Think things are slowing down just because the MiLB regular season is ending? Not so fast! Today’s BAPR has updates on 10 standout performers from the weekend, including updates on Roman Anthony, Rhett Lowder & more.

Nick Yorke, 2B, Pirates: Yorke hit his first major league home run on Sunday, as he hit a 412-foot blast off of Reds’ reliever Fernando Cruz. It was Yorke’s first extra-base hit in his six-game stint with the Pirates. Acquired in a prospect challenge trade that send Quinn Priester to the Red Sox, Yorke has showcased his versatility so far, playing second and third base and left field. He’s hitting .273/.304/.409 so far.

Jasson Dominguez, OF, Yankees: While his defense has at times been an adventure in the big leagues, Dominguez has plenty of power, as he showed on Sunday with his second home run of the week. Dominguez’s two-run home run in the second tied the game up, as the Yankees rallied to beat the A’s. Dominguez is hitting .200/.304/.375 in 12 games with the Yankees.

AJ Smith-Shawver, RHP, Braves: Smith-Swawver struck out 10 and walked none in six innings of work in his Triple-A finale for Gwinnett. That was the good news. The bad news was he also gave up five earned runs thanks to four home runs allowed. It continued a late-season trend. Smith-Shawver had 27 strikeouts in his final three starts (over 19 innings), but he also gave up 10 runs thanks to six home runs allowed. Smith-Shawver gave up two home runs with high fastballs (one to Dane Myers and one to Graham Pauley) and two on changeups (one to Myers and one to Pauley). Smith-Shawver finishes the season with a 3-7, 4.86 season. He struck out 104 in 87 innings, but he also gave up 20 home runs.

Graham Pauley, 3B, Marlins: It’s been a rough and eventful year for Pauley. He began the season by making the Padres’ Opening Day roster. He was soon sent back to Triple-A El Paso, and he ended up struggling to come close to matching his impressive 2023 season offensively. The Marlins acquired him in the Tanner Scott trade and sent him back to Double-A, where he’d finished 2023. He struggled at Pensacola as well, but he did get a promotion to Triple-A Jacksonville last week. He finished the year with one of his best games of the season, hitting a pair of home runs against Gwinnett in the season finale. Pauley finished the year with 14 home runs, hitting .229/.333/.393 between three stops over two levels of the minors.

Henry Bolte, OF, Athletics: Bolte picked a perfect time for a power surge. After hitting four home runs in 54 regular season games with the A’s Double-A affiliate in Midland, Bolte homered twice in the first game of the RockHounds’ Texas League championship series against the Arkansas Travelers as Midland won 10-8. Bolte’s first home run helped Midland start to crawl back from a four-run deficit in the first two innings. His second helped cap the RockHounds’ scoring, which proved important as Arkansas scored three runs in the top of the ninth, but failed to complete the comeback. Midland will now travel to Arkansas needing to win on either Tuesday or Wednesday to clinch the league title.

Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox: Anthony went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double and a steal in the penultimate game of Triple-A Worcester’s season. Anthony has a six-game hitting streak and has a hit in 16 of his 17 games this month. That undersells how good he’s been. Anthony reached based all five times on Friday (thanks to a single and four walks) so he’s reached base in eight of his past nine plate appearances. Anthony also has 20 walks compared to 17 strikeouts this month which explains his .530 on-base percentage this month. He’s hitting .293/.397/.501 overall this year and .352/.469/.531 since his promotion to Triple-A Portland.

Luisangel Acuña, SS, Mets: When Acuña was in Triple-A this year, he struggled to hit for power. It’s not that he couldn’t hit the ball hard, but he struggled the hit the ball hard in the air. He hit seven home runs and 33 extra-base hits overall in 131 Triple-A games. But he’s seemed to become a new man in his promotion to the majors. Acuña doubled and homered on Saturday. It was his third home run in just eight MLB games. He now has six extra-base hits. Acuña is hitting .385/.407/.885 in the majors.

Rhett Lowder, RHP, Reds: Lowder shut out the Pirates for five innings, which is the third time in five MLB starts that he has worked five or more scoreless innings. Lowder hasn’t struck out a ton of batters (four on Saturday and 15 in 25.2 innings overall), but he is avoiding hard contact. Lowder has yet to allow a home run in the majors, and has allowed only two doubles and no triples. Lowder is 2-2, 1.40 in five starts.

Blade Tidwell, RHP, Mets: In his final start of the Triple-A season, Syracuse righthander Blade Tidwell struck out 10 while allowing three hits and two runs in six innings of work. It was an excellent finish to a season that seemed to be derailed by his promotion to Triple-A. Tidwell was 2-4, 2.41 with a .218 opponents average in seven outings with Double-A Binghamton. But he needed this last start to get his Triple-A ERA below 6.00 to 5.91. Tidwell walked 53 in 77 Triple-A innings, but he did show better control in September. Tidwell walked seven and struck out 19 in 16.2 innings this month, and he allowed two runs in 11 innings over his final two starts.

Dalton Rushing, C, Dodgers: Rushing went 3-for-6 with his 25th and 26th home runs of the season on Saturday for Triple-A Oklahoma City. Rushing’s first home run of the night was a Titanic blast, as he exited the stadium with an estimated 461-foot drive to right field. It was Rushing’s longest home run in Triple-A this year and is one of the 40 longest home runs in Triple-A this year. The Dodgers have started sliding Rushing back behind the plate more regularly. In August he caught only one game after his promotion to Triple-A. He’s caught in four of his last 10 games. Rushing is hitting .273/.384/.516 overall.

RoboScout’s Top Prospects At The Upper Levels

RoboScout is close to powering down for the offseason, but first it returns with a final look at the upper levels of the minors, including notable performers in the Guardians, Yankees, Rangers and Angels organizations.

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Alan Roden, OF, Blue Jays: Other than Roman Anthony, Roden is arguably the hottest hitter in Triple-A. Roden has a 174 wRC+ and .258 ISO in August and September spanning 173 plate appearances for Buffalo. Roden is showing solid swing decisions, excellent contact and now potentially a bit more pop. His 103 mph 90th percentile exit velocity is 3 mph harder than his mark in 2023. Roden is in the vein of advanced hit tool Jays prospects, like recent callups Spencer Horwitz and Nathan Lukes. Both have shown a knack for getting on base, along with league-average power and even stolen base totals. Roden was our pick for Blue Jays MiLB Player of the Year as well.

In Case You Missed It