The Weekend Round-up: Rodriguez Stays Hot and Adds 20th Homer, Sloan Fans 11 in Five
By Morgan Davis ·
Rainiel Rodriguez: 7 Hits, 2 Homers, 19 Years Old
Rainiel Rodriguez went 7-for-10 with two home runs, two doubles, and four RBI across the weekend at Double-A Springfield, touching the 20-homer mark in the process and adding yet another data point to what has become the most compelling offensive case from a teenager in the Cardinals system in years. The 19-year-old catcher is ranked second in his org and 17th overall, and the performance fits a month-long pattern bordering on absurd: over his last 30 days at Double-A he has hit with eight home runs, 13 doubles, and 20 RBI in 96 plate appearances, posting a contact rate of 81.5 percent while swinging at a rate above 55 percent. That is an aggressive hitter who is also making contact, not a hitter getting squeezed into a patient approach. For the season combined across High-A and Double-A, he sits at 21 home runs, 29 doubles, and 72 RBI in 458 plate appearances, all before his 20th birthday.
The scouting file grades the hit tool at 50 and the power at 60, projecting a second-division regular with real offensive upside if the receiving and blocking catch up to the bat. The concern has always been swing length and what advanced velocity does to his aggressive damage intent. None of that was visible this weekend. Seven hits in 10 at-bats, no strikeouts, and two balls that left the yard show a hitter operating well within his own approach rather than fighting it. The defensive questions behind the plate remain legitimate, and those will determine whether he settles at catcher or has to clear a higher offensive bar at a different position. But with 21 home runs, a 9.1 percent walk rate, and a strikeout rate that has held under 20 percent at Double-A as a 19-year-old, the bat is already doing more than a second-division projection requires. St. Louis has to be having a very specific kind of internal conversation right now.
Quick Hits
Ryan Sloan, RHP, Mariners (AA, North Little Rock) · #9 · Five innings, one hit, one earned run, zero walks, and 11 strikeouts. The walk column is where Sloan truly distinguishes himself; over his last 30 days at Double-A he has issued just two walks in 24.1 innings with a 54.4 percent strike rate, and his season walk rate sits at 4.0 percent of batters faced. The fastball sits 95-to-97 with above-average command, and 19 whiffs on 69 pitches Sunday tells you the stuff is playing up in a full rotation look. He is the ninth-ranked prospect overall, and the ceiling conversation has always sat somewhere around a No. 3 or 4 starter; this outing is the argument for the high end of that band.
Walker Jenkins, OF, Twins (AAA, St. Paul) · #14 · Went 6-for-15 with two homers, four walks, and just one strikeout across the three games. Over the last 30 days at Triple-A, Jenkins has seven home runs, 15 walks, and 18 strikeouts in 102 plate appearances, with a contact rate that has climbed to 81.9 percent. He is an all-star projection in center field with 60 grades across hit, power, and speed, and the current Triple-A numbers back up every part of that evaluation. Thirteen combined home runs this season across levels, 16 stolen bases, and a walk rate near 15 percent at St. Paul. The question of when Minnesota calls is becoming more pressing by the weekend.
Ralphy Velazquez, 1B, Guardians (AAA, Columbus) · #43 · Three home runs and six RBI in 13 plate appearances, with two walks against two strikeouts. His last 30 days at Columbus have been something else entirely: 16 home runs, 32 RBI, and a 71.2 percent contact rate in 100 plate appearances, with a swing rate above 55 percent. The power grade sits at 60 and the hit at 55, projecting an everyday first baseman, and the production is already running ahead of that. Twenty-seven combined home runs on the season in 468 plate appearances at ages 21 across Double-A and Triple-A. If Cleveland needs a first base bat at some point this fall, Velazquez has made the choice uncomplicated.
Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Orioles (A+, Frederick) · #162 · 5.1 innings, no hits, no earned runs, three walks, and eight strikeouts, generating 17 whiffs on 89 pitches. Over his last 30 days he has a 1.42 ERA across 19 innings at High-A with 25 strikeouts and a 36.9 percent whiff rate. The fastball grades 60 and touches 99, the cutter is another 60, and a no-hit outing in 5.1 innings with eight punch-outs shows what those two pitches can produce when the delivery is on time. The full-season ERA of 4.22 tells you command is still the gap between here and a mid-rotation projection; this weekend was what the ceiling looks like when everything connects.
Tyler Bremner, RHP, Angels (AA, Madison) · #110 · Six innings, two hits, zero runs, one walk, eight strikeouts, with 13 whiffs on 84 pitches. The changeup grades 70 and is already a legitimate major-league offering, and when the fastball sits 95-to-98 alongside it, the profile looks like a potential No. 2 starter. His Double-A ERA sits at 4.20 with a 32.8 percent strikeout rate, but the slider inconsistency is the reason those numbers are not cleaner; this outing featured none of the mid-zone slider mistakes that have cost him elsewhere this season.
James Tibbs III, RF, Dodgers (AAA, Oklahoma City) · #313 · Four hits, a double, a homer, two RBI, and five walks against two strikeouts across 14 plate appearances. Over his last 30 days at Triple-A he is hitting with six home runs, six doubles, 22 RBI, and a 17.9 percent walk rate in 117 plate appearances, with strikeouts dropping to 14.5 percent in that stretch. The scouting report grades him with a 55 hit and 55 power, projecting an everyday left fielder; the on-base skills and power combination at Triple-A this month are outperforming that conservative frame. He has 27 home runs and 94 RBI in 537 plate appearances on the season at age 23.
Josuar Gonzalez, SS, Giants (A, San Jose) · #18 · Six hits in 12 plate appearances with a double, three walks, and one strikeout. He is 18 years old at Low-A and hitting at a .379 clip over his last 30 days at San Jose with a 15.2 percent walk rate and 18.1 percent strikeout rate. The grades tell you what Giants scouts see: 65 athleticism, 65 field, 70 speed, and a 55 hit tool with advanced barrel instincts from both sides of the plate. Forty-nine RBI and 15 stolen bases in 51 combined games this season; the contact and strike-zone approach are already ahead of where most teenagers operate at this level.
Bryce Mayer, RHP, Astros (AAA, Sugar Land) · #370 · 5.1 innings, two hits, zero runs, one walk, seven strikeouts, with 12 whiffs on 83 pitches. Over his last 30 days at Triple-A he has a 2.49 ERA in 25.1 innings with a 5.2 percent walk rate, a meaningful drop from his season average of 11.3 percent. The curveball grades 55 and has been the secondary generating the most swing-and-miss when he keeps the fastball elevated. His combined ERA across Double-A and Triple-A is 2.92, which has outrun his back-end starter projection for most of the summer.
Aidan Smith, OF, Mets (A+, Brooklyn) · #292 · Five hits, a homer, two RBI, three walks, and three strikeouts across 12 plate appearances. Over his last 30 days at Brooklyn he has eight home runs and 16 walks in 103 plate appearances, with a 15.5 percent walk rate and a 31.1 percent strikeout rate. The swing-and-miss is the real tension in the profile: the power grade sits at only 45, the projection is a bench outfielder, and yet he has 15 combined home runs this season across levels at age 22. The on-base approach is legit; whether the contact rate ever catches up to the power output is the central question.