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Around the Minors: The week of July 26

Sights and sounds from action across Minor League Baseball
August 2, 2021

Aug. 1

Aug. 1

Dude, you're getting another Adell homer
Three games, three long balls for Jo Adell. With 23 homers this season, the Angels farmhand is one off the pace set by Albuquerque's Taylor Motter in the Triple-A West and two off the Minor League lead held by Northwest Arkansas' MJ Melendez in the Double-A Central.

The balls are flying out of the yard
The word "scorching" doesn't seem like enough for when Liover Peguero strolls to the plate right now. Not only did the Pirates' No. 4 prospect go yard in his fourth consecutive game, he did so twice. That gave Peguero 11 homers in 58 games with the High-A Grasshoppers.

One good milestone deserve another
Not long after Nick Loftin walked off his cycle, Luis Frías completed his own feat from the mound for the Double-A Sod Poodles. The ninth-ranked D-backs prospect went the distance in a seven-inning no-hitter. He struck out six while walking only one in Game 1 of a doubleheader with the visiting Missions.

Here's how to cap a milestone
Nick Loftin is a real team player. Needing a homer for the cycle in the bottom of the ninth inning, the eighth-ranked Royals prospect showed bunt a couple of times. A wild pitch moved High-A River Bandits teammate John Rave to second base, leaving Loftin free to swing away. Which he did, cranking a walk-off homer to wrap up the feat on a five-hit afternoon. Some might call that good karma.

Watching their guy
After spending the bulk of his season with Double-A Trash City -- making 12 starts with the Trash Pandas before getting called up to Triple-A Salt Lake for one start last week -- Reid Detmers made his debut in The Show on Sunday, and his former teammates weren't going to miss it. The Trash Pandas put the Angels game on the big screen at Toyota Field as the players all congregated in the outfield to take in the big moment for Anaheim's second-ranked prospect.

Gold-medal effort
There was no pool in sight, but the swim move was undeniable. Toronto's 24th-ranked prospect Chavez Young appears to be toast as he slides into second behind the ball, however, the 24-year-old pulls out what can only be described as a half butterfly stroke to evade the tag and touch the base safely. This came after Young drove in the tying run for Double-A New Hampshire with an RBI base hit back up the middle earlier in the frame.

A beautiful gesture
One day after Triple-A Lehigh Valley infielder Daniel Brito suffered a medical emergency during a game against Rochester and was taken to a local hospital and underwent surgery, the Red Wings organization all signed an honorary jersey for the 23-year-old. Rochester shared an image of the uniform with the message that thoughts and prayers were with Brito, his family and the entire Phillies organization.

July 31

Talk about an introduction
Just three days after being traded to the D-backs in the deal that sent Eduardo Escobar to the Brewers -- and in just his second game with his new organization -- Cooper Hummel hit for the cycle. The backstop welcomed himself to Triple-A Reno with a two-run homer in the first, a base knock through the right side of the infield in the second, a triple on a fly ball to right in the fourth, and a two-bagger to left in the sixth. The 26-year-old finished with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored.

Welcome back such a good boy!
After making a celebrity appearance in the charity softball game between the Raiders and Golden Knights last week, Finn the bat dog made his official return to the Aviators since the coronavirus pandemic shutdown on Saturday night.

Hoping for a speedy recovery Triple-A Lehigh Valley infielder Daniel Brito suffered a medical emergency during Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader against Rochester. The 23-year-old appeared to be off balance in the bottom of the first inning and started to fall, but was caught by the opposing third-base coach. Brito was helped to the ground and was reportedly administered oxygen by a paramedic until an ambulance arrived. Brito was then taken to a local hospital and underwent surgery.

Flexing into the record books
It had the feel of a home run derby, but really it was just a regular home game for Low-A Bradenton. Well, may not regular, as the Marauders bashed seven home runs to set a new franchise record for the most dingers hit in a single game. The new mark nearly doubled the previous high, which was four and set just about a month ago on June 23. Jase Bowen and Jack Herman led the way with a pair of taters each, while Maikol Escotto, Dariel Lopez and Endy Rodriguez also found the seats.

