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Khal Stephen, RHP, Blue Jays: Stephen may be at a new level, but so far he’s delivering the same results. He threw six scoreless innings for High-A Vancouver on Tuesday while scattering six hits, and his nine strikeouts led all Top 30 pitchers across the minors.

Stephen now owns a 2.25 ERA and 25 strikeouts over 20 innings since Toronto bumped him up to High-A last month. And while he quickly showed he was too advanced for Low-A as a 2024 second-round pick out of Mississippi State, Stephen dominated there, too. Stephen gets after hitters with a mid-90s fastball that has tons of carry, and he shows impressive feel for a deep five-pitch arsenal.

He’s up to No. 4 in the Blue Jays system, and he’s far from the only Toronto success story so far in 2025. High-A Vancouver teammate Arjun Nimmala has catapulted into the Top 100 amid a red-hot start to the year as the youngest regular in the Northwest League. Trey Yesavage, the team’s first-rounder last year, ranks second in the minors with 88 strikeouts over 50.2 innings and has now touched three levels after his recent promotion to Double-A.

There are breakout arms deeper down, too.

Juaron Watts-Brown is also up to Double-A after showing a similar penchant for missing bats. He owns a 35.6% strikeout rate so far this season. The team’s third-round pick in 2024, prep lefty Johnny King, has dominated the Complex so far, and the 18-year-old has received consistently rave reviews dating back to spring training. And as Geoff Pontes noted last week, 21-year-old righty Gage Stanifer is emerging as another arm who has taken a leap.

You can see all the latest updates to the Jays system here. They’re an organization to keep an eye on, especially if they’re still in the thick of the playoff race near the trade deadline.

Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox: The top prospect in baseball had a rude awakening in his major league debut on Monday, misplaying a ball in right field. On Tuesday. Anthony had the chance to play hero. He drove in the first runs of his career on a two-run first inning double, and the Red Sox never relinquished the lead in a 3-1 win over the Rays. Anthony went 1-for-4 on the night, striking out once. Anthony has reached base twice over his first two games and should continue to get the lion’s share of playing time in right field in the interim with Wilyer Abreu on the injured list.

Moises Ballesteros, C, Cubs: Ballesteros is back with Triple-A Iowa after a brief stint in the big leagues. He cooled off in May, but Ballesteros is back on good footing in June. He cracked his second home run of the month on Tuesday in a 2-for-5 showing where he drove in a run and started behind the plate. Fellow Cubs top prospect Owen Caissie also homered in an 8-5 loss. Ballesteros possesses one of the strongest hit tools in the minors with low-effort power that he accesses without needing to sell out for it. The catching is a work in progress, but Ballesteros remains a consummate hitter.

Brice Matthews, SS, Astros: Matthews ranks second in the Astros system and has been an above-average perform in Triple-A this season. He had a banner evening on Tuesday, going 3-for-5 with a home run and a triple while finishing a double short of the cycle. He reached base four times on the night showing off all the tools at his disposal. Matthews has a good blend of power and speed with strong on-base skills. The strikeouts are still concerning, but he's kept his strikeout rate below 30% this season. It's possible Matthews makes his big league debut later this summer.

Luis Morales, RHP, Athletics: For the first time in years, the A's have a glut of talented upper-minors pitching prospects. Morales is chief among them. After an excellent start to the season with Double-A Midland, Morales has continued to find success with Triple-A Las Vegas. Navigating the Pacific Coast League and Las Vegas in particular is no easy task. On Tuesday night, Morales showed he’s up for the challenge, as he allowed two runs over five innings on four hits, no walks, while striking out seven. He needed just 66 pitches to get through five innings, as he capped off the efficient outing with a win. Morales has a plus fastball sitting in the mid 90s and a nasty slider that generates a heavy dose of swing and miss.

Jonah Tong, RHP, Mets: Tong has been one of baseball's standout pitching prospects over the early point of the season. On Tuesday, the Mets righty dazzled once again as he held Double-A Richmond to one run on four hits and two walks over 5.2 innings. Tong struck out eight as he took over the minor league lead in strikeouts from Blue Jays RHP Trey Yesavage. Tong’s riding four-seam fastball and his improved changeup have elevated his game to another level in 2025.

Editor’s Picks

MLB Draft Chat: With less than a month to go until the draft, Carlos Collazo answers your questions today at 2 p.m. ET. Read more…

Duke Coaching Profile: There’s another high-profile college head coaching job open in the ACC. Here are candidates to replace Chris Pollard. Read more…

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Yhoiker Fajardo, RHP, Red Sox: The Red Sox acquired Fajardo for Cam Booser in a December trade with the White Sox. After sitting more low-to-mid 90s in the spring, he has found another gear with the FCL Red Sox this season. He was sitting 95-97 mph on Friday with two fastball shapes, a gyro slider and a kick changeup. It’s an interesting mix, and Fajardo has gotten results. In his stateside debut, Fajardo has made five appearances, pitching to a 0.55 ERA. Over 16.1 innings, he’s struck out 18 batters to four walks and has yet to allow a home run. Fajardo has a chance to debut with Low-A Salem this summer and is a name to keep an eye on in a deep Red Sox system.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Red Sox lefty Payton Tolle struck out eight more batters over five innings yesterday. The 2024 second-round pick now has 70 strikeouts in 43.2 innings.

• Freshly minted Top 100 Prospect Eduardo Quintero stole four bases yesterday for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga.

• Cardinals OF Joshua Baez continued his resurgence, homering twice yesterday for Double-A Springfield. He was joined by Angels prospect Gabriel Davalillo and A’s catcher Daniel Susac in the two-homer club from Tuesday’s slate.

• Charlie Condon went 4-for-5 yesterday for High-A Spokane. He hasn’t hit for a ton of power yet as he works his way back from a wrist injury, but he’s still up to .373/.506/.522 line and 178 wRC+ through 18 games at the level.

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