On the heels of a frustrating loss and a frustrating series, let’s look for positivity today. To achieve this, I will look towards the minor leagues. Instead of my usual minor league update – I’ll probably wait for the first half to be over – I will instead share great performances. Any hitter or pitcher who stands out purely from their performance. Their prospect status doesn’t matter, although obviously it’s better if there are some prospects in this article.
Here’s how to get highlighted today:
do something exceptional. I am using qualified MLB rankings as my reference point. I will pick out specific stats and if you have a stat that would rank in the top 30 among qualified players, your stats get shared. For hitters, I will be looking towards elite walk rates, elite K rates, elite power, and of course an elite wRC+. For pitchers, it’ll be K%, GB%, FIP, and K-BB%. I am writing this intro before I’ve seen a single stat so I’m really hoping for some good representation.
Hitters – BB%
The 30th ranked hitter on the qualified leaderboard is Spencer Horwitz, with a 13% BB rate. So anybody with a walk rate equal or better to that is on this list. The Cardinals kind of promoted most of the Memphis list away from this list: Nelson Velazquez, Jimmy Crooks, and Bryan Torres would all be here without a promotion.
Bligh Madris (16.1%)
Overall stats (AAA): 52 G, 211 PAs, .275/.395/.468, 16.1 BB%, 21.3 K%, .193 ISO, .328 BABIP, 128 wRC+
This is timely. On the podcast, Jake Wood asked Alex Coil who was somebody fans were underrated, and with the caveat that he’s a journeyman type, he mentioned Madris. He’s the leader of the clubhouse in Memphis according to him. He’s 30-years-old and was not very good when he got the chance to play in the big leagues, so don’t expect a call-up, but let’s give a little shout-out to Madris here.
Ryan Campos (17.6%)
Overall Stats (AA): 49 G, 210 PAs, .275/.410/.443, 17.6 BB%, 21.4 K%, .168 ISO, .336 BABIP, 128 wRC+
Yeah the Cardinals have a unheralded catching prospect in Springfield who also is managing a .400 OBP on the back of walking a lot. Good luck getting through this group buddy.
Trey Paige (16.8 BB%)
Overall Stats (AA) : 173 PAs, .209/.353/.353, 16.8 BB%, 25.4 K%, .144 ISO, .269 BABIP, 92 wRC+
Orgazational soldier most likely, Paige is 25 in Springfield, but the walks are for real: he’s always had a high walk rate in his minor league career.
Chase Davis (16.7 BB%)
Overall Stats (AA): 156 PAs, .231/.359/.446, 16.7 BB%, 24.4 K%, .215 ISO, .262 BABIP, 110 wRC+
Currently injured, I can’t imagine Davis will have to spend a whole lot more time in Springfield. If he had a normal BABIP, he’d probably be in the wRC+ section too and he narrowly misses the ISO section.
In the spirit of using the qualified batters as a reference point, I didn’t want to share anybody with fewer than 100 PAs, but Jeremy Rivas has walked 17% of the time in his 13 games at Memphis. He narrowly misses the cutoff overall with a 12.8% BB rate between Springfield and Memphis combined.
Dakota Harris (15 BB%)
Overall Stats (AA): 52 G, 206 PAs, .240/.361/.404, 15 BB%, 23.3 K%, .164 ISO, .291 BABIP, 104 wRC+
This is a brand new development for the record. Harris didn’t walk at all before this season. He had a 4.4 BB% in his 2024 season across two levels and a 5.5% one at Springfield last year. I guess he watched Moneyball over the offseason, because holy hell is that a huge jump.
Zach Levenson (14.6 BB%)
Overall Stats (AA): 54 G, 212 PAs, .175/.311/.277, 14.6 BB%, 25.5 K%, .102 ISO, .227 BABIP, 64 wRC+
Well this is kind of a weird one. His K/BB numbers are honestly close to what I’d expect, but he has had no power and nothing is falling for hits.
Cade McGee (16.4 BB%)
Stats (High A): 50 G, 214 PAs, .239/.411/.448, 16.4 BB%, 25.7 K%, .209 ISO, .304 BABIP, 125 wRC+
That is a lot of walks, but his OBP is that high because he also has gotten hit by 14 pitches. He got hit by 7 pitches in 335 PAs last season, so it does not seem like a fluke.