Flirting with history Reds' right-handed prospect Jose Franco tossed four hitless frames against St. Luice, but that's not the story. After walking the first two batters of the game, the 20-year-old retired the next 11 batters in a row -- all via strikeout. The 11 consecutive punchouts surpassed the MLB record of 10 straight, but fell just one shy of the Minors' all-time record of 12. Still, the Low-A Daytona starter finished his outing by sitting down the final 12 batters he faced -- getting pulled after tossing 40 of his 63 pitches for strikes.

Spinning his own web... gem
Has anyone ever seen Monte Harrison and Spider-Man in the same room? Asking for us. The Marlins' outfielder scales the wall in left-center to take a home run away, and then he seamlessly adjusts in mid-air to lunge forward and still make the spectacular play. Watch it again!

Having a grand ole time
There was a power display in Erie on Saturday night thanks to Bo Naylor. Cleveland's third-ranked prospect launched a grand slam as part of a two-homer night and drove in six runs for Double-A Akron. His second tater was a moonshot that cleared the scoreboard. Naylor now has six dingers and 26 RBIs on the season with the RubberDucks.

Pulling back even One night after being passed by MJ Melendez for the Minor League-lead in home runs, Griffin Conine blasted his 25th dinger of the season to pull back into a tie at the top spot. The 16th-ranked Marlins prospect launched a two-run shot in the first inning of Double-A Pensacola's first game of a twin bill against Mississippi. The roundtripper paced the Blue Wahoos to a 5-0 win.

A little fine tuning
In his third rehab start, first with the WooSox, Red Sox ace Chris Sale was firing on all cylinders. The lengthy lefty-hander allowed a run on five hits while whiffing seven over five frames for Triple-A Worcester.

July 30

One-man show
The Loons scored five runs in a victory on Friday night, and they all came off the bat of Andy Pages. The sixth-ranked Dodgers prospect didn't just turn in a three-hit night, he also belted his second multihomer game of the season -- clubbing a three-run shot in the third and a solo blast in the fifth. In the seventh, Pages laced an RBI-double to left and that proved to be the difference in High-A Great Lakes' 5-4 win. His five RBIs were also a season high and matched a career high.

Power...on After a seven game drought without finding the seats, Jo Adell has found his power stroke again. The Angels' outfielder went yard for the third straight game while also putting together a multihit effort for the third straight time. Adell had a little extra on his latest dinger, smacking it off the scoreboard for Triple-A Salt Lake.

Surging ahead of the pack
The power surge continued for MJ Melendez, as the 13th-ranked Royals prospect clubbed his Minor League-leading 25th home run. The blast is his 12th of July with Double-A Northwest Arkansas, and pulls him out of a tie for the lead with Miami's Griffin Conine and in sole possession of the top spot.

Turning three... again
This is not a replay! For the second time this season, Triple-A Memphis turned a triple play. Cardinals' prospects Kramer Robertson , Nolan Gorman and Juan Yepez combined to turn the 5-4-3 feat. "You love to see it."

Hook, line and sink Fourth-ranked Marlins prospect Edward Cabrera recorded 14 outs during his start on Friday -- and 12 of them were via the punchout. The right-hander mowed down the Charlotte lineup over 4 1/3 frames -- allowing a single run on four hits and four walks while setting a season-high in whiffs. Over three starts at the Minors' highest level, Cabrera is sporting a 3.38 ERA with 19 strikeouts over 13 1/3 innings.

I'm still here
After the Nats acquired a pair of big name prospects, it was Cade Cavalli reminding everyone that he's still a big fish in Washington's pond. The 22-year-old posted a Double-A-high 12 strikeouts with Harrisburg over 6 1/3 scoreless innings. Cavalli worked around a pair of hits and a walk, and lowered his ERA to 3.47.

Jolly acquisition It was Christmas in July for Double-A Springfield as the Cardinals celebrated with Santa Claus throwing out the first pitch on Friday.

Curtain up After 13 career starts -- across two levels of the Minors -- Reid Detmers is headed to the Majors. The No. 10 overall Draft pick from 2020 will make his debut in The Show with the Angels this weekend. Detmers posted a 3.15 ERA and 1.10 WHIP with 106 strikeouts over 60 professionals innings.

July 29

Hello Motter, hello fodder
It's true, there may be no one hotter right now than Rockies farmhand Taylor Motter. He's got a cool dozen homers in the past 12 games for the Isotopes and has taken the outright lead in long balls in the Triple-A West with 23 this season. it

To the moon, Yermín
White Sox farmhand Yermín Mercedes crushed his seventh homer of the year -- which eventually proved to be the game-winning run -- in the fifth inning for the Triple-A Knights against the Jumbo Shrimp. The 28-year-old also has seven with the big league club this season.

