Baseball America Prospect Report—April 2, 2021

Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Pirates — Hayes began the 2021 season in much the same fashion that he ended 2020. Hayes’ two-run home run off of Kyle Hendricks in the first inning gave Pittsburgh a lead it never relinquished. Hayes now has six home runs in just 100 MLB plate appearances. In the minors, Hayes hit a home run every 80 plate appearances.

Cristian Pache, CF, Braves — Pache hit his first official double of his MLB career in Atlanta’s extra-inning loss to Philadelphia as he went 1-for-4 with a run scored. Pache did double in the postseason last year, but his Opening Day two-bagger was his first in the regular season.

Gavin Lux, 2B, Dodgers — Lux’s 2020 season never really got going, but his 2021 is off to a much better start. Lux went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the Dodgers’ loss to the Rockies.

Jonathan India, 2B, Reds — In his MLB debut, India went 2-for-4 with a double. Eugenio Suarez had some trouble at shortstop with two errors, so the Reds’ experiment of sliding Suarez to shortstop so India could play second (with Mike Moustakas moving to third) wasn’t flawless. But India more than did his share on Thursday.

Kyle Isbel, OF, Royals — Another player making his MLB debut, Isbel went 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI. Isbel showed a comfort level hitting with two strikes. Two of his three hits came in two-strike counts.

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Reviewing The 2018 MLB Draft First Round Four Years Later

J.J. Cooper analyzes the 2018 first round, slotting players into five categories: Better Than Expected, Do It All Over Again, Too Soon To Tell, Slight Concerns and Reasons To Worry.