Weekly Risers: Johanfran Garcia's Eastern League Week, Bateman and Bitonti Keep Rolling
By Morgan Davis ·
The Weekly Risers column highlights the weekly performances of players outside of our Top 400. We strive to provide context to the performance so you can assess who is on a hot run and who has shifted their projection.
Garcia Earns Eastern League Honors the Hard Way
Johanfran Garcia went 10-for-21 in Portland last week with three home runs, eight RBI, two walks, and only four strikeouts, a contact rate that runs against the grain of a profile with a 61.6 percent season contact mark and a swing rate north of 61 percent. The Eastern League recognized it, naming the 21-year-old catcher Player of the Week after he hit .556 with those three home runs and eight RBI across four games. The raw power has always been the carrying tool here, graded at 55, and when he is hunting mistakes he can lift and pull, the damage shows up loud. The hit tool sits at 45, the projection is bench catcher, and neither of those things has changed. But what the week showed is that Garcia can put together a contact-plus-power stretch against Double-A competition that keeps him in the conversation as something more than organizational depth.
Over the last 30 days at Portland, he is slashing .288/.364/.559 with five home runs and 12 RBI across 66 plate appearances. The walk rate has actually ticked up during that stretch to 9.1 percent, compared to the season mark of 5.4 percent, which matters for a catcher whose path to a big-league bench role depends partly on not needing to be elite at everything. The strikeout rate remains elevated at 31.8 percent over that window, and the swing-and-miss exposure is real enough that better pitching will test him. But 17 home runs through 313 plate appearances at Double-A before his 22nd birthday, combined with a week that prompted a league-wide recognition, at least makes the current ranking feel like a floor rather than a ceiling. How the receiving and mobility hold as he climbs will determine whether the offensive case matters at all, but right now the bat is doing its part.
Quick Hits
Eric Bitonti, 1B, Brewers (A+, Appleton) · #648 · Nine hits, seven doubles, two home runs, and 12 RBI in 27 plate appearances, with four walks against seven strikeouts. The double total was the story: seven in a week from a 20-year-old left-handed hitter with 60 raw power is gap-to-gap output that suggests barrel control beyond pull-side thump. Over the last 30 days, Bitonti is slashing .298/.395/.617 with seven home runs and nine doubles in 114 plate appearances, and his season line of .273/.393/.536 with 24 home runs and 85 RBI in 461 plate appearances at High-A makes the 40 hit tool grade look increasingly conservative. The walk rate of 16.5 percent on the season is a genuine strength for someone with his contact concerns, and his 14.9 percent walk rate over the last 30 days shows that discipline has held up through the hot stretch. The projection is second-division corner infielder; the production is making that look modest.
Carson DeMartini, 3B, Phillies (AA, Reading) · #628 · Eight hits, three doubles, a triple, a home run, and three RBI across 22 plate appearances, with five walks and only two strikeouts. That walk-to-strikeout ratio over the week was the approach the profile needs to show. Over his last 30 days at Reading, the 23-year-old is slashing .304/.473/.589 with a 24.3 percent walk rate and a 23.0 percent strikeout rate in 74 plate appearances, with his swing rate dropping to 36.4 percent during that window; well into selective territory. The season line across 192 combined plate appearances shows 17 stolen bases and a .417 on-base percentage, numbers that don't come from a broken profile. The hit tool grades at 45 and there are legitimate questions about power translation, but the plate discipline has been a consistent separator at Double-A.
Josiah Ragsdale, OF, Cardinals (AA, Springfield) · #851 · Eight hits, two doubles, two home runs, five RBI, and five walks against three strikeouts in 23 plate appearances. The contact rate over the week was sharp, and the walk total continued a season-long theme: Ragsdale carries a 17.2 percent walk rate across 477 combined plate appearances between three stops this year. Since arriving at Double-A Springfield, he is slashing .292/.429/.698 with 12 home runs in 119 plate appearances, a stretch that has pushed the power conversation well past the 50 grade on paper. He has plus speed and 34 stolen bases on the season, so the combination of pop, patience, and legs at Double-A before his 23rd birthday gives the second-division center field projection real legs.
Boston Bateman, LHP, Orioles (A+, Frederick) · #511 · Four innings, one hit, no runs, one walk, and seven strikeouts on 38-of-70 pitches for strikes, with 11 swinging misses. Over his last 30 days, the 20-year-old left-hander has been one of the more dominant arms at the level: a 0.00 ERA, 25 strikeouts, and a 41.7 percent strikeout rate across 14.1 innings in five outings, with a 38.7 percent swinging-miss rate during that stretch. The season line of 3.46 ERA and 114 strikeouts over 83.1 innings at High-A shows the week wasn't a fluke. The fastball sits 94-98, the curveball grades at 60, and the slider has flashed above-average. Command at 45 is the limiting factor, but the stuff is genuine mid-rotation material if the delivery continues to sync up.
