Around the Minors: The week of Sept. 12

Sept. 12

What Brown can do for you
The game may not have gone his team's way, but Dasan Brown made his presence felt in the Northwest League Finals opener.

The No. 30 Blue Jays prospect led off the game with a homer and added another in his next at-bat during High-A Vancouver's 10-3 loss to Eugene at PK Park. It was the first multihomer game as a professional for Brown, who went deep six times in 307 at-bats during the regular season, twice for the Canadians.

A native of Canada, the 20-year-old was the 88th overall pick in the 2019 Draft but struggled with consistency in his first two seasons. After batting .222 and .212 in 65 games in 2019 and 2021, Brown turned a corner this year. He finished the regular season with a .283/.383/.420 slash line, 28 extra-base hits, 24 stolen bases and 65 runs scored in 84 contests across three Minor League levels.

He saved his best for last, batting .298 with an .803 OPS in 40 games after his promotion to Vancouver in July.

Another glistening Emerald
There was plenty of offense to go around, but Luis Matos more than did his part in the Northwest League Finals opener.

The No. 3 Giants prospect crushed a two-run double and finished with three hits to help power High-A Eugene to a 10-3 win over visiting Vancouver. Matos scored twice and also stole a base.

Having already singled twice earlier in the contest, the 20-year-old gave the Emeralds a cushion in the sixth inning. Matos crushed a long fly to center that one-hopped the wall and drove home a pair to increase the lead to 9-2.

The performance continued a strong stretch of offense for the Venezuela native, who got off to a horrific start, which included a month-long stay on the injured list. Matos entered August slashing .178/.257/.344, but found his groove, batting .297 with an .826 OPS, four homers and 20 RBIs in 23 games.

The week that was
As the Minor League season races toward the finish line, the postseason picture gained a little more clarity ... with plenty of intrigue to come. It took six pitchers, but Single-A Fayetteville twirled the second no-hitter in franchise history on the same night Double-A Somerset did the same, albeit in seven innings. Speaking of Patriots, or at least former ones, Anthony Volpe made quite an impression during his first week in Triple-A while fellow Yankees prospect Jasson Dominguez continued his ascension with his first multihomer game. Brewers prospect Wes Clarke took things one step further while a pair of Minor League veterans tried to outdistance each other in the same game. Take a look back at all the Minors had to offer last week.