Baseball America Prospect Report -- May 2, 2019

Xavier Edwards, SS, Padres. The Padres are graduating a large number of players from the best farm system in baseball. But they also have young players stepping up as well. Edwards went 5-for-5 to start out the month of May for low Class A Fort Wayne. He had a double and four base knocks including an RBI and a run scored. Edwards is showing extremely advanced contact skills and looks to be the prototypical leadoff hitter.

Austin Beck, OF, Athletics. Beck had his first multi-homer game for high Class A Stockton. The outfielder homered to center field in the first inning, followed by another blast to right center in the third. The Athletics’ No. 5 prospect is a strong defender who has above-average raw power but until now he’s struggled to translate that power into games. His four home runs this year matches his career total coming into the season.

Austin Riley, 3B, Braves. The Braves’ top prospect had a four-hit game for Triple-A Gwinnett with two doubles, two long home runs and three runs scored. Riley is starting to heat up after a slow start, collecting hits in 13 of his last 25 at-bats.

Yordan Alvarez, OF/1B, Astros. It’s hard to have a better day than Alvarez had on Wednesday. In the first game of a doubleheader, Alvarez went 4-for-5 with three RBIs. The Astros’ No. 3 prospect had two singles and two doubles from the cleanup spot. In the second game, Alvarez hit his 12th home run of the season (one off the minor league lead) while going 2-for-3. So for the day, he was 6-for-8 with 11 total bases.

Edward Cabrera, RHP, Marlins. Cabrera tossed six and two-thirds scoreless frames for high Class A Jupiter. He allowed just two hits and collected a career-high 13 strike outs. The Marlins’ No. 8 prospect throws a three-pitch mix including a fastball that touches triple digits but has some control issues that need to be worked out.

Leody Taveras, OF, Rangers. Taveras had a four-hit game for high Class A Down East. The Rangers’ No. 3 prospect had three base knocks and a hustle triple while coming around to score twice. Taveras is a defensive standout who has bat-to-ball skills but needs to improve upon the impact of his swing from both sides of the plate.

Edwin Uceta, RHP, Dodgers. Uceta went six innings and allowed just one run for high Class A Rancho Cucamonga. The righthander scattered three hits and had eight strikeouts with no walks. The Dodgers’ No. 28 prospect works mostly with a fastball-slider combo and is developing his changeup which flashes average.

Ryan Mountcastle, 3B, Orioles. Mountcastle had four base knocks in five at-bats for Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles No. 3 prospect also drove in two runs. Mountcastle is an offensive-minded infielder who boasts some power but a below-average arm might relegate him to strictly being a DH or first basemen at the big league level.

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