Deniel Ortiz, 3B, Cardinals (AA, Springfield) · #647 · Seven hits, two doubles, two home runs, five RBI, and four walks against six strikeouts in 21 plate appearances. The 22-year-old has hit .286/.374/.519 with four home runs over his last 30 days at Springfield, and his season strikeout rate at Double-A sits at just 17.9 percent, which is the profile-shifting number. He carries a 55 power grade and a 45 hit tool, but a K rate that low at Double-A suggests the hit tool may be ahead of the grade. Elite exit velocity backs up the power, and the 15.2 percent walk rate on the season at the level adds another layer. A corner infielder this selective with this much raw damage is worth watching closely.
David Sandlin, RHP, White Sox (AAA, Charlotte) · #449 · Seven innings, two hits, no runs, one walk, and nine strikeouts on 51-of-91 pitches for strikes, with 16 swinging misses. The 25-year-old right-hander's four-seam sits 97-101 and the slider grades at 55, and when those two are working together as they were last week, the swing-and-miss profile is obvious: 16 whiffs over seven innings of two-hit ball. His Triple-A ERA sits at 2.28 through 13 starts in Charlotte, which is the number that matters most given the ugly cup-of-coffee results at the MLB level. The projection is setup reliever, and an outing like this one makes the case that the bullpen path could be a quick one once the organization commits to it.
Jedixson Paez, RHP, Red Sox (AAA, Worcester) · #686 · Five innings, one hit, one run, no walks, and eight strikeouts on 32-of-54 pitches for strikes, with 14 swinging misses. Paez walked zero batters; that command signature is his carrying tool, graded at 55. Over the last 30 days in Worcester, he has a 3.24 ERA, 25 strikeouts, and a 3.1 percent walk rate across 16.2 innings, with 40.5 percent of swings generating misses. The season numbers at Triple-A tell the same story: 38.3 percent strikeout rate, 4.3 percent walk rate in 12.1 innings. The 22-year-old hasn't carried a full Triple-A workload yet, but the efficiency and bat-missing ability are both real. It sounds like the Red Sox may call him up when rosters expand today.
Mairo Martinus, 3B, Dodgers (A+, Midland) · #921 · 3B, Dodgers (A+, Great Lakes) · #921 · Ten hits, one double, two home runs, and six RBI in 24 plate appearances against five strikeouts. Martinus is hitting .318/.353/.542 with 21 home runs across 516 combined plate appearances between Low-A and High-A this year, and his 31 stolen bases add a dimension the 45 power grade didn't promise. The walk rate is essentially nonexistent at 4.1 percent on the season and 1.0 percent over the last 30 days, which caps the projection; the 55 speed and 50 field tool give him a defensive path. A 21-year-old putting up 21 home runs and 31 steals across two levels is producing well beyond the scouting framing, even accounting for the approach concerns.
Liomar Martinez, RHP, Marlins (A+, Beloit) · #967 · 5.2 innings, no hits, no runs, three walks, and eight strikeouts, with nine swinging misses on 42-of-88 pitches for strikes. It was the cleanest outing of his season at Beloit, where the ERA sat at 5.38 before this start. Over the last 30 days, however, there has been a genuine stretch of better baseball: a 2.53 ERA, 31 strikeouts, and a 37.8 percent strikeout rate across four outings. The 21-year-old right-hander has a 94-97 fastball and a curveball graded at 55; when those are working, the swing-and-miss numbers back it up. Command at 45 and a high walk rate have been the recurring problem all year, but the last month suggests some stabilization worth tracking.
Deward Tovar, OF, Rangers (A, Hickory) · #887 · Six hits, one double, two home runs, six RBI, and five walks in 20 plate appearances. Over his last 18 games at Hickory, the 20-year-old left fielder is slashing .339/.451/.661 with five home runs and a 16.9 percent walk rate in 71 plate appearances; a stretch that looks nothing like the 5.4 walks-per-plate-appearance mark he carried into August. The season total of 18 home runs and 78 RBI in 413 plate appearances at Low-A is legitimate production for his age. The hit tool grades at 40 and the contact rate on the season is 63.8 percent, so the swing-and-miss risk is real, but the recent combination of power and patience has the profile looking more interesting than the quad-A projection suggests right now.