Luis Hernandez, SS, Giants: It has only been four games, but it is easy to see why Hernandez skipped over the Dominican Summer League. The 17-year-old Venezuelan was seen as the most polished player in the 2026 IFA class and was the crown jewel of the Giants’ group. He has now homered in three of the four official games he has played and only struck out twice in 19 plate appearances. Hernandez ranks 88th in the Top 100 and is one of a trio of exciting shortstop prospects the Giants have in the low minors of their system.

Nate Snead, RHP, Angels: Snead had the best start of his professional career on Thursday, throwing six perfect innings for High-A Tri-City. The 2025 supplemental third-round pick out of Tennessee only needed 68 pitches to retire 18 hitters, throwing 54 strikes and striking out six. This was only the fifth start of his professional career and the first in which he pitched into the sixth inning. Overall, he has a 3.86 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 23.1 innings with 28 strikeouts. Snead currently ranks 19th in the Angels’ system.

Braden Montgomery, OF, White Sox: Montgomery had the best game since his promotion to Triple-A Charlotte, reaching base four times on Thursday. He went 1-for-9 in his first two games with Charlotte, but broke out Thursday, going 3-for-5 with two doubles and recording his first two RBIs. The 23-year-old was acquired from the Red Sox in December 2024 as part of the return for Garrett Crochet. Montgomery is now hitting .310/.423/.584 for the season and has seen his prospect stock rise, jumping up to 47th in the recently released Top 100. 

Taitn Gray, 1B, Rays: Gray continued his breakout by homering twice as part of Charleston’s 13-7 win over Augusta. Gray also singled twice and drove in six runs overall. He is now hitting .319/.440/.538 with 21 walks compared to 20 strikeouts in his first professional season. The 2025 third-round pick out of Iowa is set to rise considerably when the Rays’ Top 30 is next updated, and he also finds himself knocking on the door of the Top 100. 

Ethan Holliday, SS, Rockies: The Rockies’ shortstop stayed hot, homering for the second consecutive game and recording an extra-base hit for the fifth straight game. Holliday doubled in his first at-bat to left field and then followed that up by flying out to medium depth left field. He walked in his third at-bat and then homered and tripled. He came to the plate with two outs in the ninth, needing a single for the cycle, but grounded out to second after a long at-bat. Holliday is now hitting .277/.421/.590 with six home runs in his first full professional season. He currently ranks 66th in the Top 100.

Editor’s Picks

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Devin Fitz-Gerald, SS/2B, Nationals: After an excellent stint in the Arizona Complex League with the Rangers, Fitz-Gerald’s 2025 season was stopped by an injury in Low-A. Nonetheless, he was dealt to Washington in the MacKenzie Gore trade. Even with just 10 Low-A games under his belt, the Nationals felt confident enough to move him to High-A Wilmington. So far, he’s thriving. He’s doing a strong job making contact and is producing a solid amount of pop in an atmosphere not known for being hitter-friendly. The Nationals have plenty of young infield talent already in the Top 100 with Eli Willits, Ronny Cruz and Seaver King. Is Fitz-Gerald next?

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Recently added to the Top 100, A’s lefthander Wei-En Lin struck out 10 batters and walked zero over six innings against Double-A San Antonio. The 20-year-old lefty lowered his ERA to 1.85 and has 43 strikeouts to just nine walks over 34 innings.

• Red Sox infielder Henry Godbout, a popular preseason breakout pick, has homered four times in his last 10 games.

• Angels righty Dylan Jordan led all Low-A pitchers with 23 whiffs on Thursday. He tossed six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts.

• Tigers righty Malachi Witherspoon wasn’t far behind with 22 whiffs. He punched out 10 batters over five innings and allowed just one run.

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