Cameron Nickens (16 BB%)
Stats (Low A): 28 G, 116 PAs, .264/.431/.402, 20.7 BB%, 23.3 K%, .138 ISO, .350 BABIP, 141 wRC+
High A: 17 G, 72 PAs, .238/.306/.333, 8.3 BB%, 30.6 K%, .095 ISO, .333 BABIP, 63 wRC+
Last year’s 17th round pick, Nickens is probably someone I would never mention in a traditional minor league update, so I think it’s at least cool to highlight him here.
Ryan Mitchell (20.7 BB%)
Stats (Low A): 51 G, 237 PAs, .199/.367/.333, 20.7 BB%, 33.8 K%, .134 ISO, .307 BABIP, 107 wRC+
Barring a significant difference in the 2nd half of this season, I suspect Mitchell will probably repeat Low A next year. And that’s when I’m really going to be paying attention.
Ryan Weingartner (17.1 BB%)
Stats (Low A): 51 G, 234 PAs, .222/.368/.344, 17.1 BB%, 22.2 K%, .122 ISO, .278 BABIP, 108 wRC+
Last year’s 8th round pick. Really a lot of this post could just be considered an update on the 2025 draftees. This is where their age really shows, just having a better sense of the strike zone than the pitcher.
Jonathan Mejia (15.8 BB%)
Stats (Low A): 49 G, 215 PAs, .198/.330/.395, 15.8 BB%, 27.4 K%, .198 ISO, .241 BABIP, 103 wRC+
I’m going to stop at Mejia, because a 13% BB rate is actually not remarkable at all at this level, judging by the amount of players I could list. I think nearly 16% is probably still great though.
Hitters – K%
St. Louis Cardinal Alec Burleson ranks 30th – at least before today’s game is taken into account – with a 15.3% K rate. So anything below that is getting mentioned. Blaze Jordan and Torres would be here if they weren’t promoted.
Matt Koperniak (14 K%)
Stats (AAA): 40 G, 157 PAs, .255/.331/.343, 10.2 BB%, 14 K%, .088 ISO, .284 BABIP, 79 wRC+
He’s never been a big strikeout guy, but this would be his professional career low. Unfortunately, his power disappeared.
Cesar Prieto (14.3 K%)
Stats (AAA) : 39 G, 161 PAs, .313/.379/.590, 8.1 BB%, 14.3 K%, .278 ISO, .319 BABIP, 144 wRC+
I guess this is where I list Prieto’s stats, because he qualifies for both power, and overall hitting line. His xwOBA in AAA is just .306 though and of course he went 1 for 23 at the big league so far in his career with yes, zero walks.
Noah Mendlinger (9%)
Stats (AA): 43 G, 199 PAs, .277/.402/.377, 16.1 BB%, 9 K%, .101 ISO, .294 BABIP, 113 wRC+
AAA: 9 G, 24 PAs, .277/.408/.390, 16.6 BB%, 8.3 K%, .113 ISO, .291 BABIP, 158 wRC+
You can see why I chose to put him in the strikeout section right? This is a comically low K% and better yet, it’s reliable. His K% hasn’t touched double digits since 2024. I’m honestly curious at how this would translate to the MLB level.
Jon Jon Gazdar (12.3 K%)
Stats (AA): 49 G, 228 PAs, .232/.330/.340, 11 BB%, 12.3 K%, .108 ISO, .244 BABIP, 80 wRC+
Usually a guy on this list will have a much higher average, but it remains to be seen whether this low average is deserved or unlucky, because that sure is a low BABIP.
Michael Datallo (9.4 K%)
Stats (Low A): 24 G, 106 PAs, .374/.453/.495, 11.3 BB%, 9.4 K%, .121 ISO, .407 BABIP, 165 wRC+
Last year’s 9th round pick has certainly gotten off to an interesting start. You get the answer to the question “What if you took a no power hitter, but he never struck out and had a super high BABIP?” It looks like this.
Hitters – ISO
The 30th ranked ISO in baseball right now is a .230 ISO. We already know Prieto is on this list, so hopefully there are some legit power prospects on here. Just to reiterate that these are important stats, both Jordan and Crooks would have been on this list. Velazquez interestingly isn’t that close.
