Weekly Risers: Plaz Keeps Doing Damage, Albertus Hits His Stride in Kansas City
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.
Plaz Turns the Final Month Into an Audition
Axiel Plaz, the Pirates' #597 prospect, went 9-for-21 this week at High-A Greensboro with three home runs, eight RBI, five walks, and only three strikeouts. That walk-to-strikeout ratio is a notable wrinkle for a profile that carries swing-and-miss concerns: the 21-year-old right-handed catcher posted a contact rate of 74 percent on the season and a 50.9 percent swing rate that leans aggressive, so a week where he both punished mistakes and laid off pitches outside his zone changes how you read the underlying trend.
Over the last 30 days at Greensboro, Plaz is slashing .329/.414/.697 with eight home runs, 18 RBI, a 9.2 percent walk rate, and only a 16.1 percent strikeout rate across 87 plate appearances. His contact rate during that window has ticked up to 78.9 percent while the swing rate has pulled back to 47.7 percent, both modest but meaningful moves in the right direction. The season line of .305/.389/.513 with 18 home runs and 74 RBI through 412 plate appearances at High-A before his 22nd birthday is already strong for a catcher the report frames as a bench-ceiling profile with 50 hit and 55 power grades. The power has always been the carrying tool; what the last month has added is evidence that the contact refinement is real enough to survive a full-season sample, not just a hot week. The bench projection still fits the defensive profile, but if Plaz keeps posting strikeout rates in the mid-teens with this power output, the ceiling conversation becomes more interesting.
Quick Hits
- Alexander Albertus, SS, White Sox (A, Kannapolis) · #750 · Went 13-for-23 with three doubles, a homer, nine RBI, a walk, and only two strikeouts. That contact rate over the week fits the broader trend: on the season, the 21-year-old switch-hitter has a 78 percent contact rate and a 14.6 percent walk rate across 363 combined plate appearances, a discipline profile that is the clear carrying tool alongside a 55 hit grade. Over the last 30 days he is slashing .354/.422/.494 with a 10.9 percent walk rate and only a 16.3 percent strikeout rate in 92 plate appearances, contact rates well above his season norms. The power grade sits at 45 and the projection is utility infielder, but the approach and hit tool are doing what they need to do against full-season competition.
- Hayden Mullins, LHP, Red Sox (AA, Portland) · #685 · Struck out 10 over 5.2 innings, allowing one hit and no runs while walking one. Over the last 30 days at Portland, Mullins has been the best version of himself: 0.87 ERA, 35.6 percent strikeout rate, and a 50.6 percent strike rate across 20.2 innings, with 31 strikeouts in that stretch and zero home runs allowed. The season ERA sits at 4.12 with a 33.5 percent strikeout rate across 89.2 combined innings, which is already the most productive trait in a profile with a 55 slider, 40 command grade, and a bullpen projection. When the slider is working and the walk rate is behaving, the left-hander is a genuinely difficult out. Four starts in a row at Double-A with an ERA under one makes that hard to dismiss.
- Jesus Baez, SS, Cardinals (AA, Springfield) · #407 · Drove in seven on 11 hits, including two home runs, across 25 plate appearances, with a walk and five strikeouts. That is his 23rd homer at Double-A alone this season, part of a combined line of .316/.353/.674 with 23 home runs and 62 RBI in 235 plate appearances since arriving at Springfield. Over the last 30 days the 21-year-old is slashing .376/.404/.694 with eight home runs and 26 RBI in 94 plate appearances, a 16.0 percent strikeout rate, and a contact rate of 75.3 percent. The 60 raw power grade is showing up louder than almost anyone in the minor leagues this month. Walk rate is thin at 4.3 percent, which is the honest part of the profile, but pitchers are not getting him out cleanly either.
- Robert Calaz, OF, Rockies (A+, Spokane) · #460 · Four doubles and two home runs among his seven hits across 20 plate appearances, adding four RBI and two walks. The week was the most concentrated version of a recent stretch that has been genuinely eye-opening: over the last 30 days, the 20-year-old right fielder is slashing .391/.451/.859 with eight home runs and six doubles in 71 plate appearances, a contact rate of 72.3 percent and a swing rate that dropped to 41.9 percent from his season mark of 49.6 percent. The season line of .237/.312/.396 reflects the underlying contact concerns and a 30.5 percent strikeout rate that goes hand-in-hand with a 66 percent full-season contact rate, but the last month looks different. The 55 power grade is doing its work; the question is whether the swing rate pullback is sustainable or just a hot stretch.
