Owen Ayers, C, Cubs: One of the top breakout prospects of the first half is getting a chance to prove himself at Triple-A in the second half. The Cubs promoted their 25-year-old catcher from Double-A Knoxville to Triple-A Iowa. The switch-hitter is playing for his third affiliate of the season after opening the year at High-A South Bend. Ayers, who is up to No. 17 in the Cubs' system, has batted .315/.427/.634 with 22 home runs and 50 walks through 76 games. His 1.061 OPS ranked fourth in the full-season minors in the first half.

George Lombard Jr., SS, Yankees: Lombard went on the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre injured list on June 18 with sprained fingers in his glove hand. On Monday, the Top 100 shortstop reported to the Rookie-level Florida Complex League to begin a rehab assignment.

Playing the FCL Phillies, Lombard went 1-for-2 with a home run and a walk. He also registered a caught stealing. On the season, the Yankees' top prospect is batting .260/.390/.460 with nine homers across three levels.

Juneiker Caceres, OF, Guardians: At the conclusion of the first half, the Guardians announced a series of prospect promotions. The most prominent involved Caceres, an 18-year-old right fielder who moves from Low-A Hill City to High-A Lake County.

Caceres, who ranks 93rd in the Top 100 Prospects list, batted .320/.418/.538 with 10 home runs and seven stolen bases in 52 games. He led the Carolina League in batting and ranked second with a .956 OPS.

Four other Top 30 Prospects in the Guardians' organization also receive promotions.

Cleveland promoted three players from High-A Lake County to Double-A Akron: outfielder Aaron Walton, shortstop Dean Curley and first baseman Nolan Schubart. All three were drafted out of college last year, and this year they are the Captains' top three players in terms of games played.

The Guardians also promoted 22-year-old outfielder Alfonsin Rosario from Double-A to Triple-A. Cleveland acquired Rosario from the Cubs when they traded Eli Morgan in November 2024.

Giants Duo Reaches Double-A: On Monday, the Giants announced second-half promotions for their two prospects who participated in the Futures Game. Both center fielder Dakota Jordan and shortstop Gavin Kilen—ranked eighth and ninth, respectively, in the San Francisco system—are changing coasts as they head from High-A Eugene to Double-A Richmond.

The Giants drafted Jordan out of Mississippi State in the fourth round in 2024. This year the 23-year-old batted .290/.346/.533 with 18 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 81 games. Jordan led the Northwest League in homers, as well, with 41 extra-base hits and 66 RBIs.

Kilen batted .282/.350/.462 with nine homers in 78 games. San Francisco drafted him out of Tennessee with the 13th overall pick in 2025. He led the NWL with 27 doubles and ranked among the leaders with 88 hits and 37 extra-base hits.

Xavier Neyens, 3B, Astros: The Monday of MLB all-star week is typically when news breaks about Futures Game participants being promoted one minor league level. This year is no exception, and one of the most notable initial promotions is Neyens.

The Astros are promoting the 19-year-old from Low-A Fayetteville to High-A Asheville. Houston drafted Neyens 21st overall last year out of Mount Vernon High in Washington. This year, he led the Carolina League with 79 walks in the first half while batting .240/.449/.462 with 14 home runs and 16 stolen bases in 68 games.

Neyens, who ranks first in the Astros' system and is up to No. 92 in the Top 100, is moving to a home park in Asheville that significantly boosts lefthanded power. Between 2022 and 2024, lefthanded batters hit about 80% more homers in the Tourists' home games than they did road games.

Editor’s Picks

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Each day, we’ll pick a prospect that has our attention.

Angeibel Gomez, OF, Royals & Ricki Moneys, SS, Brewers: Royals outfielder Angeibel Gomez sits in first place now for RoboScout DSL hitters, passing the idle Padres 16-year-old outfielder Ricardo De La Paz. The 17-year-old has four home runs, 10 stolen bases, and a 146 wRC+ but it’s the underlying metrics that really have us excited. His contact rate and in-zone contact rate are both plus and his 105.4 mph 90th percentile exit velocity (with a 111 mph max exit velocity) is the fourth-highest 90th percentile exit velocity for the level among hitters 17 or younger with at least 40 plate appearances. With a 25% barrel rate—and 25% groundball rate—it’s clear that he’s not hitting his hardest balls into the ground. Oh, add in plus swing decisions, and you have a 130 HIT+ and the top prospect in the DSL.

A hitter, 17-years-old or younger, with at least 40 plate appearances and a higher 90th percentile exit velocity than Gomez, is our second-ranked hitter, Brewers infielder Ricki Moneys who has a 106.3 mph 90th EV and a 111 mph maximum exit velocity—and with a barrel rate of 28% and groundball rate of 33%—Moneys is cashing in his best swings at ideal angles. Although his swing decisions are more above-average than plus, his contact rates are “only” average.

Here is the Statcast data compared to Giants shortstop Josuar Gonzalez last year in the DSL when he was a 17-year-old.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Cardinals pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje is set to reach Triple-A after the break.

• A’s outfielder Darwing Ozuna went 3-for-4 Monday in the Dominican Summer League. The 18-year-old is repeating the left to much better success, hitting .333 with a .871 OPS and some of the better exit velocities in the A’s system, though he struggles to lift a lot of his hard-hit balls.

• Phillies shortstop Francisco Renteria homered and doubled Monday in the DSL. He’s one of the top prospects on the circuit.

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