Prospect Report: Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr Are Heating Up

Monday’s Prospect Performers

Brendan Donovan, OF, Cardinals – Of all the prospects the Cardinals have called up this year, none have been as impactful as Donovan. The 25-year-old went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI and scored the game-tying run in the seventh inning during the Cardinals rally. To cap it all off, he made a diving catch in the top of the 10th inning in right field to preserve a 3-3 tie and set the stage for Paul Goldschmidt’s walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the inning. Overall, Donovan is now batting .340 with a 1.004 OPS since being called up at the end of April.  

Julio Rodriguez, OF, Mariners – Rodriguez continues to put his early-season struggles behind him. The 21-year-old center fielder went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in the Mariners’ 7-6 win over the Athletics. After batting .205 with a .544 OPS in April, Rodriguez is up to .276 with a .726 OPS after a red-hot first three weeks of May. 

Juan Yepez, DH, Cardinals – Perhaps no prospect benefitted from the addition of the DH to the National League more than Yepez. The 24-year-old Venezuelan hit his fourth home run of the season in the Cardinals’ 7-3 win over the Blue Jays, taking Jose Berrios deep in the seventh inning to kickstart a late rally. Yepez is now batting .304 with an .899 OPS since getting called up on May 4 and has settled into the fifth spot in the Cardinals order behind Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. 

Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Royals – Witt is beginning to find his power in May. The Royals top prospect entering the year went 2-for-5 with a home run in the Royals’ loss to the D-backs on Monday. He has now hit five home runs in May after hitting none in April, a promising glimmer of hope in an otherwise dismal start for both Witt and the Royals as a whole. 

ORG	CLASS	RANK	PLAYER	AB	R	H	RBI	AVG	NOTES
ARI	MAJ	#4	Geraldo Perdomo, SS	4	0	1	0	.210	E (4),
ARI	MAJ	#15	Jake McCarthy, OF	4	0	0	1	.333
BAL	MAJ	#1	Adley Rutschman, C	4	0	0	0	.284
CHC	MAJ	#26	Alfonso Rivas, 1B	3	1	1	0	.273	BB (13),
CHC	MAJ	#29	Christopher Morel, OF	4	1	1	0	.305
CLE	MAJ	#27	Steven Kwan, OF	4	0	1	0	.266
DET	MAJ	#2	Spencer Torkelson, 1B	3	1	2	0	.186	2B (4), BB (16),
HOU	MAJ	#2	Jeremy Pena, SS	3	0	1	0	.287	E (7),
KC	MAJ	#1	Bobby Witt, SS	5	1	2	1	.221	HR (5),
KC	MAJ	#3	M.J. Melendez, C	4	1	1	0	.197	BB (18),
KC	MAJ	#6	Kyle Isbel, OF	4	0	1	1	.269	BB (4),
KC	MAJ	#30	Emmanuel Rivera, 3B	4	0	0	0	.265
NYM	MAJ	#39	Patrick Mazeika, C	5	0	1	1	.247	2B (4),
NYY	MAJ	#15	Estevan Florial, OF	3	0	0	0	.256	BB (16),
OAK	MAJ	#3	Cristian Pache, OF	3	0	1	2	.159	2B (2),
OAK	MAJ	#7	Kevin Smith, SS	3	1	2	1	.227
OAK	MAJ	#24	Luis Barrera, OF	1	0	0	0	.288
PIT	MAJ	#20	Rodolfo Castro, 2B	3	0	1	0	.234	2B (8), BB (23), CS (2), E (5),
PIT	MAJ	#24	Jack Suwinski, OF	3	0	1	0	.250	2B (11),
SD	MAJ	#31	Jose Azocar, OF	2	0	2	1	.250
SEA	MAJ	#1	Julio Rodriguez, OF	4	2	2	3	.274	HR (4),
SF	MAJ	#2	Joey Bart, C	2	0	1	0	.171
SF	MAJ	#23	Kevin Padlo, 3B	2	0	0	0	.228
STL	MAJ	#2	Nolan Gorman, 3B	3	0	0	0	.315	BB (15),
STL	MAJ	#9	Juan Yepez, 1B	4	1	1	1	.290	HR (13),
STL	MAJ	#13	Brendan Donovan, 2B	3	1	2	1	.318	2B (9), BB (20),
WAS	MAJ	#1	Keibert Ruiz, C	4	0	0	0	.279

 

ORG	CLASS	RANK	PLAYER	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	NOTES
ARI	MAJ	#17	Luis Frias, RHP	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	5.87
ATL	MAJ	#10	Tucker Davidson, LHP	2.2	4	5	5	4	2	5.75	L (2-2)
BAL	MAJ	#37	Felix Bautista, RHP	1.1	0	0	0	1	1	2.50
CIN	MAJ	#35	Jared Solomon, RHP	0.2	1	2	2	1	0	1.38
DET	MAJ	#35	Elvin Rodriguez, RHP	5.0	4	4	4	3	4	5.10
HOU	MAJ	#28	Seth Martinez, RHP	1.1	2	0	0	0	1	2.40
KC	MAJ	#29	Collin Snider, RHP	0.2	3	2	2	0	0	5.63
NYM	MAJ	#34	Colin Holderman, RHP	2.0	1	0	0	0	2	2.12
OAK	MAJ	#9	A.J. Puk, LHP	0.2	2	0	0	1	1	0.50
OAK	MAJ	#24	Zach Logue, LHP	4.2	6	7	7	4	6	4.97	L (2-3)
SD	MAJ	#13	Robert Suarez, RHP	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	4.00
SEA	MAJ	#29	Penn Murfee, RHP	0.0	2	1	1	1	0	1.35
STL	MAJ	#16	Andre Pallante, RHP	0.1	0	0	0	2	0	0.95
WAS	MAJ	#7	Joan Adon, RHP	4.2	7	6	6	4	4	7.02	L (1-8)