Here’s a look at Tuesday’s top Minor League performers from each team’s Top 30 Prospects list:
Tigers: Riley Greene, OF (MLB No. 15), Double-A Erie
Greene set a season high with four hits as part of a 4-for-5 night at the plate. The 20-year-old, the fifth overall pick from the 2019 Draft, struck out in his first at-bat and then reeled off four straight hits, including a pair of doubles, to lift his average to .284. Greene has been swinging a hot bat, hitting .318 during the month of June. He also has hits in nine of his past 10 games, including four multihit performances.
Marlins: Max Meyer, RHP (MLB No. 20), Double-A Pensacola
Meyer rebounded from a subpar outing his last time out by tossing six scoreless innings. The 22-year-old struck out six and scattered four hits plus a walk during his 72-pitch outing. Of the 10 runs Meyer has given up this season, nine have come in two starts, including four in his previous outing on June 23. Last year’s third overall pick has surrendered one run or fewer in eight of 10 starts and will carry a 1.84 ERA into his next appearance.
Rays: Vidal Bruján, SS (MLB No. 36), Triple-A Durham
Joe Ryan, RHP (No. 11), Triple-A Durham
With baseball’s top prospect Wander Franco off in the Majors, Bruján is taking top billing in the Bulls’ lineup and put together a terrific night on Tuesday. Batting out of the top spot in Durham’s order, the shortstop went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and a pair of walks to reach base five times. It was Bruján’s first game with multiple doubles since May 25, when he tallied two at Jacksonville and the first with multiple walks since he earned a pair the next night in the same road series.
Ryan took a shutout into the sixth inning before being lifted after a one-out walk that came around to score later in the frame. Nevertheless, the 25-year-old allowed two or fewer earned runs for the sixth consecutive start to bring his ERA down to 3.73. Ryan allowed two hits and tied his season high with nine strikeouts, giving him 54 in 41 innings. The San Francisco native has shaved nearly a run off his ERA thanks to a strong June. Ryan entered the month with a 4.57 mark but surrendered six runs in 19 1/3 innings across four starts, good for a 2.79 ERA.
Mariners: Noelvi Marte, SS (MLB No. 83), Low-A Modesto
Tuesday was quite a night for Mariners prospects as Marte homered twice, No. 1 prospect Jarred Kelenic also homered and No. 2 prospect Julio Rodríguez made his Double-A debut. Marte, a 19-year-old hitting .300 in his U.S. debut, went deep in the first and seventh innings, bringing his home run total to 10, and finished the night 3-for-6. Marte doesn’t have much professional experience, but has consistently produced throughout his career. Signed in 2018, Marte made his professional debut in the 2019 Dominican Summer League and hit .309 with nine homers over 65 games.
Red Sox: Jarren Duran, OF (MLB No. 86), Triple-A Worcester
Duran turned in his third two-homer game of the season, finishing 2-for-4 with four RBIs. The 24-year-old has hit a career high 15 homers through 37 games this season and is batting .282 in his first experience at the Triple-A level. Duran led off the game with a blast and then capped his evening with a three-run homer in the ninth.
Braves: Freddy Tarnok, RHP (No. 10), High-A Rome
Making just his fourth appearance and second start of the season, Tarnok spun a gem for Rome. The 22-year-old tossed a season-high five scoreless innings and allowed two hits, a walk and hit a batter while striking out eight over five, seven coming in his final three frames. Tarnok lowered his ERA to 3.86 and has fanned 27 in 14 innings.
D-backs: Matt Tabor, RHP (No. 22), Double-A Amarillo
Tabor threw 65 of his 94 pitches for strikes as he worked his way across seven solid innings. The 22-year-old, a third-round pick from the 2017 Draft, gave up two runs (both unearned) on two hits. Tabor didn’t issue a walk and also struck out four while lowering his ERA to 6.64 on the year.
Reds: Graham Ashcraft, RHP (No. 18), Double-A Chattanooga
The odds of Ashcraft pitching scoreless ball for the remainder of the season are quite slim, but he’s giving it his best effort. Coming off a complete game, two-hit shutout in his Double-A debut, the 23-year-old scattered two hits and four walks with five strikeouts over five scoreless innings Tuesday to finish June without allowing an earned run. Ashcraft surrendered an unearned tally on June 5, the only score against him in his last six starts, a span of 27 innings. The right-hander entered his outing on May 30 with a 5.74 ERA but has sliced that number to 1.71 in 10 starts with High-A Dayton and Chattanooga.
White Sox: Yoelqui Céspedes, DH (No. 2), High-A Winston-Salem
Jake Burger, 3B (No. 11), Triple-A Charlotte
In just his ninth game as a professional, Céspedes broke out. The 23-year-old had just four hits heading into Tuesday night and doubled that total with a 4-for-6 performance at Asheville, logging his first three doubles of the season. Céspedes drove in two runs, scored three more and added a stolen base for the Dash, who rolled up 17 hits in a 14-5 win. It was just the second multihit game of Céspedes’ brief pro career. The outfielder signed with the White Sox in January.
Burger is nearing the end of a torrid June at the plate. Against Norfolk, the third baseman reached base six times and went 4-for-4 with a homer, a double, two RBIs and two walks. Burger is batting .348/.390/.587 through 23 games in June, boosting his season-long OPS from an already impressive .933 after May to .958 after his latest performance. Burger has gone hitless in just four games in June, and Tuesday’s showing was his second four-hit game of the week.