Still, Waters runs deep
Second-ranked Atlanta prospect Drew Waters posted his third four-hit game of the season for Triple-A Gwinnett. He started off with his 17th double on the first pitch of the game against the Redbirds and singled three times to raise his average to .262 in 59 games for the Stripers.

Strongest flip this side of Olympic gymnastics
Mark this one down for when the reel of the season's best bat flips is put together. It's by Blue Jays farmhand Dilson Herrera, who might have had a lot of time and space to figure out the aesthetics during his two-homer game for the Triple-A Bisons.

Doing his level best
It's been quite the year already for Mets prospect Josh Walker. The 26-year-old lefty has pitched at three levels, flirting with history at all the stops and attaining it with Andrew Mitchell at Double-A Binghamton on June 22. He started off with five hitless frames for High-A Brooklyn on May 4. Thursday, he took a no-hit bid into the eighth for Triple-A Syracuse before giving up a lone single and inducing a double play to end his night.

It was his Destino
Eleven baseballs were belted out of the yard during Thursday's game between the Dash and the Grasshoppers. Three of them were courtesy of High-A Winston-Salem's Alex Destino. The White Sox outfield prospect, who has 15 homers this season, has knocked in eight runs over the past two games.

He'll take a dozen to go
In only his second start for Double-A Mississippi, Freddy Tarnok racked up a career-high 12 strikeouts over five frames against Pensacola. Atlanta's No. 10 prospect allowed a run on three hits while striking out two, raising his ERA to 2.61.

Wait, what?
As the Dodgers reportedly neared a blockbuster deal with the Nationals that would net them Trea Turner, among others, one similarly named member of the Washington organization kept on working -- 25-year-old right-hander Trey Turner for the Nats' Low-A affiliate in Fredericksburg. Too soon?

That was worth waiting for
In his 147th career game, Víctor Víctor Mesa finally got to circle the bases. The Marlins outfield prospect connected on his first pro homer in the first inning for the High-A Snappers. It's only the 31st game of the season for Mesa, who batted .093 for Double-A Pensacola before being reassigned to Beloit on July 13.

July 28

Do they teach that in camp?
It's a bird ... it's a plane ... it's Mets farmhand Albert Almora Jr. The Triple-A Syracuse center fielder made a backwards diving catch on a ball hit by Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's Max McDowell that seemed to be going over the 27-year-old's head. Almora hauled it in to prevent a couple of runs from scoring to end the third inning.

Changing the game with a milestone
Host Oaxaca had two men on with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth in its Mexican League game against Veracruz. Then El Aguila induced a triple play, going around the horn -- Hector Gomez to Alexi Amarista to Maxwell Leon -- effectively wiping the Guerreros off the basepaths. Veracruz took the lead on Alejandro Ortiz's RBI single in the top of the 11th and didn't relinquish it for an 8-7 victory.

Cardinals flying out of ballparks
St. Louis prospects are putting on some serious power displays. Third-ranked Ivan Herrera, who never had a multihomer game as a pro, belted two dingers a long way for the Double-A Cardinals. Teammate Luken Baker (No. 14) delivered two as well -- the latter one his second grand slam of the year. One level up, scorching Juan Yepez (No. 16) added two more long balls to his tally, giving him five in the past six games for the Redbirds.

Yes, way, Jose!
Reds No. 4 prospect Jose Barrero racked up a professional-best six RBIs while matching a season high with four hits for the Triple-A Bats. The 21-year-old shortstop -- who legally changed his last name from Garcia to honor his late mother in May 2021 -- smacked a three-run homer in the fifth and a bases-clearing double in the seventh against the I-Cubs. He also singled in the first and the sixth.

It's the grand reopening
For the second time in three games, Nick Pratto belted a grand slam for the Triple-A Storm Chasers. The fifth-ranked Royals prospect's 18th long ball of the year -- the third since his promotion eight days ago -- gave Omaha the lead over Toledo in a wild back-and-forth contest.

They're comfortable going back-to-back
Well, it's almost like MLB Pipeline drew it up on Baltimore's Top 30 prospects list. The Orioles' No. 6 prospect Jordan Westburg and fifth-ranked Gunnar Henderson belted consecutive home runs in the third inning for the High-A IronBirds against the Hot Rods.

