There are prospects who can flash the leather, and then there are these guys: the cream of the crop. Now they own some hardware for defensive excellence. Two Top 100 prospects – including baseball's top overall prospect – headlined the nine-player crop of 2024 Minor League Gold Glove Award winners,

MESA, Ariz. -- Angels left-handed pitching prospect Samy Natera Jr. understood why doubters said the things they said, but he made it his mission to prove them wrong. He may be at the early stages of a breakthrough that will silence them permanently. Natera didn’t even start pitching until he

Here are the top performers from the fourth week of AFL action:

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Life as a Minor League reliever has thin margins. Your ERA can be torpedoed by one bad outing. There’s also the obvious caveat that the fewer innings you throw, the less often scouts, evaluators and members of the organization get to see your stuff. But the quickest

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Creed Willems had a chance to play hero, coming to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning and two out, the score tied, 6-6. Instead, he beat one into the ground to end the inning and send Saturday night’s Peoria-Surprise Arizona

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Fall League has never seen a base stealer like Caleb Durbin. The Yankees prospect added another notch to his stolen-base prowess during Salt River's 8-3 win over Mesa at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Saturday afternoon. By virtue of three stolen bases, Durbin

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Here’s something you don’t see every day. A trio of Rangers pitching prospects worked with an Astros catcher to carry a no-hitter into the eighth inning on Friday night at the Peoria Sports Complex. Alas, a single by Luis Lara (MIL No. 17) prevented the Surprise Saguaros

Fans typically buy a sports jersey because of who's wearing it. But in the Minor Leagues, what’s on a jersey can often mean so much more. Teams have a way of making fans part of franchises by bringing local culture into their jersey and theme nights. “It's taking pride in

Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – On June 9, Elijah Pleasants had his best outing of the year with nine strikeouts over six frames of two-run ball. The fact that his landmark outing of 2024 came for the Oakland Ballers of the Pioneer League set the stage for a whirlwind ride. Three days

GLENDALE, Ariz. – One reason why teams send players to the Arizona Fall League is because a decision has to be made about putting them on the 40-man roster or leaving them exposed to December’s Rule 5 Draft. This last stretch of performances, and how a player responds to the

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of the Ben's Biz Beat Newsletter, bringing Minor League Baseball business and culture news to your inbox each and every Thursday. Check out the full newsletter HERE. The following ballpark road trip recap is presented by Wyndham, proud sponsor of Minor League

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The similarities between Nick Kurtz and Jac Caglianone are almost too numerous to recount. Both are left-handed-hitting first basemen with a ton of power. Both played for a big-time Division I program: Kurtz at Wake Forest, Caglianone at Florida. Both made it to the 2023 College World

Leodalis De Vries hasn't completed a full year as a professional yet, but he has already amassed an astounding list of firsts and the “youngest-to” designations in 2024. During Peoria’s 12-5 loss to Surprise on Thursday afternoon at the Peoria Sports Complex, he added another: Youngest player to homer in

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – No tricks here, just a sweet treat for Mets fans. The organization's top-ranked position players, Jett Williams and Drew Gilbert, hammered solo home runs during Arizona Fall League action Thursday afternoon, leading the Scorpions to a 10-1 victory over the Desert Dogs at Scottsdale Stadium. While the

Young girls and their dads made their way to Durham Bulls Athletic Park, but they weren’t there to watch the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate play ball. They arrived at the stadium to watch the All-American Women’s Baseball Classic over the weekend of Oct. 11-13. The tournament was created by Sue Zipay,

MESA, Ariz. – Nick Kurtz's first official home run of the 2024 season came on Feb. 17. More than eight months later, much has changed, but one thing has remained consistent: the 21-year-old can still hammer the baseball. Kurtz teed off on Arizona Fall League homer No. 1 on Wednesday

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Andrew Painter comeback tour continued on Wednesday afternoon. The fourth Arizona Fall League start for the No. 32 prospect in baseball delivered similar results to the Phillies phenom’s previous outing: three scoreless innings, three strikeouts, no walks and one step closer to being ready for a

This fall, for the first time, the majority of Arizona Fall League stadiums are outfitted with Statcast technology. That enables us to peek under the hood and get a better sense of how some of the game’s best prospects are performing on the annual elite prospect circuit. With that in

PEORIA, Ariz. -- When the Padres break spring camp at the Peoria Sports Complex in February, Ethan Salas will be among the Major League group for the second time, an astounding feat considering he’ll be just 18 years old. While it would be a significant development if Salas were to