Joshua Baez (.313)
Stats (AAA) : 60 G, 271 PAs, .272/.339/.584, 7 BB%, 31.4 K%, .313 ISO, .333 BABIP, 131 wRC+
Is it weird that the walks are the thing holding me back from promoting him, not the strikeouts? I mean yes the strikeouts certainly play a part and I want it lower, but in combination with the walks, that’s not ideal. If Crooks had Baez’s walk rate, I don’t think he’d be up right now.
Won-Bin Cho (.230 ISO)
Stats (High A): 50 G, 210 PAs, .270/.395/.500, 15.7 BB%, 15.7 BB%, 25.2 K%, .230 ISO, .345 BABIP, 127 wRC+
Technically, he wouldn’t be on this list anymore because he is at exactly .230 ISO and he didn’t get an extra base hit yesterday, and technically he should be in the BB% section instead. But I am highlight Cho’s power because he has never had issues walking. He had a significant power issue. He might be in Springfield soon.
Tre Richardson (.396 ISO)
Stats (High A): 30 G, 118 PAs, .356/.441/.752, 11.9 BB%, 28.8 K%, .396 ISO, .439 BABIP, .356/.441/.752, 187 wRC+
He’s definitely too old for the level to treat him like a real prospect, but holy hell. This dude had five professional homers in previous 771 PAs. He has hit 11 in 118 PAs this season. This is insane.
Tai Peete (.256 ISO)
Stats (High A): 29 G, 140 PAs, .272/.350/.528, 10.7 BB%, 31.4 K%, .256 ISO, .382 BABIP, 116 wRC+
The Midwest League must be going crazy this year, because that batting line should produce much better than a 116 wRC+. Nonetheless, Peete is only 20-years-old doing this in Peoria. He still has strikeout issues, but we’ll worry about that later.
Jesus Baez (.251 ISO)
Stats (High A): 52 G, 234 PAs, .256/.308/.507, 7.3 BB%, 16.2 K%, .251 ISO, .244 BABIP, 95 wRC+
Yeah definitely, the league is going nuts. That should absolutely not be a below average line. Wow. For whatever reason, power is out of control in this league.
Hitters – wRC+
The 30th ranked hitter in baseball – as of yesterday when I’m writing this, not necessarily when you’re reading this – is Dillon Dingler with a 135 wRC+. Prieto is on this list too. Of the MLBers, Crooks, Jordan and Torres both would be on this list. Hey these guys sure got promoted for a reason. They were killing it.
Sammy Hernandez (186 wRC+)
Stats (High A): 85 PAs, .338/.494/.646, 22.4 BB%, 12.9 K%, .308 ISO, .360 BABIP, 186 wRC+
Hernandez has mostly functioned as the backup catcher, so he doesn’t fit under my 100 PAs threshold. But he could go 0 for 15 and still have above a 130 wRC+ after 100 PAs. He has had an unbelievable first half.
Jack Gurevitch (149 wRC+)
Stats (Low A): 28 G, 128 PAs, .274/.398/.538, 15.6 BB%, 30.5 K%, .264 ISO, .377 BABIP, 154 wRC+
High A: 25 G, 117 PAs, .313/.419/.535, 12 BB%, 24.8 K%, .222 ISO, .391 BABIP, 142 wRC+
After his underwhelming pro debut last year, it’s very encouraging to see Gurevitch build himself into a prospect worth following.
Datallo and Prieto both had a wRC+ greater than 135, but I listed their stats earlier. Tre Richardson also would have been on this list, but I wanted to single out his power. I use stats for combined levels, which is why Raniel Rodriguez is not on any list, if you were wondering.
Pitchers – K%
I’m running a bit long, so I am going to be more selective with my pitchers. For starting pitchers, I want a 30% K rate and for relievers, I want a 35% K rate.
Quinn Mathews (30.2 K%)
Stats (AAA) : 12 GS, 51.2 IP, 30.2 K%, 15.8 BB%, 47.4 GB%, .252 BABIP, 4.01 ERA/4.84 FIP/4.36 xFIP
See, this is why I like this feature. It emphasizes just how many strikeouts Mathews is getting. I wasn’t sure how many starting pitchers would be here, since a 25.6 K% is actually the 30th best performance.
