Aidan Miller, the Philadelphia Phillies’ No. 2 prospect and ranked No. 48 overall by MLB, hit his 10th home run of the season for Double-A Reading. The 21-year-old shortstop led off the bottom of the first inning with a homer, marking his second consecutive multihit game. Along with the home run, Miller recorded an RBI double, drew a walk, and stole a base.
After struggling in July with a .190 batting average, Miller has shown improvement in August. So far this month he is batting .333/.431/.593 with 16 runs scored, 10 extra-base hits, and nine RBIs.
Elsewhere in Minor League Baseball, several top prospects had notable performances. Leo De Vries (Lansing), JJ Wetherholt (Memphis), Aiva Arquette (Beloit), Ryan Waldschmidt (Amarillo), Joe Mack (Jacksonville), Ralphy Velazquez (Akron), and Jonathan Santucci (Binghamton) all contributed significant efforts for their respective teams.
“More than two weeks after he was dealt from San Diego, De Vries flashed all of his offensive tools in a breakout performance. The 18-year-old went deep twice for the second time this season, tripled and drove in five runs to power High-A Lansing. De Vries scored three times and also walked to snap out of a 3-for-29 stretch. The switch-hitting shortstop has a .767 OPS and 36 extra-base hits in 95 games this season,” according to team officials.
“Back in the lineup after a night off, Wetherholt wasted no time getting back into the swing of things. Last year’s seventh overall pick led off the game with a homer for the second time in the past three contests, something that is becoming a habit since his promotion to Triple-A. Wetherholt has gone deep eight times in 24 games for the Redbirds after slugging seven long balls in 62 contests for Double-A Springfield. The West Virginia product has a 1.042 OPS at Triple-A and a .936 mark for the season.”
“Just a month after he was selected seventh overall in the Draft, Arquette drilled his first pro homer for High-A Beloit. The Oregon State product and native of Hawaii went the opposite way in the opening frame to continue his strong start. Arquette has reached safely in all eight games, while collecting a hit in seven of them with five RBIs.”
“After ending a long home run drought with a pair of dingers on Thursday night, Waldschmidt left the yard again for Double-A Amarillo to highlight a second consecutive three-hit night. In addition to his two-run jack, the 22-year-old singled twice, scored four runs and swiped a pair of bases while reaching safely five times. Waldschmidt owns a solid .851 OPS and has driven in 66 runs during his first full-season campaign.”
“Mack kicked off August with a four-hit contest before slipping into a 1-for-25 stretch, which he snapped with … another four-hit night. The 22-year-old has spent most of this season with Triple-A Jacksonville, totaling 25 extra-base hits, 10 roundtrippers and 34 RBIs in 77 games.”
“Velazquez has come out swinging during his first three games for Double-A Akron, punctuated by his third multihomer game of the season. The 20-year-old’s first two Double-A long balls highlighted a three-XBH, four-RBI night that left him six-for-12 in his first three games for the RubberDucks. Velazquez has been one of the Minors’ best hitters during summer slashing .346/.426/.662 with nine homers and twenty-eight RBIs since July first.”
“Santucci put forth another highlight in a first pro season full of them, striking out career-high eleven over five-and-a-third innings for Double-A Binghamton. The Duke product and second-round pick in twenty-twenty-four allowed an unearned run, three hits and walk during eighty-four pitch performance. Santucci has been particularly good since joining Rumble Ponies posting two point seventy-three ERA an oh point ninety-eight WHIP striking out forty over twenty-nine-and-two-thirds innings across six starts.”
These performances are part of ongoing coverage on top prospects across Major League Baseball.
