Prospect Roundup: Games of May 25

Marlins OF Destin Hood, Triple-A New Orleans: 3-for-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, R -- Hood has to do anything he can to stand out as a 27-year-old outfielder in a system that already features Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna in the Majors. How do four homers in three games sound? The Marlins' No. 29 prospect leads the Minors with eight long balls over his last 11 games, a run that started with a two-homer outburst at home against Salt Lake on May 15. Hood's 12 homers on the season are only three shy of the career-high 15 he hit in 126 games for New Orleans last season, and he's still got plenty of season left to go. The 2008 second-rounder didn't have a truly standout tool entering 2017, but he's turning his power into one and looking to hit his way into something more than just the September callup he received in 2016.

Athletics 3B Matt Chapman, Triple-A Nashville: 2-for-3, HR, RBI, R, BB -- If anyone has been Hood's power equal in the Pacific Coast League of late, it's been the No. 4 A's prospect, who went deep Thursday for the third time in his last four games. Chapman leads the Minors with 11 homers in May and is hitting .284/.375/.739 over 104 plate appearances this month. With April's wrist injury behind him, the 24-year-old third baseman is building on his 36-homer campaign from 2016, and with his impressive defense at the hot corner, there's no reason to think he can't help Oakland in the Majors before the end of the summer, if not sooner.

White Sox RHP Michael Kopech, Double-A Birmingham: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 97 pitches, 59 strikes -- Lucas Giolito stole the White Sox pitching prospect spotlight Thursday night with his no-hitter for Triple-A Charlotte, but one level lower, Kopech's outing also deserves attention. The 21-year-old right-hander continued to miss bats with six strikeouts in five frames and leads the Southern League with a 33.9 percent strikeout rate through 47 1/3 innings. The trouble is his 14.1 percent walk rate is also the highest in the circuit, and he's now walked four or more batters three times in nine starts. Kopech's velocity is becoming the stuff of Minor League legend, and he's got good enough off-speed offerings in his slider and changeup to keep the K's coming. But if he continues to miss the zone with this type of regularity, it becomes less likely that he'll hit his ceiling as a starter and could be looking at more of a dominant role in relief.
Red Sox 3B Michael Chavis, Class A Advanced Salem: 4-for-7, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 3 R, BB, K in doubleheader -- The No. 10 Red Sox prospect began the day with a .348 average and 1.120 OPS. Somehow, both numbers went up after a twin bill against Buies Creek. Through 37 games this season, Chavis is now hitting .360 and ranks second among all Minor Leaguers with a 1.152 OPS. The 2014 first-rounder has admitted he tried to play through most of 2016 with a broken middle finger, but since he's been healthy, he's talked of how a simplified approach has helped him play into his power in his third full season. His 26 extra-base hits and .712 slugging percentage certainly speak to that, and he should expect to see that approach challenged with a move to Double-A Portland at some point this summer.
Tigers RHP Beau Burrows, Class A Advanced Lakeland: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K -- Using its Game Score of 71, this was Burrows' third-best outing through 10 starts with Lakeland this season, yet his ERA still went up. Not to worry, it went from 1.18 to 1.22, which remains the best in the Florida State League. The Tigers' No. 3 prospect has also struck out 56 and walked only 10 through 51 2/3 innings with the Flying Tigers. Burrows enjoyed a solid first full season in 2016 with a 3.15 ERA in 97 innings for Class A West Michigan but didn't miss nearly as many bats with 67 punchouts in 97 frames. The growth he's shown in that department has to be encouraging for Detroit, and the 20-year-old right-hander has the four-pitch mix that should allow him to rack up more K's in 2017. Thursday's career high of nine was just the latest example of how that's possible.