Baseball America Prospect Report — Aug. 5, 2020

Image credit: Jesus Luzardo (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

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Baltimore Orioles

—Orioles No. 5 prospect Austin Hays collected two hits and stole a base in the team’s loss to the Marlins. Hays, who is hitting .152 with two stolen bases, hit in the fifth spot after batting leadoff in his previous eight starts.

Boston Red Sox

—Red Sox No. 8 prospect Jay Groome threw a live bullpen session at the team’s alternate training site as he continues his return from Tommy John surgery. Groome returned from the May 2018 surgery in 2019 to make three appearances between the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and short-season New York Penn League, allowing a run on five hits in four innings while striking out six and walking one.

 

 

Chicago White Sox

—Luis Robert extended his hit streak to four games with a 2-for-4 effort and added a stolen base in the team’s win over the Brewers. The outfielder, who has reached base in 10 of 11 games, is hitting .364 with two home runs, six RBIs and four stolen bases and continues to be at the center of the American League Rookie of the Year discussion. 

—White Sox No. 4 prospect Nick Madrigal collected a hit in his only at-bat before exiting the game with a shoulder injury while attempting to slide into third base in the third inning. Madrigal, who was promoted to the big leagues on July 31, is 5-for-17 (.294) in five games.

Colorado Rockies

—Rockies No. 7 prospect Sam Hilliard knocked in his third run of the season and added a 1-for-4 effort in the team’s win over the Giants. Hilliard is hitting .200 with a home run and three RBIs in 19 at-bats.

 

Houston Astros

—Cristian Javier picked up the first win of his career in the team’s win over the Diamondbacks, pitching six innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits, walking one and striking out two. The Astros No. 8 prospect has pitched to a 1.42 ERA in 12.2 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out 11.

 

Kansas City Royals

—Royals No. 5 prospect Brady Singer made his third start, pitching five innings, allowing four runs on five hits, walking two and striking out eight. The righthander breezed through the first inning, allowing a single but striking out two batters before giving up a two-run home run to Jason Heyward in the second inning and allowing two more runners to reach base via walk. He settled down in the third for his first 1-2-3 inning, but gave up his second two-run home run in the fourth, this time to Jason Kipnis. Singer got a 1-2-3 frame in the fifth to finish his day. The righthander, who sat 91-93 mph on his fastball and mixed in his slider, rarely threw his changeup, a third offering that he had worked on improving ahead of the season. 

Los Angeles Angels

—Jo Adell, the No. 3 prospect in baseball, made his first start hours after receiving a promotion to the big leagues and didn’t take long to get his first career hit in the team’s win over the Mariners. With two outs in the first inning, Adell hit a chopper to the left side of the infield and showed off his plus speed to beat the throw to first. The five-tool outfielder hit .289/.359/.475 with 10 home runs and 7 stolen bases in 76 games between high Class A, Double-A and Triple-A in 2019.

 

 

 

Los Angeles Dodgers

—Dustin May went six innings for the first time in his big league career, striking out eight batters, allowing two runs on three hits and walking one to get the win. The righthander retired the first seven batters he faced, five via strikeout, before allowing an RBI double in the third inning to score a run. He got the next batter to strike out to end the inning, and a solo home run in the fourth inning was the only other blemish on his day. May’s 97-99 mph plus-plus sinker fooled hitters with its movement, and he mixed in his mid-80s curveball, low-90s cutter and changeup to subdue a lineup that ranked first in the majors in runs scored entering the day.

 

 

 

Oakland Athletics

Jesus Luzardo impressed in his first career start, throwing five shutout innings, allowing two hits, walking two batters and striking out five. The lefthander, who is the No. 9 prospect in baseball, attacked hitters with his 95-97 fastball, his mid-80s breaking ball and upper-80s changeup, a 70-grade pitch that looked the part against an overmatched Rangers lineup. Luzardo retired the first six batters and got out of every jam he faced, including a runner in scoring position in the second and fourth inning. Luzardo, who has pitched to a 2.31 ERA in 11.2 innings with 12 strikeouts, eight hits and five walks, should anchor the top of the rotation for years to come.

 

 

 

San Diego Padres

—Jake Cronenworth hit a solo home run to right-center field to extend his hit streak to four games. Cronenworth, the Padres No. 16 prospect, is 6-for-18 with a home run, three RBIs and five runs scored in six games.

 

—One inning after hitting his first home run, Cronenworth made a great leaping grab at first base to save a Corey Seager base hit.

 

Talk about getting a chance and making the absolute MOST of it.

