stats »
Astros: Nathan Perry, C (No. 24), Low-A Fayetteville
It’s taken Perry a little more time to get going than he would have liked, but the 22-year-old appears to be gaining traction. Entering Wednesday with one homer and six RBIs in his first 50 at-bats, Perry homered twice and equaled his career high by driving in four runs while extending his hitting streak to nine games. The backstop is batting .241/.348/.463 with six extra-base hits and 10 RBIs in 15 games. Astros prospects stats »
Blue Jays: Orelvis Martinez, SS (No. 7), Low-A Dunedin
Miguel Hiraldo, 2B (No. 8), Low-A Dunedin
Dunedin’s middle-infield duo put on a show offensively from the 3-4 spots in the order. Martinez went deep twice for the second multihomer game of his career and finished with a personal-best four hits. The 19-year-old drove in two runs and has five roundtrippers in July, including three in his past two games. Martinez is batting .274/.356/.516 with 29 extra-base hits and 44 RBIs.
Hiraldo blasted his fourth homer, tripled and singled for his third three-hit effort in 10 games. The 20-year-old is off to a hot start this month after he batted .216/.336/.330 in June. Hiraldo is hitting .316 with six extra-base hits and five RBIs in July. Overall, the Dominican Republic native is hitting .256/.345/.400 in 56 games. Blue Jays prospects stats »
Braves: Kyle Muller, LHP (No. 5), Triple-A Gwinnett
Muller twirled his second scoreless start of the season as he fired 44 of his 71 pitches for strikes across four one-hit innings. The 23-year-old, a second-round pick from the 2016 Draft, has pitched to a 3.92 ERA through nine starts with Gwinnett this season and a 3.45 ERA through four games (three starts) with the Braves. Muller allowed the first batter in each of the first two frames to reach base, but retired eight of the final nine batters he faced, with the lone exception reaching on an error, to close out his outing. Braves prospects stats »
Cubs: Ed Howard, SS (No. 5), Low-A Myrtle Beach
Howard did a little bit of everything in the second three-hit game of his career. Not only did the 19-year-old shortstop go 3-for-5 at the plate, he also hit his second homer, stole his second base and scored a pair of runs. Howard is hitting .220 through the first 30 games of his career, but may be on the verge of a breakout as he’s hit .324 through eight games in July. Cubs prospects stats »
Indians: Brayan Rocchio, SS (No. 7), High-A Lake County
Richard Palacios, 2B (No. 28), Double-A Akron
Rocchio has turned into an on-base machine, having reached in 10 straight plate appearances over the past two days, though that streak came to an end with an eighth-inning groundout on Wednesday. The 20-year-old went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and four runs scored, a day after going a perfect 4-for-4. Rocchio has also hit in eight straight games, bringing his average up to .280 through his first 52 games at the High-A level.
Palacios enjoyed the best game of his professional career, doubling twice while establishing career highs with five hits and three RBIs. The 24-year-old kicked off Akron’s five-run opening frame with a two-run double and added an RBI single in the ninth. In between, Palacios added three knocks, giving him four games of three or more hits this season. The Brooklyn-born middle infielder is hitting .291 with an .850 OPS with 26 extra-base hits, including 20 doubles, in 53 games. Indians prospects stats »
Marlins: Kameron Misner, OF (No. 14), High-A Beloit
Misner put together his second consecutive multihit game and reached safely four times to pace Beloit’s offense. The 23-year-old launched his sixth home run and added three singles to push his slash line to .229/.341/.400. Misner has 22 extra-base hits, 28 RBIs and has swiped 18 bases in 19 attempts. Marlins prospects stats »
Nationals: Evan Lee, LHP (No. 24), High-A Wilmington
There’s something to be said for a pitcher rebounding from a poor start. Coming off the worst outing of his professional career, Lee put forth one of his best for High-A Wilmington. The 24-year-old equaled his career high with nine strikeouts and allowed three hits and no walks over six scoreless frames. The outing was in stark contrast to his last on July 7, when he was tagged for eight runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. Nationals prospects stats »
Padres: Carlos Guarate, RHP (No. 30), Low-A Lake Elsinore
Guarate was absolutely dominant in relief for the Storm as he threw 49 of his 59 pitches for strikes over six scoreless innings. The 20-year-old retired 18 of the 20 batters he faced and didn’t give up a hit or a walk. One batter was hit and another reached on an error. The strong outing was a good bounceback effort for Guarate, who gave up three runs over three innings in his last outing. Overall the right-hander has pitched to a 4.94 ERA this season. Padres prospects stats »