Rockies OF Jordan Beck (22, AAA) is where it’s at right now, slashing .328/.419/.738 with five home runs, one stolen base, two turntables and a microphone. Colorado’s not getting much of anything from anyone in the outfield, and if past is prologue, Kris Bryant will be on the injured list for quite a while, and OF Sean Bouchard still won’t have much runway on his starting spot. I’m hoping he will because he’s earned an extended look, but I’m also hoping Beck finds a way into that lineup sooner than later. Chaining themselves to the final stretch of Charlie Blackmon’s career isn’t helping the organizational depth chart.
When the Blue Jays elected to let Matt Chapman go, it felt like an endorsement for 3B Orelvis Martinez (22, AAA), who has rewarded that front office confidence by playing well early and hitting five home runs in his last five games. He’s slashing .305/.359/.576 on the season and should be in the majors soon, considering he played 55 games in Triple-A last year and hit 28 home runs in 125 games between two levels.
A 7th round pick in 2022, Astros RHP AJ Blubaugh (23, AAA) opened the season in Double-A but got himself out of town after just four shutout innings. He’s followed that up with two dominant outings in Triple-A, leaving him with a 0.79 ERA and 0.71 WHIP. Feels very much like an add-him-now-ask-questions-later situation. One question I had here: how close was Netflix to choosing the sound of his name over “tadum?”
Another Astros prospect enjoying a small-sample breakout, SS Jesus Bastida (25, AAA) came to Houston via New York after the Yankees developed the 5’8” infielder for eight years. A right-handed hitter, Bastida is slashing .321/.448/.660 with four home runs and two stolen bases. Houston would be just about the perfect ballpark for him if anyone gets hurt on the infield.
Cardinals RHP Sem Robberse (22, AAA) threw eight innings on Friday night, allowing just one hit and one unearned run along with nine strikeouts and two walks. Atlanta’s Triple-A team is not the best on offense, but eight one-hit innings are eight one-hit innings. Robberse came over from Toronto in the Jordan Hicks trade last year and should join a beleaguered Cardinals rotation sooner than later.
Orioles SS Frederick Bencosme (21, AA) is slashing .354/.404/.563 with two home runs and two stolen bases against players that are almost three years older than him (2.7) on average. Baltimore is among the best organizations in the game at developing hitters and helping them add functional strength, and Bencosme was a guy who pulled a 70 future value hit tool from fangraphs even before this fast start to 2024. He’s probably available in your leagues today. Pretty good chance he won’t be in a couple months.
Orioles RHP Moises Chace (20, A+) is another developmental win for the BOs. The ball is exploding out of Chace’s hand this year. He’s got 15 strikeouts and zero earned runs across eight innings and looks the part of an athletic power arm with significant ride on his fastball.
Cubs SS Jefferson Rojas (18, A+) is 3.2 years younger than the average player in his league, yet he’s slashing .321/.357/.509 with two home runs and three stolen bases. The countdown clock to him becoming a household name in prospect circles is flashing in bright letters across the sky as it approaches zero.
Through ten games, Mariners OF Lazaro Montes (19, A) has a 12.5 percent walk rate against an 8.3 percent strikeout rate along with a slash line of .333/.438/.487. The four-stop trend of a declining strikeout rate continues, providing me with some early confirmation bias that there’s something happening here: this Yordan-ification of Montes is among my favorite storylines across the game.
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