Tuesday's Best Minor League Baseball Performances

I sweltered in the heat last night on a muggy night in Charleston, but saw some good baseball including a good pitching matchup between Melkis Rodriguez and Jayden Voelker. Theo Gillen swung the bat well(when he actually swung), and Welbyn Francisca hit the ball hard a few times with nothing to show for it. Jacob Zibin will take the mound tonight for Lynchburg and Trevor Harrison for the Riverdogs.

I recapped everything you need to know from yesterday’s entire slate of minor league action though. There is a DSL pitcher breaking out and looking like the best arm there and a Complex level bat that you should grab now. All that a ton more, below!

Free Minor League Baseball Recap Previews

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.

Jared Thomas, OF, Colorado Rockies, 21, A+

Thomas enjoyed a successful breakout sophomore season at Texas, mashing 16 home runs and swiping 18 bags in 291 plate appearances. He slashed a strong .349/.435/.635 and struck out just 20 percent of the time.

After being thought of as a hit-over-power type, Thomas made major strides in the exit velocity department, adding five mph to his max exit velocity last season at Texas. The 90th percentile exit velocity was an above-average 105, and he paired it with a 92.5 mph average exit velocity. While the numbers took a step back with wood, they are still solid.

This year, Thomas has spent the season with High-A Spokane and been incredible. Last night’s home run left the bat at 104 mph for his 11th of the season to pair with 20 stolen bases. Thomas is slashing .326/.427/.498 with respectable contact rates and a strong approach.

While Thomas is capable of using the whole field well, he can also create good power too the pull side. The launch angles and sweet spot rates are impressive which helps Thomas get into more power than the exit velocities might suggest.

While Thomas has not faced many lefties this year, he has held his own. The strikeout rate of 27 percent is a bit higher than we would like to see, but he does have a .736 OPS which will play. Given that Thomas is a former college bat, it might be time to test him in Double-A.

Troy Melton, RHP, Detroit Tigers, 24, AAA

Melton was an unheralded prospect out of San Diego State who landed in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. Pitching just five innings that season after the draft, Melton came into 2023 without much hype, but that began to change as he pitched at a high level in Single-A before improving even more in High-A. The 2024 season was a big drop-off, but Melton looks back now in 2025.

On Tuesday, Melton turned in the best start of his season, tossing 5.1 innings of one-run ball with ten strikeouts and just one walk. While two of his first three Triple-A starts were bad, Melton rebounded in a big way and put some of the bad starts behind him.

The fastball sits around 97 mph, touching 100 with 16+ inches of IVB and seven inches of horizontal movement. Melton locates it well up in the zone and throws it for strikes at a high rate while throwing from a lower 5’5” release height. He also mixes in a two-seamer in the low 90s and a cutter around 90 mph.

Melton’s slider sits in the mid-80s with nearly eight inches of sweeping action and good depth. The curveball generates more sweeping action, sitting in the upper-70s with a true two-plane break. Melton’s changeup shows nice fading action with low spin, diving off late and generating whiffs.

A heavy strike thrower, Melton pounds the zone with each of his pitches, which led to a 67 percent strike rate, showing plus control. It showed in the walk rate as he walked just seven percent of hitters he faced. The stuff is there for Melton to be a Major Leauge Starter.

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