Prospect Heat Check: Who Shined in the Minors on Wednesday?

Happy Thursday, folks. We beat the rain last night and I got to see Payton Tolle versus Luke Sinnard. On the surface it did not live up to the hype, but they both put up good starts there none-the-less. Will have more on that in my live looks article after the series.

There were a ton of good performances yesterday. Probably more good pitching than hitting.

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Each day, I will pick a hitter and pitcher who stand out and deserve the top spot on the sheet. Those players’ reports will be free for all to read. The rest will be paywalled for Dynasty Dugout Subscribers. The article is around 3000 words, giving you detailed player reports to encapsulate everything you need to know.

Jonah Tong, RHP, New York Mets, 21, AA

Tong seems to get better every time out. On Wednesday, he shoved, striking out 11 batters across five no-hit innings. While he did walked three batters, Tong was nearly perfect otherwise as he generated 16 whiffs on the start.

The fastball has ticked up two straight seasons, and he is now working in the 94-96 range after sitting 92-93 mph last year. Tong regularly touches 20 inches of IVB from a 6'3” release height. He has gotten up to 98 mph with highly impressive traits on the fastball, being able to get ground ball outs when not missing bats.

Tong utilizes a mid-to-upper 80s cutter with above-average horizontal movement for a cutter. The curveball is a hammer, with a shape near 12-6 and an over negative 18 inches of IVB. For those who are unsure, that is an absurd 67 inches of vertical drop. The pitch sits in the upper-70s with high spin rates.

The changeup rounds out the arsenal, sitting around 85 mph with good carry and horizontal movement. The new grip has made all the difference as the pitch devastates hitters and misses bats as well as any changeup in the minors.

The delivery and walks are still a question mark, but man, Tong is good. He dazzles every time he gets on the mound. The ERA now sits at 2.02 with a 42.3 percent strikeout rate.

Marco Dinges, C, Milwaukee Brewers, 21, A+

While Dinges has slowed his pace a bit after being promoted from Single-A Carolina to High-A Wisconsin, he still continues to swing it well. A 105 mph, 399-foot homer on Wednesday capped off a three-hit day to push his season-long slash line to .331/.440/.543. Despite walking less in High-A, for the season, Dinges has still walked more often than he has struck out.

A 2024 fourth-round pick out of Florida State, Dinges was young for the draft and will spend the entire 2025 season at 21 years old. In my live looks this year, Dinges has been extremely impressive.

The contact rates are highly impressive for Dinges, running a rate north of 79 percent for the season, and he pairs it with strong exit velocities. The 90th percentile exit velocity near 106 mph shows potential plus power.

Dinges is solid behind the plate, showing solid pop times in the mid-1.9-second range in my looks. He has thrown out 24 percent of attempted base stealers, which is really good considering how bad some lower-level pitchers are at holding runners on base.

Dinges checks all the boxes I want to see from a scouting and data standpoint. He looks like a legit MLB catcher if he continues to develop.

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