Liam Doyle (30.8 K%)
Stats (AA): 11 GS, 43 IP, 30.8 K%, 11.8 BB%, 29.6 GB%, .381 BABIP, 5.86 ERA/4.38 FIP/4.65 xFIP
He is striking out batters, but he’s not getting many groundballs and his walk rate is a little elevated. Really, the groundballs is just insanely low right now.
Mason Molina (30.2 K%)
Stats (AA): 11 GS, 51.2 IP, 30.2 K%, 10.2 BB%, 32 GB%, .275 BABIP, 3.31 ERA/3.88 FIP/4.46 xFIP
Kind of an interesting quirk that both starting pitchers in Springfield with a greater than 30 K% have a very low GB%, which is a tough way to live in the Springfield park.
Randal Clemente (35.8 K%)
Stats (AA): 16 G, 18 IP, 35.8 K%, 24.2 BB%, 42.1 GB%, .514 BABIP, 10.50 ERA/5.91 FIP/5.01 xFIP
What a weird line. It’s gotten slightly less weird than the last time I shared his stats during the minor league update, but still pretty weird.
Jacob Odle (33.2 K%)
Stats (Low A): 9 G, 33 IP, 36.4 K%, 11.4 BB%, 50 GB%, .343 BABIP, 1.91 ERA/2.94 FIP/2.84 xFIP
Stats (High A): 3 GS, 10 IP, 23.4 K%, 23.4 BB%, 43.5 GB%, .250 BABIP, 5.40 ERA/9.58 FIP/6.90 xFIP
Odle has had two really bad starts in High A, and one really good start in High A. He has really taken to the extremes in each. In the first, he walked six batters. In the second start, he struck out 8. And in his most recent start, he allowed three homers. He has not heard of a ho hum start.
Xavier Cruz (44 K%)
Stats (CPX): 5 G, 15.1 IP, 43.5 K%, 12.9 BB%, 47.4 GB%, 3.52 ERA/5.88 FIP/3.01 xFIP
Stats (Low A): 1 G, 2.2 IP, 46.2 K%, 23.1 BB%, 66.7 GB%, .333 BABIP, 0.00 ERA/3.70 FIP/3.70 xFIP
That is a comically high K% and yeah it’s only been one Low A appearance, but holy cow. This dude wasn’t that good in the DSL last year as a 19-year-old. And now he’s striking out 44% of hitters he faces.
Dylan Dreissen (38.5 K%)
Stats (Low A): 17 G, 22 IP, 38.5 K%, 12.1 BB%, 46.5 GB%, .357 BABIP, 2.86 ERA/3.34 FIP/3.05 xFIP
Last year’s 18th round pick, Dreissen was a multi-inning reliever in college who was not particularly good. And that’s why they were able to nab him in last year’s draft in the 18th round. He’s got swing-and-miss, that’s for sure.
Cade Crossland (34.3 K%)
Stats (Low A): 12 GS, 50.2 IP, 34.3 K%, 16.9 BB%, 36.8 GB%, .247 BABIP, 3.91 ERA/4.23 FIP/4.34 xFIP
It’s hard to promote him with that walk rate, but it does kind of feel like someone who strikes out over a third of batters as a starting pitcher is just not dealing with a high enough quality of hitters for him.
Jack Martinez (32.5 K%)
Stats (Low A): 12 GS, 46.1 IP, 32.5 K%, 13.5 BB%, 31.3 GB%, .255 BABIP, 4.08 ERA/4.16 FIP/4.63 xFIP
He’s fairly old for this level, but it’s cool that the return for Nolan Arenado is striking out 32.5% of hitters he’s facing as a starter.
Pitchers – K/BB%
The 30th best K/BB% among pitchers was 21.2%, so anything above that I will highlight.
Cade Winquest (30.2 K/BB%)
Stats (AAA): 11 G, 12.2 IP, 35.8 K%, 5.7 BB%, 42.9 GB%, .346 BABIP, 5.68 ERA/4.00 FIP/3.10 xFIP
It hasn’t really shown in actual results quite yet, but Winquest is treating AAA like we would hope he would AAA. Tons of strikeouts, not many walks. If he keeps pitching like this, we’ll see him in St. Louis this season.
