Christian Moore is a man on fire. Plus, Charlie Condon and Roman Anthony turn in four-hit nights, and the Braves have an electric righty who Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes believes is one of the more under-the-radar pitching prospects in the sport.

Christian Moore, 2B, Angels: The Angels’ first-round pick is showing no signs of being overmatched at Double-A. Moore hit a pair of homers on Wednesday, including a walk-off for Rocket City. He’s off to a hot start and soon could be on his way to the big leagues. Moore went 4-for-5 overall and drove in three runs. With the Angels’ recent tendencies of calling up their first-round picks quickly, it’s not unreasonable to anticipate a major league debut for Moore in 2024.

Charlie Condon, OF, Rockies: The Rockies first-round pick and reigning College Player of the Year made his professional debut Tuesday with High-A Spokane. He wasted little time getting going, notching his first four-hit game on Wednesday, including his first home run as a professional. Condon had four hits–a double, home run and two singles–and finished a triple short of the cycle in his second professional game. The third pick in the draft, Condon will likely move quickly through the minors with the ability to push for a major league role at some point in 2025.

Roman Anthony, OF, Red Sox: A rough opening month to the season has dragged down Anthony’s overall line in 2024. Since May 1, Anthony has hit .276/.375/.513 on the season, and has been scorching hot since July 1. That continued on Wednesday, as Anthony tallied four hits, scored twice and drove in a run. Anthony’s four hits were all singles, which is unusual for the power slugger known for his ability to hit the ball over outfielder’s heads. As a 20-year-old in Double-A, Anthony has been one of the better prospects in the Eastern League.

Eric Bitonti, 3B, Brewers: After hitting .320/.451/.580 in the Arizona Complex League, Bitonti has hit the ground running in Low-A. On Wednesday, Bitonti hit a pair of home runs to run his Low-A total to five homers over seven games. The 2023 third-rounder is showing consistent plus game power at just 18 years old. Bitonti has some swing-and-miss, but he has a low chase rate and shows exceptional exit velocity data for age and level.

Alejandro Rosario, RHP, Rangers: Rosario continues to show some of the best command in the minors, as he went seven innings allowing a pair of runs on three hits and no walks for High-A Hickory. Rosario struck out six Aberdeen hitters in the start, as his three-pitch mix dominated. Rosario sits 96-97 mph on his four-seam fastball with a mid-80s slider with two-plane break and a low-90s changeup with heavy tumble and fade. Rosario has excellent stuff and is learning to execute consistently and effectively.

Jhancarlos Lara, RHP, Braves: Lara might be one of the more underrated pitchers in the minors. On Wednesday, he tossed six hitless, scoreless innings allowing just one walk as he struck out a dozen High-A Greensboro batters. Lara dominated throughout the start, striking out five of the first six batters he faced and eliciting 16 swings and misses. Only Mitch Jebb and Maikol Escotto avoided striking out at least once against Lara. He sits 97-98 mph and touches 100 mph mixing in a hard cut-slider with a changeup. Lara is inconsistent, but when he is on his elite stuff is difficult to handle.

J.D. Scholten’s Remarkable Story

Iowa state rep J.D. Scholten is 44 years old and hadn’t thrown a professional pitch in nearly two decades. So how, exactly, is a state legislator now one of the feel-good stories of professional baseball? Scholten joined From Phenom To The Farm to discuss his improbable return from pro baseball and his recent run in the rotation for the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association.

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Mickey Gasper, C/1B, Red Sox: Rarely do 28-year-old minor league Rule 5 picks make these pages, but Gasper is in the midst of a fairly remarkable season in his first year in the Red Sox system. Gasper is fifth among all qualified MiLB hitters in Weighted Runs Above Average (wRAA) and currently owns a 1.136 OPS in hitter-friendly Triple-A Worcester. He’s showing a bit better bat speed in 2024, rarely misses on pitches in the zone and makes some of the better swing decisions of any hitter in the Red Sox system. Gasper is a doubles machine. Still, he turns 29 in October and it’s a tough defensive profile with just fringy power at best. There’s not a clear path to playing time in Boston, especially considering they went outside the organization to acquire Danny Jansen at the deadline. But it’s worth highlighting a strong individual season and a nice bit of player acquisition and development by the Red Sox to pluck Gasper away from the rival Yankees.