Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon

Prospect Roundup: Games of April 25

Tucker enters Express lane, Bohm goes boom for 'Claws
Kyle Tucker has hit .307/.374/.561 with 28 homers and 103 RBIs in 119 Triple-A games since 2018. (Round Rock Express)
April 26, 2019

Astros OF Kyle Tucker, Triple-A Round Rock: 1-for-3, HR, RBI, R -- It's been a slow start to the season for the second-ranked Astros prospect, but that may be changing. Tucker went deep for the second consecutive game, blasting his fourth home run of the season to right field to give

Astros OF Kyle Tucker, Triple-A Round Rock: 1-for-3, HR, RBI, R -- It's been a slow start to the season for the second-ranked Astros prospect, but that may be changing. Tucker went deep for the second consecutive game, blasting his fourth home run of the season to right field to give the Express the only run they would need. MLB.com's No. 7 overall prospect went deep and doubled during Wednesday's loss, giving him his second multi-hit effort of 2019. Tucker made his Major League debut last season and batted .332/.400/.590 with 54 extra-base hits and a career-high 93 RBIs in 100 games with Triple-A Fresno. The 22-year-old was hitting .095 on April 16 but has gone 7-for-27 since with three homers and three doubles in his last seven contests. Gameday box score

Orioles RHP Hunter Harvey, Double-A Bowie: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K -- It was the start Baltimore and their No. 12 prospect were waiting for. After struggling to a 7.82 ERA in his first three starts, Harvey flashed the form that made him the 22nd overall pick in the 2013 Draft. The 24-year-old issued a walk and nothing more through four innings and didn't yield a hit until Akron's Connor Marabell's leadoff double in the fifth. A wild pitch moved the runner to third with no one out but a flyout and a comebacker to Harvey resulted in a rundown that erased Marabell and the scoring threat. Harvey ended the frame by striking out Logan Ice with his 75th and final pitch. Like Harvey, Akron's Zach Plesac earned a hard-luck no decision after allowing two hits and a walk with seven whiffs over seven scoreless frames. The 24-year-old nephew of former Major Leaguer Dan Plesac extended his scoreless streak to 20 2/3 innings and lowered his ERA to 0.73 in four starts. Gameday box score
Reds 3B Jonathan India, Class A Advanced Daytona: 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBIs, R -- Even though his status as the Tortugas' cleanup hitter doesn't guarantee a first-inning at-bat, the No. 4 Reds prospect obviously enjoys swinging in the opening frame. India went deep for the second consecutive game, slamming a three-run homer to left that accounted for all of Daytona's runs in a 3-2 win over Bradenton. Baseball's 50th-ranked prospect has shaken off a slow start to lift his OPS to a season-high .776, which includes four homers and 10 RBIs through 20 games. India is batting .394/.412/.606 during an eight-game hitting streak which has lifted his average 92 points to .266. Gameday box score
Phillies 1B Alec Bohm, Class A Lakewood: 3-for-4, 2 2B, BB, R -- The Phillies' top prospect continues to show why he merited his selection as third overall pick in last year's Draft. Bohm began the season 1-for-13 but has since blazed a trail through the South Atlantic League, hitting .431/.500/.655 with nine multi-hit efforts in his last 13 games, including his second consecutive three-hit performance. The 22-year-old sandwiched a pair of doubles around a single and a walk to help lift Lakewood past Hickory, 3-1. Bohm hit .252 across three Minor League levels in his professional debut last season. He's off to a .366/.447/.563 start through 20 games in 2019. Gameday box score
Astros J.B. Bukauskas RHP, Double-A Corpus Christi: 4 IP, H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K -- A strong, albeit injury-interrupted, 2018 season had yet to translate this year for the sixth-ranked Astros prospect. Bukauskas entered his fourth start of the campaign with a 19.13 ERA after surrendering 17 earned runs on 16 hits and 12 walks in eight innings over his first three. The numbers provided a start contrast to just how good the 22-year-old was in his club's victory on Thursday. Bukauskas' nine strikeouts eclipsed his previous career high of eight done twice in 2018. The right-hander recorded seven consecutive outs via the whiff against Northwest Arkansas, including all three batters in the second -- when he worked around a two-out double -- before fanning the side the next inning. Gameday box score
Tigers SS Willi Castro, Triple-A Toledo: 4-for-6, 2 R, RBI -- An already strong start to 2019 got better for the No. 7 Tigers prospect, who has hit safely in 16 of 17 games. Castro's first four-hit game of the year and seventh of his career lifted his line to .348/.416/.439 for Toledo, which scored in all but two innings in its 11-7 win against Charlotte. Continuing an early-season theme, all four hits off Castro's bat were singles, giving him 20 compared to three extra-base hits. The 22-year-old has notched five multi-hit efforts, including two in his last three games. Gameday box score
Rays 1B Nate Lowe, Triple-A Durham: 3-for-3, 2B, 3 RBIs, 2 BB, R -- Tampa's No. 8 prospect continues to fill up the stat sheet while knocking on the door to the bigs. Lowe's second three-hit game of the season produced three RBIs to help Durham roll past Louisville, 11-4. The 23-year-old came through with a bases-loaded double that scored three runs during the Bulls' five-run seventh inning. Lowe is batting .328/.468/.607 with 11 extra-base hits and 14 RBIs in his first 18 games of 2019. Gameday box score
Orioles RHP Blaine Knight, Class A Delmarva: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K -- Through four starts, Baltimore's third-round Draft pick last year is showing to be top-flight material. Knight twirled his third consecutive scoreless outing en route to his second victory in Delmarva's 4-3 win over visiting Augusta. The No. 10 O's prospect has surrendered three hits or fewer in each of his starts and extended his scoreless streak to 17 2/3 innings. Knight faced the minimum over four innings, yielding one hit to go along with six strikeouts. Armed with a 3-0 lead entering the fifth, he allowed a leadoff double to Augusta's Frankie Tostado but punched out two of the next three batters to keep them off the scoreboard. The 22-year-old has a 0.58 WHIP and is holding opposing batters to a .118 average while fanning 26 through 20 2/3 innings. Gameday box score
Mets OF Quinn Brodey and 2B Carlos Cortes, Class A Advanced St. Lucie: Brodey - 4-for-4, 2B, 3 RBIs, 3 R, SB, Cortes - 3-for-5, HR, 3B, 4 RBIs, R -- A wild, back-and-forth affair ended up in St. Lucie's favor when Cortes slugged a walk-off two-run homer against Florida. The No. 20 Mets prospect added a two-run triple and a single which resulted in his first three-hit game of the season. His four RBIs equaled a career high set last Aug. 10 with Class A Short Season Brooklyn. Brodey's four-hit performance was the first of his career and lifted his line to .355/.384/.474 to go along with 16 RBIs, the second-highest total in the Florida State League. The 29th-ranked Mets prospect opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first, lofted a sacrifice fly in the fifth and tripled home a run in the seventh. Gameday box score

