Thursday's Minor League Baseball Standout Performers

Spencer Jones dominated again, blasting three home runs. Leandro Lopez punched out ten hitters. There was a ton of dominance across the minors from Triple-A down to the rookie level.

Tonight, I will be out to see Brandon Clarke again, in hopes he can have a big rebound tonight against Spartanburg. But as we wait for the game, let’s break down the notable performances from players across professional baseball.

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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.

Spencer Jones, OF, New York Yankees, 24, AAA

The title of hottest hitter in baseball right now belongs to Jones as he continues to hit the cover off the ball every game. Jones blasted not one, or two, but three big-time home runs yesterday to bring his total to 29 on the year and 13 in 19 Triple-A games.

Consistently blasting home runs that leave the bat with exit velocities north of 110, Jones has some of the best power in the game. Between Double-A and Triple-A, Jones has a 90th percentile exit velocity of 110 mph with a max north of 115 mph.

Jones is also an exceptional athlete for his size. He runs well and plays a strong centerfield defense, showing good reads and jumps while having plus foot speed over space. The star potential is there, but he lags in the contact department, having some of the worst contact rates in the minors.

Sources tell me that Jones unlocked something last weekend while working on his swing. Since that message, Jones has seen his in-zone contact rate jump to 83 percent, with an overall mark of 74 percent. Yes, it is a small sample, but these are marks Jones has never reached at any point in his career. Before that, Jones had a 61 percent zone-contact rate in Triple-A and had struck out 19 times in his first 13 games with Scranton/Wilkes Barre.

Jones truly is the hardest prospect in baseball to evaluate. The upside, however, is tremendous!

Leandro Lopez, RHP, Texas Rangers, 23, AA

Statistically, Lopez looks excellent this season, spending the majority of the year in High-A, but was recently promoted to Double-A Frisco. In his first start there last night, Lopez shoved, striking out ten batters and allowing just one hit across five scoreless innings. His ERA dropped to 2.01 on the year across 71.2 innings, and Lopez is rocking a strikeout-minus-walk rate just shy of 20 percent.

Lopez generated 16 whiffs on the start and needed just 67 pitches to complete the five innings of work. He landed 63 percent of pitches for strikes, which is a positive and right in line with where he has been all season.

The fastball works around 94 mph and can touch 96, and Lopez throws a ton of upper-80s sliders that play more like a cutter. Lopez can dump in a solid curveball in the low-80s with tight spin and will work in an upper-80s changeup.

The walk rates are manageable, but I still think Lopez needs to see his command take a leap. Lopez is prone to spraying his fastball at times and will have to locate the secondaries better. The stuff is good, though the results back the performance.

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