Prospect News: Tong Stoking The Fire or Can Hinds Catch Up?

White Sox LHP Noah Schultz (22) made his major league debut on Tuesday night, allowing three earned runs in 4.1 innings with four strikeouts and four walks at home against the first-place Rays. He’ll head to Sacramento for his next start before facing the Nationals at home in his third major league outing. That’s the place to start him for the first time, I suspect, if you’ve got him on your fantasy teams. 

The Pale Hose weren’t done shuffling the deck with Schultz. They traded Lenyn Sosa to the Blue Jays and were reportedly planning to recall 2B Sam Antonacci (23) to take his place. Antonacci caught some national attention as a key piece of Italy’s success in the World Baseball Classic and would bring a polished approach to Chicago. In 14 Triple-A games this year, he’s drawn 15 walks against just eight strikeouts (11.9%) along with two home runs, five stolen bases and a slash line of .313/.500/.479. He didn’t end up on the South Side this week. Instead, he’ll stay in the minors and get some reps in the outfield, but the leak suggests somebody in that office was thinking about it, and that Antonacci’s big moment isn’t far away. I’m fascinated to see the team give up on Sosa so easily. He was kinda their only guy for stretches of 2025. Toronto likes to take fliers on precisely his type: a talented hitter who struggles with swing decisions. 

The Reds recalled Rece Hinds (25) after he blasted five home runs in 13 Triple-A games, slashing .354/.475/.771 and a 24.6 percent strikeout rate. He struck out twice in three plate appearances for Cincinnati on Tuesday, but if he can strike out less than 30 percent, he’ll make enough impact to lock down a lineup spot. 

Mets RHP Jonah Tong (22) is struggling to hit his spots. Through 15.1 innings across four starts, he’s allowed four home runs and ten walks. He’s still striking out 33.8 percent of the guys he sees, but his ERA is 5.93 and his WHIP is 1.37. Even with ten strikeouts on his side, the Triple-A Yankees tuned him up for six runs in 4.2 innings on Tuesday.  

Three young shortstops are dominating Double-A pitching and proving themselves ready for a new challenge. Brewers SS Jesus Made (18), Athletics SS Leo De Vries (19) and Red Sox SS Franklin Arias (20) are all posting a wRC+ of 150 or higher. Arias is at 237 through seven games, slashing .524/.577/.762 with one home run, which is especially encouraging after his bat took a half-step back last year. 

Brewers SS Luis Pena (19, A+) is having his own bounceback spring, slashing .500/.593/.650 with more walks (6) than strikeouts (4) through six games. He batted just .168 in 25 High-A games at the end of last season, so I’m sure he feels pretty good to be starting the season hot. 

The 69th overall pick in the 2025 draft out of Georgia, Orioles RHP JT Quinn has struck out 48.5 percent of the batters he’s faced through nine innings across two starts. He’s listed at 6’6 205 pounds and has never been a full-time starter, so it’s hard to predict how the command will hold up. So far so good on that front: 16 strikeouts against two walks and a 0.78 WHIP. This feels like an add-now-ask-questions-later situation. 

Rays 1B Taitn Gray (18, A) was a third-round pick in the 2025 draft and looks like a steal in the early going. A switch hitter at 6’4” 220 pounds, he’s slashing .370/.512/.704 with two home runs and just seven strikeouts (17.1%) through nine games. Click here to see him legging out a triple. 

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