Guardians' Travis Bazzana Bounces Back

Plus: Jasson Dominguez Is Heating Up

It was a very big day for promotions as two Top 100 Prospects got the call to the majors, and a great story also made his MLB debut. Today is also Prospect Hot Sheet day, so you can see which prospects stood out over the past week.

Travis Bazzana (Photo by Eddie Kelly)

Prospect Standouts

Travis Bazzana, 2B, Guardians: After a difficult series last week, No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana looks like he’s rebounding early this week. On Wednesday Bazzana collected two hits, including a hard hit opposite field double, as he reached base three times. Over the first two games of the series Bazzana is 3-for-7 with a walk, a hit by pitch, two runs and a stolen base. He’s hitting .205/.392/.333 in 11 games.

Max Clark, OF, Tigers: High-A West Michigan outfielder Max Clark had his first four-hit day as a pro. Clark doubled and tripled while raising his Whitecaps’ slashline to .319/.384/.432. Clark has yet to hit a home run since his promotion to High-A, but he does have seven doubles and two triples in 17 games with West Michigan.

Bob Seymour, 1B, Rays: For the third time since first baseman Bob Seymour was promoted to Triple-A Durham, Seymour had a two home run game. He lifted an opposite-field home run over the tall Blue Monster in left field in the first inning, and then in the fourth inning he drove a ball 430 feet to right field. Seymour now has 12 home runs in just 30 Triple-A games. He’s hitting .260/.325/.625.

Tink Hence, RHP, Cardinals: Tink Hence the Cardinals No. 2 prospect tossed four scoreless innings on Wednesday. Unfortunately Hence showed a significant velocity dip, sitting 90-92 mph. Despite the decreased velocity, Hence struck out six and only allowed one baserunner to reach in the outing. Typically Hence sits 94-96 mph hitting 98 mph on occasion.

Matt Wilkinson, RHP, Guardians: Affectionately known as Tugboat, Matt Wilkinson keeps chugging along with great results start after start. In a Wednesday afternoon matinee at home, the burly lefthander tossed 5.1 scoreless innings. Despite only sitting 88-90 mph on his fastball, Wilkinson creates a flight plane of approach that drives hitters mad. In the win over Great Lakes, Wilkinson showed three pitches and combined with three relievers to shutout the Loons. Wilkinson is 7-4, 1.84 this year. He leads the minors in ERA, and his 156 strikeouts trails Quinn Mathews by one for the MiLB lead.

Jasson Dominguez, OF, Yankees: It’s been a difficult 2024 season for Jasson Dominguez, as he dealt with multiple stints on the injured list. On Wednesday Dominguez had a quintessential Jasson Dominguez game, hitting a home run and walking twice. This was Dominguez first home run since June, as he’s struggled in the month of August hitting just .154/.233/.282 over ten games. Dominguez is hitting .286/.351/.479 overall in 37 games this year.

Lazaro Montes, OF, Mariners: On Wednesday, High-A Everett outfielder Lazaro Montes added to his excellent August, going 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk. Over 11 games in August, Montes is hitting .372/.449/.558 with two home runs, as he looks to be settling against High-A pitching. Montes has shown power and some feel to hit over his first few pro seasons. Despite early struggles in High-A, Montes is hitting .286/.386/.463 overall this year.

MiLB Best Tools

A day after we rolled out the MLB Best Tools, the MiLB Best Tools highlights the toolsiest players across all full-season MiLB leagues. These results are compiled by polling MiLB managers. Jackson Holliday, Chandler Simpson, James Wood and Edgardo Henriquez are among the players with multiple nods.

State Of The Organizations: NL West

Geoff Pontes and JJ Cooper discuss all five NL West clubs, looking at how they project at the big league level going forward as well as a deep dive into each farm system’s strengths and weaknesses. This wraps up our six-part series looking at every MLB team.

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Ramon Ramirez, C, Royals: The Royals showed their faith in Ramirez last fall when they made him one of a few DSL players to come stateside for instructional league. He faced some resistance in Arizona, but at his best, he showed the makings of an offensive-minded backstop. Ramirez is physically strong with solid-average bat speed, and he easily fits the mold of a player with a power-over-hit profile.

In Case You Missed It

We talked with Rockies top prospect Charlie Condon on this week’s Hot Sheet show.