- Roc Riggio, 2B, Rockies (AAA, Albuquerque) · #505 · Nine hits, three doubles, two home runs, five RBI, two walks, and six strikeouts across 22 plate appearances. Riggio was promoted from Double-A Hartford to Albuquerque in August and has 20 combined home runs on the season across both levels, with a .260/.366/.491 slash and a 14.1 percent walk rate in 462 plate appearances. The 24-year-old left-handed hitter carries 55 raw power and 15.3 percent walk rate at the Double-A level; the transition to altitude has kept the damage coming even if the contact rate at Triple-A has dipped. His season at Hartford was already a reasonable argument for the second-division projection; the power following him to Albuquerque is the next piece of evidence.
- Aaron Walton, OF, Guardians (AA, Akron) · #751 · Seven hits, two doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, five walks, and a hit by pitch across 24 plate appearances. The 22-year-old outfielder has 22 home runs and 31 stolen bases between High-A and Double-A this season, a genuine power-speed pairing that the 60 speed and 55 power grades project to support. Over the last 30 days at Akron he is slugging .556 with seven home runs in 92 plate appearances. The contact rate is the persistent concern at 69.9 percent and the strikeout rate sits at 26.2 percent on the season, but a week with five walks and only four strikeouts is the zone management the profile needs to flash more consistently.
- Vance Honeycutt, OF, Orioles (AA, Bowie) · #694 · Nine hits, three doubles, two home runs, five RBI, and two walks in 24 plate appearances. Since his promotion to Double-A, the 23-year-old center fielder is slashing .339/.431/.661 with three home runs, seven doubles, and 10 stolen bases across 65 plate appearances. Over the last 30 days at Bowie, he is hitting .323/.405/.662 with four home runs and eight doubles, a 9.5 percent walk rate, and a 23.0 percent strikeout rate. That strikeout rate is a long way from his High-A mark of 42.8 percent, which was the main obstacle to the everyday projection that the 65 field grade and 70 speed support. The contact rate at Double-A has jumped to 78.2 percent over the last 30 days. Whether that holds against a larger Double-A sample is the question, but the tools have always been there and the bat is finally cooperating.
- Liomar Martinez, RHP, Marlins (A+, Beloit) · #789 · Seven innings, two hits, two earned runs, one walk, seven strikeouts. The week fit neatly inside one of the better recent stretches by any starting pitcher on this list: over the last 30 days, Martinez has a 1.90 ERA, a 36.5 percent strikeout rate, and a 0.46 WHIP across 23.2 innings at High-A, with 31 strikeouts and only five walks. The season strikeout rate of 33.0 percent across 102.1 innings is the real headline for a 21-year-old right-hander projected as a long reliever with a 55 curve grade. The walk rate and home-run numbers are what hold the projection back, but four outings in a row where neither has been a problem is worth tracking for a pitcher with this much swing-and-miss at his age.
- Yordany De Los Santos, SS, Pirates (A+, Greensboro) · #598 · Nine hits, a double, two home runs, three RBI, and four walks across 25 plate appearances. The 21-year-old shortstop has 45 stolen bases on the season alongside 19 home runs across two levels, a combination that no speed or athleticism grade needs to apologize for. The contact rate on the season is 66.8 percent and the strikeout rate is 28.6 percent, both reflections of an aggressive 52.1 percent swing rate, so the walk total this week was a useful counterpoint. The up-down projection fits the current profile, but the speed-power combination at this level and age gives him a longer runway than the grades alone might suggest.
- DJ Layton, SS, Orioles (A+, Frederick) · #797 · Nine hits, five doubles, six RBI, four walks, and nine strikeouts in 24 plate appearances. The 20-year-old switch-hitter owns 45 stolen bases, an 18.8 percent walk rate, and a .400 on-base percentage across 490 combined plate appearances this season. His 30 hit grade and zero power are the honest floor here, and the 31 percent strikeout rate keeps the contact profile fragile. The five doubles in a week are a welcome sign of barrel improvement for a profile that has leaned heavily on speed and patience to generate value. Baltimore moved him to High-A and the approach has carried over; the bat still has to prove more, but the walks and steals give him a path.
- Ryan Cermak, SS, Rays (A+, Bowling Green) · #937 · Four home runs among his eight hits across 22 plate appearances, driving in eight with two walks and five strikeouts. The 25-year-old has 14 combined home runs in 159 plate appearances across three levels this season, a rate that significantly outpaces the 50 power grade and the bench projection. The 36.5 percent strikeout rate on the season is the issue, and the 57.7 percent contact rate is the underlying reason, but the raw power has been undeniable every time he has been healthy. Last week's Rays Prospect Weekly covered his recent run in detail; the power is very real even if everything else in the profile still carries questions.