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Leo De Vries, SS, Athletics: De Vries is doing everything he can to bring a title to Midland. After going 5-for-8 with a home run in Midland's first-round playoff win over Amarillo, De Vries was even better on Sunday. In the championship series opener, De Vries homered twice in Midland's 6-3 win over Springfield. De Vries started the scoring with a solo homer in the first inning. Springfield rallied for three runs in the first two innings. Midland cut the lead to 3-2 with a run in the sixth, but De Vries gave Midland back the lead with a seventh-inning home run. De Vries is hitting .583/.643/1.333 in the postseason. He also hit .383/.420/.851 during September in the regular season.

Kevin McGonigle, SS, Tigers: Erie is one win away from the Eastern League title thanks in part to McGonigle.

McGonigle was 3-for-5 with a triple and a home run on Sunday in Erie's 14-5 win over Binghamton. McGonigle lifted a home run to the left center field power alley in the first inning, driving in two. He followed by whacking a triple to the right field fence in the third inning, scoring on Josue Briceño's RBI single.

He was hit by a pitch in the fifth and singled in the seventh. He stepped to the plate in the eighth needing a double to hit for the cycle, but D'Andre Smith made a sliding catch on his line drive to right field.

Because Erie scored six runs in the ninth, McGonigle got one more chance, but he popped out, which was the first time all day that he hadn't squared up a pitch.

McGonigle is hitting .385/.579/.769 in the postseason with five hits and five walks in 19 plate appearances. He's only struck out twice.

Samuel Basallo, C, Orioles: The Orioles rookie smashed a 420-foot home run to right field on Sunday for his fourth homer of his brief MLB career. Basallo has struck out 22 times in 27 MLB games, but his power has also been quite apparent. Of Basallo's 18 hits, 10 have gone for extra bases. He's hitting .188/.243/.375 while getting plenty of chances to work at catcher.

Ty Johnson, RHP, Rays: Johnson has been one of the better pitchers in the minors over the second half of the season, and that hot streak has carried over to the playoffs. Johnson held Birmingham to four hits and one run in six innings in the Southern League Championship Series opener. He walked one and struck out five. The Biscuits scored two runs in the second, providing just enough runs for Johnson and relievers Alex Cook and Austin Vernon. Montgomery won 2-1 and now needs to win one of the next two games to claim the title. Johnson went 7-6, 2.61 in 110.1 innings this year. He struck out 75 in his final 56.1 innings in the regular season. This was his first playoff start.

JJ Wetherholt, SS/3B, Cardinals: In the final game of Memphis' Triple-A season, Wetherholt went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and his 10th homer in just 44 Triple-A games. It was an excellent end to what's been an outstanding first full pro season for Wetherholt. He hit .314/.416/.562 for Memphis and .306/.421/.510 overall. Wetherholt had 17 home runs and 23 steals (in 26 attempts). He had 47 extra-base hits and finished with almost as many walks (72) as strikeouts (73).

Ryan Ward, OF, Dodgers: Ward's two-homer game on Sept. 18 proved to be the difference, as the veteran Dodgers slugged 35 home runs this year to edge Yankees outfield prospect Spencer Jones by one home run for the MiLB home run crown. The Oklahoma City outfielder has been one of the more consistent sluggers in the minors in recent years. He finished second in the minors last year in homers, as his 34 home runs were six fewer than Deyvison De Los Santos. The 27-year-old now has 150 homers in six MiLB seasons. He hit .290/.380/.557 this year for Oklahoma City. He also led the minors in extra-base hits (73) and total bases (315).

Editor’s Picks

MiLB Players Of The Year: Baseball America selects a MiLB Player of the Year in all 30 organizations. See each team here. 

RoboScout’s Final Rankings: Our favorite robo friend is powering down for the season, but not before one final update to its top 75 hitting prospects and top 50 pitching prospects for 2025. Read more…

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Hendry Mendez, OF, Twins: The 21-year-old Mendez has been traded twice, first by the Brewers to the Phillies in the Oliver Dunn deal in November 2023 and then again at the 2025 trade deadline when the Phillies sent him to the Twins for Harrison Bader. This may prove to be a savvy move by the Twins, as Mendez hit .299/.399/.439 over 118 Double-A games this season while walking more than he struck out.

Mendez shows pristine plate skills, as evidenced by a 9.5% in-zone whiff rate over a 491 plate appearance sample in Double-A this season. He rarely expands the zone and shows above-average exit velocity data in the form of a 104.8 mph 90th percentile EV.

Mendez should make the jump to Triple-A next season and could debut for the Twins at some point next summer at just 22 years old. He needs to add loft to his swing path, but if he can unlock more consistent backspin, he’s likely to make a big jump in our rankings. 

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Guardians RHP Daniel Espino made his anticipated return to the mound over the weekend. J.J. Cooper details it here.

• Giants 1B Bryce Eldridge picked up his first career big league hit on Saturday against the Dodgers, though the Giants remain three games back in the wild card with a week to go.

• Both Trey Yesavage and Connelly Early were roughed up on Sunday.

• Yankees RHP Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz made his Triple-A debut on Saturday, giving up four runs over five innings.

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