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Joshua Baez, OF, Cardinals: Cardinals 2021 second-rounder Joshua Baez has authored a true bounceback season. Injuries and strikeouts plagued his first three professional seasons. But Baez has surged in 2025 by showing drastically improved back-to-ball skills and approach. His dream season continued on Wednesday when he hit his 15th home run of the season, a 400-foot shot to left field. Baez went 3-for-4 on the night with two runs and three RBIs. The ninth-ranked prospect in the Cardinals system is now hitting .270/.382/.495 with 11 home runs and 26 stolen bases over 61 Double-A games.

So how did Baez go from off the Cardinals’ Top 30 to an outfielder who will very likely make the 40-man roster this winter, with a shot at debuting next year? Geoff Pontes details Baez’s swing and approach alterations, and how the underlying data shows the changes are no fluke.

Lazaro Montes, OF, Mariners: No matter the level of competition, Montes' power travels. On Wednesday, he slugged his 29th homer of the season and 11th since reaching Double-A Arkansas. While Montes has struggled at times against Texas League competition, he’s continued to hit for power and owns a .258 isolated slugging percentage over 42 Double-A games. He went 2-for-5 on the night, scoring two runs and driving in a pair. Montes is one of the premier power prospects in the game, but he’ll need to limit his strikeouts to be successful.

Ike Irish, C, Orioles: Irish was viewed as one of the top college hitters in the 2025 draft, and he was one of four hitters the Orioles landed in the first round this year. Irish has lived up to the billing since reaching Low-A Delmarva last week. He connected on his first professional home run on Wednesday, as he reached base twice in five plate appearances, driving in two RBIs and scoring twice. Irish now 9-for-26 with 13 total bases over his first six pro games. Irish has advanced hitting skills with above-average game power. His long-term defensive home is his biggest question.

Sal Stewart, 2B, Reds: Entering 2025, no one doubted Stewart’s ability to hit. Hitting for power, however, was another story. But he has erased those questions by continuing to show newfound in-game power. Stewart belted his 17th home run of the season on Wednesday, clobbering a ball 401 feet off Brewers Triple-A lefty Tate Kuehner. Stewart has dominated Triple-A competition during his first tour through the level with impressive advanced hitting skills and power.

Jose Castro, OF, Marlins: Castro has figured something out in his second season in the Dominican Summer League. After struggling to a .148/.333/.254 line in his 2024 pro debut, the 18-year-old has surged to .264/.399/.585 with 16 home runs—a new DSL single-season record. Castro has flashed strong exit velocities and promising launch angles, though questions remain about how his power will translate against more advanced pitching once he comes stateside.

Eli Willits, SS, Nationals: The Nationals are set to debut No. 1 overall pick Eli Willits at Low-A Fredericksburg on Thursday against Fayetteville, Houston’s Carolina League affiliate. Willits, the youngest No. 1 overall pick in history after reclassifying from the 2026 high school class to 2025, is a switch-hitter with advanced plate skills from both sides of the plate, the ability to stick at shortstop long term and plenty of remaining projection. His assignment follows a wave of top positional prospects from July’s draft making their pro debuts in recent weeks.

Bubba Chandler’s Callup

Entering 2025, the assumption for many Pirates fans was that it would be only a few weeks until the team’s top prospect, Bubba Chandler, would be ready to join young ace Paul Skenes in the rotation.

• SEE ALSO: Bubba Chandler Called Up, Expected To Make Pirates Debut On Friday

And over the first two months of the season, things went according to plan. Start after start, Chandler delivered, producing a 2.03 ERA over his first 11 outings. Over that stretch spanning 48.2 innings, the 22-year-old righthander struck out 35% of batters faced while holding opponents to a .181 batting average. The growing belief over the final weeks of May was that a promotion for Chandler was imminent. 

The springtime callup, however, never came.

As Geoff Pontes explains today for Baseball America subscribers, there’s a reason for that—and much of it comes back to Chandler’s fastball command.

Editor’s Picks

• 10 Top 100 Prospects Who Coaches, Scouts Loved In 2025

• 7 DSL Prospects With Impressive 2025 Hitting Data

• 2025 MiLB Best Tools: Managers Vote On Top Prospects

• 2026 MLB International Prospects Bonus Board

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Josuar Gonzalez, SS, Giants: We typically reserve this space for players a bit more under the radar than Gonzalez, who is the only Top 100 Prospect yet to make his stateside debut. But as Geoff Pontes wrote Wednesday for BA subscribers, Gonzalez’s should have your attention, especially since we’ve seen DSL players with similar underlying data such as Jesús Made, Luis Peña, Robert Calaz, Junior Caminero and Adael Amador then make the leap with a flourish. Gonzalez’s underlying data backs up his performance and gives hints of a future plus hit tool, an advanced approach and average-or-better power. The switch-hitting Gonzalez is an incredibly well-rounded prospect with similar results from both sides of the plate. His launch angles still need some work, but he has shown some ability to pull the ball in the air.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Cam Schlittler struck out eight over 6.2 scoreless innings as the Yankees beat the Rays for their fifth win in a row.

• Roki Sasaki made his second Triple-A rehab start yesterday to slightly better results. The Dodgers righty allowed two runs (one earned) and walked three with two strikeouts over 3.1 innings. Sasaki’s fastball averaged 96 mph and he relied on his four-seam/splitter combination almost exclusively throughout the start.

• Jesús Made went 2-for-4 with a homer and a steal for High-A Wisconsin. He has a 1.076 OPS through 13 games at the level.

• Rangers SS/CF Cameron Cauley is having the best week of his season. A day after belting three homers for Double-A Frisco, Cauley went 3-for-5 with a homer and a double.

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