Ryan Fernandez (24.6 K/BB%)
Stats (AAA): 13 G, 14.2 IP, 29.8 K%, 5.3 BB%, 40.5 GB%, .229 BABIP, 3.07 ERA/3.59 FIP/3.19 xFIP
Fernandez is pitching pretty well in AAA and his K/BB% in the majors is also excellent. Let’s hope that continues.
Yhoiker Fajardo (23.2 K/BB%)
Stats (High A): 11 GS, 46 IP, 30.5 K%, 7.4 BB%, 41.3 GB%, .391 BABIP, 3.72 ERA/4.72 FIP/4.02 xFIP
He could have also gone on the K% list, but especially as a starting pitcher, I find landing on this list much more impressive. Almost as impressive as having a .391 BABIP and a 3.72 ERA, that seems difficult.
Payton Graham (24.4 K/BB%)
Stats (CPX): 4 GS, 12.2 IP, 38.9 K%, 8.3 BB%, 50 GB%, .263 BABIP, 1.86 ERA/2.09 FIP/2.77 xFIP
(Low A): 4 GS, 12.2 IP, 28 K%, 8 BB%, 19.4 GB%, .207 BABIP, 4.97 ERA/5.52 FIP/4.95 xFIP
Listing Graham breaks the spirit of this, because I think the complex games were essentially rehab for him, but I wanted an excuse to list his stats. Despite a fairly strong K/BB% in Low A, almost everything is hit in the air and he’s allowed 3 homers in his 12.2 IP.
Pitchers – GB%
Alright, we have two standards here. For starting pitchers, anything above a 48.4 GB%, and for relievers, it will be as high as a 55 GB%.
Hunter Dobbins (51.5 GB%)
Stats (AAA): 9 GS, 44.2 IP, 17.7 K%, 7.5 BB%, 51.5 GB%, .275 BABIP, 3.43 ERA/4.64 FIP/4.79 xFIP
I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll do it again. I don’t know what the MLB version of Dobbins looks like, but the version in Memphis looks a hell of a lot like Andre Pallante. Whether you consider that good or bad is up to you.
Leonel Sequera (50.3 GB%)
Stats (AAA): 12 GS, 51.1 IP, 25.1 K%, 9.3 BB%, 50.3 GB%, .393 BABIP, 8.59 ERA/6.63 FIP/4.45 xFIP
It is so weird to look at my identifying stat first, not knowing what his pitching line looks like, going through the list, thinking I’m about to have a good pitching line and then get hit with an 8.59 ERA. He’s not pitching as poorly as that would suggest.
Brian Holiday (55.8 GB%)
Stats (CPX): 4 GS, 9.2 IP, 30.6 K%, 5.6 BB%, 60 GB%, .333 BABIP, 4.66 ERA/5.09 FIP/3.08 xFIP
Low A: 3 GS, 13 IP, 16.7 K%, 6.3 BB%, 54.1 GB%, .118 BABIP, 3.46 ERA/6.16 FIP/4.91 xFIP
As maybe expected, a guy returning from injury is throwing up some meatballs it appears. He’s allowed 5 homers in 22.2 innings. Which is especially notable, because most everything hit against him is on the ground.
Pitchers – FIP
For starting pitchers, I just need an FIP lower than 3.09. For relievers though, I’m looking for a 2.55 FIP. Some of the run environments in the system make this a little bit of harshly high standard admittedly.
Pete Hansen (2.82 FIP)
Stats (AAA): 9 GS, 36.2 IP, 25.3 K%, 7.8 BB%, 46.5 GB%, .337 BABIP, 4.17 ERA/2.82 FIP/3.81 xFIP
We caught Pete at a good time. I don’t think he has a 3.09 FIP right now. Last night, he gave up a homer, walked one and struck out three. His FIP is so low because of the homers, I’m guessing it’ll see a big jump.
Hunter Kublick (2.76 FIP)
Stats (Low A): 10 G, 10.2 IP, 22.4 K%, 6.1 BB%, 52.9 GB%, .412 BABIP, 5.91 ERA/2.76 FIP/4.18 xFIP
Unfortunately, he’s on this list because he hasn’t allowed a homer. Not that you want someone to allow a homer, just kind of makes their FIP untrustworthy. But he’s doing two things right: not a lot of walks and groundballs aplenty.
And that’s the list. As I suspected the FIP numbers were a little bit unreasonable, but that’s not necessarily the go-to stat for minor league performance anyway.