Now participating in the all-around competition
It's early in the High-A Rome game, but ninth-ranked Atlanta prospect Michael Harris II already has a two-RBI single, a couple of stolen bases, a walk and a sweet diving catch against the Tourists.

Nice reflexes!
We already knew Brent Honeywell Jr. possesses a good arm, now we know the Rays' No. 15 prospect is good with the bat too -- especially one that comes flying into the dugout while the Triple-A Bulls are at the plate. The righty made the play after exiting his longest start of the season. He allowed a run on two hits and three walks while striking out four in 3 2/3 innings -- his longest run on the mound since Sept. 14, 2017 (also for Durham).

July 27

Immaculate effort
Nine pitches, all strikes, three outs. That's what 23rd-ranked Phillies prospect Kyle Dohy did on the mound with Double-A Reading against Somerset. The left-hander also flashed 97 mph on the radar gun en route to his immaculate inning.

Surging to the top
With five home runs over his last six games, MJ Melendez has catapulted himself into a tie with Griffin Conine for the Minor League-lead in dingers. The 13th-ranked Royals prospect launched his lead-tying 24th homer -- a solo blast to left-center -- at home against Wichita. Melendez also has 59 RBIs on the year.

Art in motion
After a perfect throw from Matt Lipka to the plate, Triple-A Nashville catcher Payton Henry applies the swipe tag to make the out and keep the run off the board. And the only thing that may be prettier than the execution of the play itself is this shot of it. My goodness...

Can't touch this
In his first scoreless outing of the season, Kyle Nicolas did not yield a hit over five frames while working around four walks and striking out eight. The 15th-ranked Marlins prospect retired the first eight batters he faced and whiffed six of the first 10 Braves batters. The right-hander has allowed one run and fanned 18 over his last two starts (11 innings).

Flying closer to St. Louis
In his first rehab start with Triple-A Memphis, Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty was throwing gas. The right-hander struck out three over a pair of one-hit frames for the Redbirds. Before going down with his injury, Flaherty was 8-1 with a 2.90 ERA with St. Louis over 11 starts this season.

Smooth as silk
Talk about getting the style points. Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre shortstop Andrew Velazquez doesn't just make the tough diving play, but the Yankees prospect flips behind his back -- with an accurate toss no less -- to second base to start the double play. Watch it again!

July 26

Heading to the North Side The A's and Cubs completed a swap on Monday night that sent Oakland's former No. 9 prospect Greg Deichmann along with right-hander Daniel Palencia to Chicago for Major League reliever Andrew Chafin. Deichmann posted a .300/.433/.452 slash line with 21 extra-base hits, 48 runs scored and 35 RBIs over 60 games with Triple-A Las Vegas this season.

Getting the streak to 10 It seems like Keibert Ruiz is just hitting everything lately, and that might just be because he is. The top Dodgers prospect extended his hitting streak to 10 straight games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, adding three knocks to his run -- including a double. Ruiz notched 18 total knocks over his current run -- including four homers, six doubles, 13 RBIs and eight runs scored.

Making himself at home In his first home start since joining Triple-A El Paso -- second start overall -- Reiss Knehr was brilliant over six scoreless frames as he worked around two hits and a pair of walks to tie a season-high with seven strikeouts. The right-hander has yielded just two runs over his first 8 2/3 innings pitched at Triple-A.

Another step closer to Houston In his latest rehab outing with Triple-A Sugar Land, Alex Bregman batted second and played third base. After flying out to deep center in the first inning, Bregman worked a six-pitch walk in the sixth and was plated on a Taylor Jones homer. He was pulled after the inning.

Finding the power dial
After going seven games without a home run, Jo Adell wasted no time ending that drought on Monday. The 22-year-old crushed a two-run blast for Triple-A Salt Lake in the opening frame -- his 20th with the Bees this season.

The week that was
No. 11 Dodgers prospect Miguel Vargas played a pivotal role in Double-A Tulsa's historic output where the club tallied a franchise-best 23 runs. Go-ahead grand slams and spectacular diving plays were in vogue, as were multiple-homer games, stellar debuts and dominant pitching performances by prospects at almost every level of the Minor Leagues. Review all the action here.

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