Geeeeeeeez, Jake Cronenworth! 🌟 #HangAStar pic.twitter.com/pwp2hpooMf

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 5, 2020

 

Seattle Mariners

—A day after his 10-game hit streak ended, Kyle Lewis went 1-for-4 with a run scored and collected his first double in the team’s loss to the Angels. The Mariners No. 10 prospect is hitting .375 with three home runs, nine RBIs and seven runs in 12 games.

Toronto Blue Jays

—Blue Jays No. 27 prospect Anthony Alford went 1-for-2 in his second start in the team’s loss to the Braves. Alford collected his first RBI of the season with a single to left field that scored Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The outfielder was later lifted in the seventh inning for a pinch hitter.

 

—Blue Jays No. 10 prospect Anthony Kay entered the game with bases loaded and no outs in the sixth inning and did not allow a run to score, inducing a double play and later getting a strikeout to end the inning. Kay— who pitched two innings, walking one batter and striking out three—has struck out five batters in 4.2 innings while allowing a run on three hits.

Washington Nationals

—Carter Kieboom picked up his first RBI of the season with a one-out single in the third inning to score Starlin Castro. The Nationals No. 1 prospect has made four starts this season, going 5-for-12 with four runs scored, an RBI and four walks. Kieboom in his major league debut in 2019 hit .128 with two home runs and two RBIs in 39 at-bats.

HITTERS

TEAM	CLASS	PLAYER	AB	R	H	BI	AVG	NOTES
ARI	MAJ	Varsho, Daulton LF-C	4	0	0	0	.000
BAL	MAJ	Hays, Austin CF	3	0	2	0	.152	SB (2)
COL	MAJ	Hilliard, Sam LF	4	0	1	1	.200
CWS	MAJ	Collins, Zack PH-DH	2	0	0	0	.000
CWS	MAJ	Madrigal, Nick 2B	1	0	1	0	.294
CWS	MAJ	Mendick, Danny 2B	3	1	0	0	.063
CWS	MAJ	Robert, Luis CF	4	0	2	0	.354	BB (5), SB (4)
HOU	MAJ	Toro, Abraham DH	3	2	0	0	.067
KC	MAJ	Heath, Nick PR	0	0	0	0	.000	SB (1)
LAA	MAJ	Adell, Jo RF	4	0	1	0	.250
LAD	MAJ	Rios, Edwin 1B	1	0	0	0	.250
MIA	MAJ	Harrison, Monte CF	3	0	0	0	.000
NYM	MAJ	Gimenez, Andres SS	4	0	2	0	.333
OAK	MAJ	Murphy, Sean C	3	0	0	0	.150
SD	MAJ	Cronenworth, Jake 1B	4	1	1	1	.333	HR (1)
SEA	MAJ	Lewis, Kyle CF	4	1	1	0	.375	2B (1)
SEA	MAJ	White, Evan 1B	4	0	0	0	.114
SF	MAJ	Dubon, Mauricio 2B	3	1	1	0	.240
TB	MAJ	Tsutsugo, Yoshitomo 3B	3	1	0	0	.182	BB (4)
TEX	MAJ	Solak, Nick 2B	4	0	0	0	.185
TOR	MAJ	Alford, Anthony LF	2	0	1	1	.250
WAS	MAJ	Kieboom, Carter 3B	3	0	1	1	.417	BB (4)

PITCHERS

TEAM	CLASS	PLAYER	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	NOTES
ARI	MAJ	Widener, Taylor	3	2	0	0	1	2	0.00
CLE	MAJ	Karinchak, James	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0.00
HOU	MAJ	Abreu, Bryan	0.2	1	1	1	3	1	2.70
HOU	MAJ	Javier, Cristian	6	4	1	1	1	2	1.42	W (1-0)
HOU	MAJ	Paredes, Enoli	1.1	2	0	0	1	0	3.86
KC	MAJ	Singer, Brady	5	5	4	4	2	8	4.80	L (0-1)
LAD	MAJ	May, Dustin	6	3	2	2	1	8	2.63	W (1-0)
MIL	MAJ	Williams, Devin	1	1	1	0	1	3	2.08	L (0-1)
OAK	MAJ	Luzardo, Jesus	5	2	0	0	2	5	0.77
SEA	MAJ	Dunn, Justin	4	3	3	3	4	4	6.43	L (0-1)
SEA	MAJ	Gerber, Joey	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
SF	MAJ	Menez, Conner	1	1	1	0	1	1	2.45
TB	MAJ	Fairbanks, Peter	1	0	0	0	1	2	4.50
TEX	MAJ	Hernandez, Jonathan	1.2	1	0	0	0	2	2.70
TOR	MAJ	Kay, Anthony	2	0	0	0	1	3	1.93
TOR	MAJ	Yamaguchi, Shun	0.2	0	0	0	1	0	21.60