Minor League Baseball Weekend Recap (Week 7)

At the beginning of each week, I will provide a comprehensive breakdown of everything that happened across the landscape of Minor League Baseball. It might be a little overkill as I wrote far too much on the players that stood out on the weekend, but I hope it helps you better understand why a player performed as they did.

This report, each Monday, will feature the top 15-20 standouts beyond just the box score. I will dive into non-public pitch data and hitters’ statcast data as well. The goal is to help you find prospects that are breaking out early that you should be getting in on in your dynasty leagues.

Minor League Baseball Weekend Recap(Week 7)

Brady House, 3B, Washington Nationals, 21, AAA

How close are we getting to a House call-up to the Nationals? He continues to swing it well, which showed over the weekend with a two-homer performance on Saturday. House has been on base in his last eight games and is up to eight home runs and 18 extra base hits for the season. The series last week was highly impressive for House against Durham.

Sometimes, it feels like House has been around forever, so it is somewhat humbling to remember he is 21 years old. His 2024 season was like much of his career, as we saw highs and lows. The good news is, for the first time in his career, Hosue stayed healthy and played 129 games.

So far in 2025, House has gotten results. His .282/.344/.497 slash is backed by an 81 percent in-zone contact rate and a 44.5 percent hard-hit rate. Ground balls are still a bit of an issue, but House has shown improvements in sweet-spot rate, meaning he is hitting the ball at ideal launch angles more often.

House has always hit the ball hard, so it is not a surprise to see the impressive hard-hit rate, but his 108 mph 90th percentile exit velocity and 90.5 mph average exit velocity stand out.

The approach has been cleaned up a bit. Last year, House chased around 40 percent of pitches he saw out of the zone. This year, that number has dropped to 33 percent, and House is showing more aggression on pitches in the zone.

House still has talent, and if he can show just an average approach and contact skills, there are 30 home runs in the bat with a solid glove at third base.

Joseph Sullivan, OF, Houston Astros, 22, A+

The Astros’ seventh-round pick out of South Alabama is swinging it exceptionally well. After seeing him in his pro debut last year, Sullivan caught my eye, and when he got assigned to Asheville(A+) this year, I thought the surface numbers could be really good.

On Sunday, Sullivan blasted two home runs to bring his total to ten on the season, to pair with 17 stolen bases. I have seen him play several times this year, including a big-time home run off Juan Valera of the Red Sox.

According to an article on Baseball America by Jose De Jesus Ortiz, Sullivan made a swing change to get to more loft and unlock power. That he has done as the ground ball rate has dropped by 14 percentage points. In the process though, we have seen Sullivan’s contact rates take a big hit.

The batted ball profile was impressive in his pro debut in 2024 as Sullivan made contact on pitches in the zone at a 92 percent clip and 86 percent overall. He rarely expands the zone and had just an eight percent chase rate in the 20-game sample. This year, the contact rate sits just north of 20 percent. The approach is still strong, though.

Blending the newfound power stroke with contact skills will be important, and it is certainly something that is doable. If it happens, the stock soars.

Patrick Copen, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers, 23, A+

Wait, didn’t we just do this? It seems some special command dust has been sprinkled on Copen the last two starts, and he is throwing strikes. Entering last Tuesday’s start with a 21.2 percent walk rate in his first 25.2 innings, Copen did not walk a batter in seven innings. He returned to the mound Sunday for his second start of the week and again was dominant.

Yesterday, Copen walked just one batter while striking out 11 across 6.2 innings. Copen allowed just two hits and one earned run while generating an impressive 19 whiffs. I am not sure where he found this strike-throwing ability, but it has been impressive.

While Copen can struggle with command, the arsenal is electric. His fastball sits in the upper-90s and tops at 100 pretty regularly. The velocity does tail off as starts progress, but he still works around 95 mph even deeper into games.

The slider has good depth to it, and Copen spins it well. The hammer of a curveball is fun to watch as it falls off the map and reaches the mid-80s. Copen even works in a cutter around 90 mph.

If this sticks, Copen could be a stud. If he does not find the command consistently, the stuff could play really well out of an MLB bullpen.

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