SAL notes: Arenado finds his own road
There was a time early in his high school days when Jonah Arenado was unsure of what he wanted to pursue in life. He was even uncertain of wanting to have a career in baseball, even though his ability and bloodlines suggested that route was realistic.
The youngest of three siblings, Arenado says the light started to come on as he saw the family's middle son, Nolan, progress rapidly through the Minor Leagues. In 2011, when Nolan was at Class A Advanced Modesto, Jonah spent two weeks hanging around his brother with the California League club and had the opportunity to take batting practice and field ground balls. Shortly thereafter, Nolan was selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game for the first time, an accomplishment that made an impression on Jonah.
"My first couple of years in high school, I didn't know if I wanted to play baseball," said Arenado, who attended El Toro High in Southern California and is manning third base this season for the Augusta GreenJackets. "I wasn't sure if that was my future. But after seeing what my brother went through, that really motivated me. I started working a little harder, and then I really began to get after it. I wasn't the greatest student in school, so by the end I realized that baseball would probably be the best route for me."
The resemblances between the two brothers are obvious. Both are lean and muscular, although at 6-foot-4, Jonah is about two inches taller than Nolan, who is four years older. They both have power from the right side of the plate and play third base, the position where Nolan has captured the National League Gold Glove in each of the past two seasons.
"He's definitely been a big influence on me," said Jonah, who turned 20 earlier this year, on Feb. 3. "His work ethic and the way he goes about his business have paved a good path for me, showing me what I need to do. We work out every day together in the offseason, and we talk a good bit during the season. There's no doubt I wouldn't be where I am without him."
Nolan was a second-round pick of the Rockies in 2009, then Jonah was a 16th-round selection of the San Francisco Giants in 2013. Arenado's first two years with the defending world champions were spent in the Rookie-level Arizona League, where he batted .211/.263/.286 in 12 games in 2013 and .250/.304/.340 with 21 RBIs in 50 contests last season.
Promoted to Augusta out of Spring Training in April, Arenado has made a smooth adjustment to the full-season ranks at the plate and in the field. Through June 2, he led the GreenJackets with 27 RBIs, a mark tied for eighth in the South Atlantic League, and had one-fourth of his team's home runs with six. Overall, he was batting .267/.299/.406 with 25 runs scored, eight doubles and a triple. He also has played well at the hot corner, although Arenado is the first to admit he has a ways to go before he matches his brother's fielding abilities.
"So far everything is going well," Arenado said. "I think the biggest focus this past offseason and coming into this year was to stick with the same plan no matter what. Even when things are going bad, I'm not trying to change too much. I want to keep the same approach and plan, and that's to hit line drives to all fields."
In brief
Sending 'em home: Delmarva outfielder Conor Bierfeldt continues to make the most of his opportunities to drive in runs. Despite posting a .243 batting average on the season, the Western Connecticut State product leads the SAL (and ranks sixth in the Minor Leagues) with 45 RBIs, 11 more than second-place Jordan Edgerton of Rome. Bierfeldt had seven home runs and 28 RBIs in May after driving in 17 runs with no round-trippers in April.
Hagerstown hit machine: Suns middle infielder Osvaldo Abreu equaled the longest hitting streak in the SAL this season at 15 games when he went 2-for-4 against Kannapolis on May 31. Abreu is batting .306 during the stretch with nine doubles, a triple, one home run and six RBIs. He also has improved his batting average from .272 to .286. Abreu joins teammates Jeff Gardner (May 15-29) and Alec Keller (April 23-May 10) in reaching the 15-game mark thus far in 2015.
Tough day: Asheville infielder Josh Fuentes had a hard time at the hot corner during an 11-3 loss to Augusta on May 31. Fuentes committed five errors, including three throwing miscues, to set a South Atlantic League record for the most errors in a single game by a third baseman. Fuentes has split his time between the two corner infield positions and entered the contest with only four errors on the season. To his credit, he didn't take his fielding woes to the plate, where he was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Hoskins named top Phil: Lakewood first baseman Rhys Hoskins was named Philadelphia's Minor League Player of the Month for May after he batted .342 with 13 multi-hit games in 29 outings, including 23 RBIs, 18 runs scored and a .908 OPS. The fifth-round pick out of Cal State Sacramento in 2014 concluded the month with a seven-game hitting streak. Through games of June 2, he led the SAL with 97 total bases and a .407 on-base percentage, ranked second with a .513 slugging percentage and 62 hits and was third with 33 RBIs and a .328 batting average.
Bill Ballew 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