Luis Robert's first Triple-A hit was a grand slam, and that seems like it'll foreshadow the next few weeks.
Robert's big night deserves its own post, so there'll be one later this morning. In the meantime, Keith Law updated his top 50 prospects list, and a couple of White Sox prospects ranked a little higher than I expected.
Law put Robert in the ninth spot, a huge jump from his preseason rank at No. 54. Robert deserves such a boost because he's having a helluva season, but I wasn't sure if Law was going to hold against Robert his inability to perform while Law's in the house ("...when I'm in the park, he has been 0-for-9 and has missed three other games with me there due to injury").
The bigger surprise is Andrew Vaughn, maybe because I hadn't really given serious thought to where he might place on a Top 100 prospects list.
Law's answer? Twelfth:
Vaughn has a great, simple, quiet, right-handed approach with excellent plate discipline, projecting to hit for a high average and OBP with at least above-average power and probably a lot more. The knocks against him are that he's a right/right first baseman -- he has played a little third, but realistically he's going to be at first -- and he's only 5-foot-10. I'm not concerned until he shows us any reason, in performance or tools, to believe he won't hit.
Michael Kopech ranked 25th.
Charlotte 15, Gwinnett 12
- Luis Robert went 3-for-5 with two homers and seven RBIs.
- Daniel Palka is back at Charlotte, going 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Welington Castillo caught the whole game for the first time, going 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Yermin Mercedes singled twice, walked once and struck out twice.
- Danny Mendick doubled, singled thrice and struck out once.
- Carson Fulmer: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
Jackson 8, Birmingham 4
- Luis Gonzalez went 2-for-5 with a double and a strikeout.
- Nick Madrigal was 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Blake Rutherford was 0-for-3 with a walk and a K.
- Gavin Sheets, 1-for-3 with a walk and a K.
- Ti'Quan Forbes went 1-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts.
- Laz Rivera doubled, walked, struck out and was hit by a pitch.
- Blake Battenfield: 5 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
More:
*Madrigal's strikeout was ill-timed, as it comes on the same day his contact abilities received the deep-dive treatment by Lucas Apostoleris at Baseball Prospectus. Madrigal isn't the only minor-leaguer with a really low strikeout rate, but Madrigal manages to go the extra mile in a few regards. Even among high-contact guys, his contact rate stands out. Even among guys with low strikeout rates, he's also able to draw an acceptable amount of walks, with three BBs for every K.
Alex Bregman currently leads the majors in walks per strikeout — at 1.31. It’s worth noting that a BB/K over 2.00 in any league is extremely rare — in the majors, it’s only happened eight times since 2000, and five of those seasons were from Barry Bonds. Keeping in mind that it is both a partial season and happening in the minor leagues, it’s still pretty fun to find a stat that lumps Nick Madrigal and Barry Bonds together.
Winston-Salem 8, Fayetteville 5 (7 innings, rain)
- Steele Walker went 1-for-2 with a double, walk and sac fly.
- Carlos Perez went 1-for-4.
- Konnor Pilkington: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Greensboro 15, Kannapolis 7
- Andrew Vaughn went 3-for-5 with a double.
- Bryce Bush went 0-for-4 with a K.
- Corey Zangari was 0-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout.
- Amado Nunez went 1-for-4 with a strikeout and four errors.
- Davis Martin: 4 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 HR
Grand Junction 8, Great Falls 2
- Kelvin Maldonado went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Harvin Mendoza and Luis Mieses both were 1-for-4 with a K.
- Lency Delgado went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Anderson Comas went 0-for-4 with a K.
- Cabera Weaver was 1-for-3 with a K.
- Sam Abbott went 1-for-4 with a triple and a strikeout.
AZL Padres1 11, AZL White Sox 0
- Misael Gonzalez went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Samil Polanco and DJ Gladney both were 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Jose Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with a K.
- Bryan Ramos, 0-for-4.
- Josue Guerrero walked once and struck out thrice.
- James Beard was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
- Bernardo Flores began his rehab from a strained oblique: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
DSL White Sox 5, DSL Padres 3
- Wilber Sanchez went 2-for-5 and was caught stealing.
- Yolbert Sanchez was 0-for-3.
- Cesar Jimenez replaced him and went 2-for-2 at the plate and 1-for-2 on the basepaths.
- A rare off game for Benyamin Bailey, who went 0-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Ronaldo Guzman: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K
