Twins SS Royce Lewis, Class A Cedar Rapids: 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, K -- The top overall pick in last year's Draft, Lewis just turned 19 earlier this month. Nevertheless, he looks more than ready to join his recently promoted teammate Alex Kirilloff at the next level in Fort Myers.
Twins SS Royce Lewis, Class A Cedar Rapids: 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, K -- The top overall pick in last year's Draft, Lewis just turned 19 earlier this month. Nevertheless, he looks more than ready to join his recently promoted teammate Alex Kirilloff at the next level in Fort Myers. Even hampered by a sore left knee, Lewis notched his fourth consecutive multi-hit game, going back to before this week's Midwest League All-Star Game, and has now scored a run in six straight games for the Kernels. At .305/.347/.469 with seven homers and 16 stolen bases through 56 games, it might be time for a new challenge for thetop Twins prospect.
Astros OF Yordan Alvarez, Double-A Corpus Christi: 3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, K -- Teammate Randy César's record-setting hitting streak has drawn most of the attention in Corpus Christi, but Alvarez -- the Astros' No. 3 prospect -- has been awfully hot as well. After last night's three-hit performance, Alvarez is batting .397 with six homers and 19 RBIs during a 16-game hitting streak of his own. That's the second-longest streak in the Texas League this season behind Cesar's historic run. Alvarez missed a month after colliding with Cesar and only returned to action on Sunday; he's 11-for-23 (.478) with three homers and 10 RBIs in the five games since.
Rays OF Jesús Sánchez, Class A Advanced Charlotte: 3-for-5, HR, 4 RBI, K -- Now in his fourth pro season, Sanchez has never hit below .305 at any stop in the Minors. That's unlikely to change this year -- he's now batting .328, good for third-best in the Florida State League -- for the Stone Crabs. The 20-year-old left-handed hitter has drawn just six walks in 59 games and would probably have more than nine homers if he hit the ball in the air more frequently, but it's tough to argue too much with his approach. This guy can hit.
Cardinals C Andrew Knizner, Double-A Springfield: 3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI -- Knizner came into Thursday's game just 4-for-27 in his previous nine outings and hadn't collected multiple hits in a game since May 31. After the outburst against Arkansas -- including his first home run since April 27 -- Knizner is batting .315 in 51 games split between Springfield and Triple-A Memphis. The 23-year-old is still stuck behind Yadier Molina and Carson Kelly on St. Louis' depth chart, but his solid defense, low strikeout rate (11.8 percent) and plus hit tool make him a player to watch.
White Sox 1B Micker Adolfo, Class A Advanced Winston-Salem: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R -- Chicago's No. 10 prospect homered for the second time in nine games and now has a dozen hits (12-for-41) with seven RBIs in his last 10 starts. Adolfo, who was the designated hitter on Thursday, hit his eighth homer in the fourth inning as Winston-Salem held off Down East, 4-2. The 21-year-old infielder began the season by hitting .308 in April but batted .255 in May, the same average he currently owns through 14 June games. Still, he's been a productive cleanup hitter, batting .261 with 30 RBIs in 41 games in which he bats fourth for the Dash.
Tigers CF Mike Gerber, Triple-A Toledo: 2-for-5, 2 HR, 4 RBIs, 2 R -- Detroit's No. 11 prospect enjoyed his first two-homer game of the season and his first since last May with Double-A Erie, but even his late heroics couldn't prevent Gwinnett from stealing a walk-off win in the ninth. The 25-year-old Gerber did his part, connecting on a two-run shot in the first off Braves No. 6 prospect Kolby Allard and again in the ninth, another two-run drive that tied the game at 6-6 with two outs. Gerber, the Tigers' 15th-round pick in 2014 out of Creighton, is batting .220 this year with seven homers, 21 RBIs and a .266 OBP in 37 International League games. Thursday was his second four-RBI performance of June, a total he failed to reach in any game last year.
Pirates SS Oneil Cruz, Class A West Virginia: 3-for-5, HR, 3 RBIs, R -- The 19-year-old Cruz put the Power up early on Thursday with his ninth homer of the year in the first inning off Hickory starter and 2017 sixth-rounder Noah Bremer, who'd allowed just one home run this year entering the start. Cruz, who added two singles in the 8-1 win, is batting .309 this season and .368 against left-handed pitching. He's hitting an even .400 (18-for-45) with nine RBIs in his last 10 South Atlantic League games.
Braves RHP Kyle Wright, Double-A Mississippi: 7 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 8 K, W -- Having dropped three of his previous four decisions, Wright responded Thursday with his first walk-free outing of the season in the M-Braves' 11-2 rout. The Vanderbilt product, a first-round pick in 2017, has been challenged in the Double-A Southern League this year -- he posted a .205 average against and 1.06 WHIP in six Florida State League starts last year; this season those numbers are .268 and 1.46 -- but a pair of solid starts has brought his ERA down to 4.11, its lowest in two months. One big help is his ability to keep the ball in the park -- he's allowed just two home runs in 15 starts covering 79 2/3 innings in 2018.
Angels RHP Griffin Canning, Triple-A Salt Lake: 4 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 6 K -- The Angels' second-round pick last year hasn't picked up a win since April 28, but he looked like he was on pace to earn one Thursday against Tacoma in his Triple-A debut. Canning's 13th start of the year lasted just four innings but marked his second straight scoreless outing and fifth in his last six games between Salt Lake and Double-A Mobile. The Angels' No. 7 prospect went 1-0 with a 1.97 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings with Mobile before getting promoted on June 21. Canning, a 22-year-old UCLA product, is 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA in 13 starts overall this season, his first in the Minors.
Rays RHP Austin Franklin, Class A Bowling Green: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 5 K -- The Rays' 2016 third-round pick enjoyed his first scoreless start since April 27 with a win over Lake County. Franklin, a 6-foot-3 lefty from Laurel Hill, Florida, improved to 5-2 and lowered his ERA to .339 in the outing. The Rays' No. 13 prospect has 52 strikeouts and 23 walks in 61 frames this year and has been especially tough against lefties, who are batting .216 off him.
