Baseball America Prospect Report—June 29, 2021, Presented By OOTP 22

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J.P. France, RHP, Triple-A Sugar Land (Astros) – A 14th-round pick out of Mississippi State in 2018, France has been a breakout prospect for the Astros this season. After striking out 13.4 batters per nine innings at Double-A Corpus Christi, France got promoted to Triple-A Sugar Land last week and has continued to miss bats for the Skeeters. France struck out nine over 4.2 innings on Monday, giving him 63 strikeouts in 38.1 total innings this season. France’s fastball sits just 88-90 mph, but his slider and changeup have both been out pitches that draw swings and misses and weak contact.

Drew Ellis, 3B, Triple-A Reno (D-backs) — Ellis has largely disappointed since the D-backs drafted him in the second round of the 2017 draft, but he keeps doing just enough to rise and is taking advantage of the hitter-friendly conditions of Reno this season. Ellis went 2 for 4 with a double and a home run in Reno’s 6-5 win over Sacramento, raising his season slash line to .294/.384/.506.

Curtis Terry, 1B, Triple-A Round Rock (Rangers) – Another day, another standout offensive performance for Terry. The hulking slugger went 2 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs to lead Triple-A Round Rock to a 9-4 win over El Paso on Monday. After impressing during both instructional league last fall and spring training this year in addition to mashing during the season, Terry is quietly putting together a strong track record of performance and positioning himself for his first big league callup.

Luis Liberato, OF, Triple-A Tacoma (Mariners) – Long known as a standout defender with a light bat, Liberato stood out on both sides of the ball playing for the Dominican Republic in Olympic qualifying and has been heating up at the plate since returning to Tacoma. Liberato went 2 for 4 with a double, a home run and a walk in Tacoma’s 6-5 win over Albuquerque. He now has a hit in eight of his last 10 games, including two doubles, a triple and three home runs in that stretch.

Brian Howard, RHP, Triple-A Las Vegas (Athletics) – The 6-foot-9 Howard has struggled to deal with the elements of the former Pacific Coast League like most pitchers, but he had a sharp outing in unforgiving Salt Lake on Monday. Howard pitched 5.2 innings with only two hits and one (unearned) run allowed, walked three and struck out five in the Aviators’ 3-1 loss to the Bees. After posting a 6.38 ERA in May, Howard wrapped up June with a perfectly respectable 4.68 ERA over five starts.

C.J. Hinojosa, 3B, Triple-A Sugar Land (Astros) – Once considered a rising prospect in the Giants organization, Hinojosa has had a long and winding road bur appears to have found a groove after signing with the Astros as a minor league free agent last offseason. Hinojosa went 3 for 5 with a double to lead in Triple-A Sugar Land’s 5-4 loss to Oklahoma City on Monday. He is now batting .309/.348/.443 and has a hit in 14 of his last 15 games.

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