Astros RHP Enoli Paredes, Class A Advanced Fayetteville: 5 1/3 IP 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K -- Houston's No. 28 prospect continued to roll through Carolina League batters in his second start following two relief outings. Paredes struck out the side in the fourth and worked into the sixth for the first time since last July 4 with Class A Quad Cities en route to his first victory of the year. In two starts with the Woodpeckers, the 23-year-old has allowed one run and four hits while striking out 16 in 9 1/3 innings. Paredes is holding opponents to a .115 average, although he has issued 11 walks in 15 1/3 frames. Astros 10th-ranked prospect Seth Beer clubbed a two-run homer, his fourth of the year. Gameday box score
Rockies SS Brendan Rodgers, Triple-A Albuquerque: 3-for-5, 3B, 2B, 3 R -- It didn't result in a win for the Isotopes, but the Rockies' top prospect continued his solid start to 2019. Rodgers followed up a two-hit performance on Wednesday with three more safeties Thursday, including his fifth double and first triple of the season. He added a single and crossed home three times, giving him eight runs scored in his last five games. After struggling to a .232/.264/.290 showing in his first taste of Triple-A in 2018, Rodgers is batting .288/.369/.507 with nine extra-base hits through his first 19 games this year. Rockies No. 9 prospect Sam Hilliard smoked his seventh homer and fifth in the last six games. The 25-year-old added a double and a walk to finish with three hits and three RBIs for Albuquerque. Gameday box score
Padres DH Jacob Scavuzzo, Triple-A El Paso: 2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, BB -- Make it eight homers and four in two games for the 25-year-old, whose second round-tripper on Thursday snapped a ninth-inning tie. Scavuzzo has appeared in 12 games for the Chihuahuas and amassed 12 hits, eight of which have left the yard. The former Dodgers prospect is coming off a career-high 26-home run season with Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City. His two-homer performance comes one night after he went yard twice and drove in a career-high tying six runs in El Paso's win. Gameday box score

Michael Avallone is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @MavalloneMiLB.