Appy notes: Jays' Danner catching on
Whatever attention might come Hagen Danner's way, he figures he can deal with it.Be it scrutiny as he tries to master tools needed as a catcher with the Bluefield Blue Jays or any positive attention he generates at the plate, he has a plenty of experience to fall back on.After
Whatever attention might come Hagen Danner's way, he figures he can deal with it.
Be it scrutiny as he tries to master tools needed as a catcher with the Bluefield Blue Jays or any positive attention he generates at the plate, he has a plenty of experience to fall back on.
After all, he's been in the spotlight on the baseball diamond for years.
"To this day, the Little League World Series is still probably the thing that has been the greatest fun for me," Danner said. "There was just so much going on with that."
Danner's role was big as the Huntington Beach, California-based Ocean View team won that youth championship. And it just kept building as he climbed through the amateur ranks. There was a major role on a league championship high school team in his hometown -- alongside first baseman Nick Pratto, who was also a Little League teammate on that 2011 team. Then more attention came their way. Pratto was a 2017 first-round Draft pick of the Kansas City Royals, while Danner went in the second round to Toronto.
"We had a lot of fans at our games and a lot of [scouts] coming to watch," Danner said. "We were just used to it by then. With [Pratto] drafted as high as he was, that was great."
Danner opted to sign last summer, setting aside a scholarship from UCLA. He had been scouted as a pitcher and catcher, but he's identifying as a catcher at this stage.
The connection between Danner and Pratto remains tight. Pratto indicated that they saw each other just about daily during offseason workouts.
"We're each other's biggest fans," Pratto said. "We've played with each other for a long time. We went through some of the same things. That helped a lot for me."
Pratto has made a faster rise in the professional ranks, playing for the Lexington Legends in the South Atlantic League this season. Last month, he was named the Most Valuable Player in the South Atlantic League All-Star Game.
On the same night, Danner, 19, was making his Appalachian League debut for Bluefield. He spent the 2017 season in the Gulf Coast League.
"He needs a lot of at-bats," Bluefield manager Dennis Holmberg said. "His bat will come along in due time."
By the start of July, Danner was riding a five-game hitting streak and already matched his 2017 total of walks with five.
Danner said he has concentrated so much on catching duties that the hitting still needs to come around.
"I haven't seen him play [as a pro]," Pratto said. "I know the numbers will start popping because that's the type of player he is."
Less than a week into the season, Danner was behind the plate on a night when the Blue Jays took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning. They ended up one out away from completing that gem against the Burlington Royals.
For Danner, there was a sense of accomplishment in being involved.

"Everyone was connected," he said. "The pitchers were aggressive. It was a lot of fun, and made the game go pretty quick."
While it was early in the season, Holmberg got a good glimpse of Danner's abilities.
"You have a kid who came to us out of high school and he was a two-way kind of guy," Holmberg said. "He has a strong arm back there. He's got the toolbox to be a good catcher."
In brief
Coming in pairs: Pulaski Yankees third baseman Nelson Gomez, a 20-year-old out of the Dominican Republic, has collected 24 career home runs across parts of four pro seasons. He notched his third two-homer game (and first of the year) on Sunday with a pair at Kingsport.
Give him a bat: Princeton Rays outfielder Jordan Qsar followed his first career three-hit game with a four-hit outing the next night. Among his college duties for Pepperdine, he was a reliever. "I closed every season I was at Pepperdine," he told the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. "I want to hit first, so that is what they have got me doing."
One to remember: The Burlington Royals won only twice in their first dozen games, with the first managerial victory for former big-leaguer Brooks Conrad coming in the seventh game with an 11-10 decision against the Danville Braves. It ended on left fielder Montae Bradshaw's ninth-inning diving catch. "We've already been through enough adversity to last a season," Conrad said. "Maybe it was fitting we had to make a diving play to even win that."
Bob Sutton is a contributor to MiLB.com.
Orioles' Honeycutt joins The Show Before the Show
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Red Sox prospect rips double THROUGH Fenway-esque scoreboard
Red Sox No. 4 prospect Franklin Arias, an infielder for High-A Greenville, REALLY didn’t want to let visiting Asheville score any runs in the top of the eighth inning on Friday night. With runners on first and second base in the bottom of the fourth, Arias showed he apparently held
April's hottest hitting prospects -- one for each organization
The Minor League season is a month old and several of the game's best hitting prospects are off to fast starts. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony is tearing up Triple-A (just like he did at the end of last year), Padres shortstop Leo De Vries is leading the High-A Midwest
Check out the best -- and wackiest -- Minor League promos happening in May
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast coming LIVE to a Somerset this June
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
New ballparks highlight 2025 MiLB road trip stops
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Minor League Baseball partners with TruGreen
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- TruGreen, the nation's leading lawn care treatment provider, is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Minor League Baseball that includes activations across all 120 clubs, a makeover of the home dugout in each market, sponsorship of select MiLB team grounds crews, and a new initiative called
Podcast explains why the Syracuse Mets are looking for Jim Morrison
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Dash im-prom-tu promo and Mets' Suero joins the podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Minor League Baseball partners with Circle K
Minor League Baseball announced a new national partnership with Circle K, which will see the convenience store giant become the “Official Convenience Store of Minor League Baseball.” During the 2025 season, the Circle K brand will be integrated into the MiLB in-stadium experience through in-game video board assets at most
These 15 moments led to season No. 15 of Minor League road trips
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast crew makes Opening Day predictions
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Everything you need to know for Triple-A Opening Day
First, there was big league Opening Day. Now it's Triple-A's turn to take the spotlight. The Minor League season opens Friday when the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League seasons get underway for the first of MiLB’s two Opening Days. And right out of the gates, several of baseball's
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between