Prospect Roundup: Games of June 19

Mariners IF/OF Patrick Kivlehan, Triple-A Tacoma: 2-for-3, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, K -- After a sluggish May in which he batted .218/.273/.366, Kivlehan is heating up in June. Friday night was his second multi-hit performance in a row, and the longball was the Nyack, New York native's fourth of the month. So far in June, Kivlehan is batting .269/.320/.493, his best numbers of the season. The former Rutgers standout surged similarly in June a year ago for Double-A Jackson with a .385/.444/.573 slash line in 26 games.

Reds RHP Robert Stephenson, Double-A Pensacola: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K -- Stephenson climbed through three levels a year ago and capped off his season with a four-start cameo in Pensacola. Now back there as a mainstay of the Blue Wahoos rotation, the righty has put together his best stretch of the year over his last five starts. During that time, Stephenson has allowed just seven earned runs in 32 innings pitched, good for a 1.97 ERA, and he's pitched at least seven innings in four of those outings. Stephenson's plus fastball and curveball are his bread and butter, but a regularly effective changeup would take him to this level of performance consistently -- and likely to Triple-A Louisville soon.

Cardinals 2B/3B Bruce Caldwell, Double-A Springfield: 4-for-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R -- Despite batting just .248 with a .688 OPS in 44 games for Class A Advanced Palm Beach to start the season, Caldwell earned a call to the Texas League and has flourished there. His performance on Friday night, in the first game of Springfield's doubleheader sweep of Northwest Arkansas, came one shy of matching his career-best RBI performance. Caldwell was a 15th-round Draft selection out of Spartanburg (SC) Methodist College and is being tested at Double-A for the first time where he's batting .281/.279/.508 through 16 games.

Dodgers C Kyle Farmer, Double-A Tulsa: 4-for-6, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBIs, 2 R (Doubleheader) -- Like Caldwell, Farmer is surging in his first taste of Double-A with hits in nine of his first 12 games for the Drillers. A four-year starter at shortstop at Georgia, the Dodgers moved Farmer behind the plate, but the 24-year-old has also seen action at third base in recent weeks. That's where he started the second game of Friday night's twinbill and belted his first home run of his Double-A stint. In 21 games playing at the hot corner this season between Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga and Tulsa, Farmer is batting .435 with five extra-base hits and 11 RBIs.

Rockies RHP Alex Balog, Class A Advanced Modesto: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K -- In just his second start of the season, Balog matched the longest effort of his career by completing seven innings. The Rockies' competitive balance pick in 2013 out of the University of San Francisco, Balog was rehabbing an injury until a week ago but has now allowed just one run over 12 innings to kick off his campaign. The 6-foot-5 righty has a four-pitch mix and utilizes a sinking fastball in the Colorado mold. Opponents are batting just .175 against him through his first two outings.

Giants OF Seth Harrison, Class A Advanced San Jose: 3-for-4, 2 2B, 6 RBI -- Setting a new career high in RBIs in a game, Harrison doubled his previous best in Friday night's showing. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette product is getting better as he climbs the ranks with his .297/.343/.436 slash line at Class A Advanced his best of the four levels he's seen so far in his professional career since being selected in the seventh round of last year's Draft. In 25 games with San Jose so far this year, Harrison has racked up eight doubles, over a third of his career total of 21. He'll have to get more selective picking his spots on the basepaths though. Harrison was cut down attempting to steal last night, the fourth time in eight tries he's been caught at the Class A Advanced level and eighth time in 18 attempts overall this year.

Rockies 1B Roberto Ramos, Rookie-level Grand Junction: 4-for-6, 2 2B, HR, 4 R, 3 RBI -- A Hermosillo, Mexico native who attended College of the Canyons in California, Ramos is making the most early of his second tour through the Pioneer League. After going 1-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored on Opening Night, the first baseman racked up his first three extra-base hits on Friday for a powerful Grand Junction team that has scored 32 runs through its first two games. (That isn't a typo.) At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds Ramos has the big body befitting his position and should hit for more power as he fills out. On Friday, he was one of two players with multiple extra-base hits for the Rockies along with designated hitter Ryan Stephens, and outfielder Bobby Stahel added a triple and five RBIs.