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David Shields, LHP, Royals: With his team's season on the line, Shields stood tall. The Carolina League pitcher of the year took the ball for Low-A Columbia down a game in the best-of-three set. His final start of the season came opposite another talented pitching prospect, Guardians righty Joey Oakie.

For four innings, the pair battled to a one-run draw before both pitchers ran out of gas in what ultimately became a wild fifth inning. Oakie was overpowering, but Shields was fearless. The 2024 second-rounder out of high school in Pittsburgh pounded the strike zone with a three-pitch mix led by a fastball that mostly came in around 89-90 mph and touched just a tick hotter. He backed the fastball with a slurvy breaking ball and solid changeup.

In all, Shields finished with three earned runs allowed over five frames. He struck out four and walked nobody. He threw 52 of his 75 pitches for strikes and got 11 swings and misses before handing the ball to righthander Yimi Presinal.

Entering the season, Shields was among Baseball America's players to watch in the Arizona Complex League. He made just one start at the level before getting bumped to the Carolina League. He finished his first pro season 3-2, 2.38 with 86 strikeouts and just 15 walks over 75.2 innings.

Joey Oakie, RHP, Guardians: Oakie is a polar opposite to Shields. He was Cleveland's third-rounder from 2024 out of high school in Iowa. He spent most of his pro debut in the Arizona Complex League, where he showed outstanding raw stuff—especially as the season neared its end—but command and control that muted its effectiveness at times. When everything is in sync, he has the arsenal to dominate. His three-pitch mix includes a fastball that has peaked at 100 mph, a sweepy slider in the mid 80s and a changeup with a just a tick more velocity than his breaking ball.

Both sides of Oakie's game were on display on Tuesday. He struck out five hitters and got nine whiffs—including a scintillating fourth frame when he struck out the side—all swinging—but also walked a pair and opened his final frame by hitting consecutive batters and then surrendering back-to-back singles that allowed Columbia to re-tie a game it eventually won 15-10.

For the season, Oakie struck out 78 hitters in 59.1 innings but also issued 38 walks, including 15 in 24.1 innings with Lynchburg. There's no questioning Oakie's stuff. Now, he needs to get it in the zone more often.

Konnor Griffin, SS, Pirates: Griffin came through in the clutch on Tuesday, collecting three hits in his professional playoff debut. The No. 1 prospect in baseball batted second and started at shortstop for Double-A Altoona in their Eastern League semifinals tilt with Erie. Griffin found a barrel in his first at-bat, driving the ball to the wall in center field for a double. He would go on to add two more singles and a walk to reach base four times. At 19 years old, Griffin is the youngest player in Double-A Altoona’s 26-year history and could go on to become one of the biggest stars to pass through PNG Field.

Esmerlyn Valdez, OF/1B, Pirates: Valdez set career highs in nearly every statistical category in 2025. He continued to impress on Tuesday, going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, and five RBIs in Altoona's Double-A Eastern League playoff game against Erie. The outfielder hit a solo shot in the second inning off Erie starter Garrett Burhenn, followed by a single that drove in two in the sixth and two-run double in the seventh. Valdez stuffed the box score on Tuesday and combined with teammate Konnor Griffin for six hits total. Valdez has power upside, but is likely an average division regular long term.

Gage Jump, LHP, Athletics: For the first half of the minor league season, Jump found himself among the biggest breakout arms in the sport, and he's still been quite successful (3.64 ERA) upon his promotion to Double-A Midland, albeit in shorter stints as the A's managed his workload. But Jump has ramped back up with an eye on the minor league postseason and on Tuesday delivered a performance reminiscent of his early hot stretch in High-A Lansing. Jump struck out eight batters over 5.2 scoreless innings in an 8-7 win over Amarillo in the first game of their Texas League playoff series. Jump's eight strikeouts were his most in a start since May 25, and his 96 pitches were the most he's thrown all season.

Editor’s Picks

Meet The (Rising) Mets: Baseball America’s Matt Eddy explains how the Mets built one of baseball’s most productive farm systems in 2025. Read more…

Up-Arrow DSL Prospects: On the heels of his Dominican Summer League Top 30 list, Josh Norris is back with five more noteworthy prospects to watch in the future. Read more…

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Sadbiel Delzine, RHP, Red Sox: If he'd qualified, Delzine would be right there with Kendry Chourio and Kevin Defrank in the conversation for the best pitching prospect in the DSL. Alas, an injury limited him to just 9.1 innings in the regular season before he re-emerged during postseason play.

At his best, Delzine showed a loose arm and a projectable body already capable of generating upper-90s velocity with his fastball. He backed it with a nasty curveball in the 79-84 mph range and a slider that came in a few ticks hotter. The heat was there when he returned to the mound, but the command of his pitches and synchronization of his body was a bit off-kilter.

Delzine will be one to follow next summer in the Florida Complex League.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Royals rookie Carter Jensen enjoyed his best day as a big leaguer, blasting his first two career homers in a 3-for-4 showing against the Mariners.

• Brody Hopkins did Brody Hopkins things on Tuesday. The Rays righty threw five shutout innings with seven strikeouts in a playoff win over Double-A Biloxi. He has a 1.27 ERA with 80 strikeouts over his last 63.2 innings and 14 outings.

• Pirates 2B Termarr Johnson went 2-for-4 with two doubles in Altoona’s win over Erie. Johnson is hitting .327/.430/.413 with 25 walks to 34 strikeouts over his last 42 games.

• A’s outfielder Nate Nankil went 4-for-5 with a homer in Midland’s win over Amarillo. Leo De Vries also homered in that game, and has six homers in his last nine games.

• Rays catcher belted two homers for Triple-A Durham.

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