Jarlin Susana's Electrifying August Continues

Plus: After an unheralded offseason trade, a Red Sox RHP is looking like a shrewd pickup.

Author

Mark Chiarelli
August 25, 2025

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Jarlin Susana, RHP, Nationals: In his four starts since he returned from a three-month stint on the injured list with an elbow sprain, Susana is 1-0, 1.83 for Double-A Harrisburg. He has allowed nine hits and nine walks while striking out 38 of the 76 batters he has faced this month for a 50% strikeout rate.

In watching those four starts, it becomes clear that those stats underrate how dominant he's been. Since shaking off the rust in his first start, Susana has allowed five hits in 15 innings while striking out 32 batters, an average of more than two strikeouts per inning.

He has allowed three runs over that stretch. One was not his fault: his center fielder forgot the number of outs so a runner scored from second on a lazy fly ball to center field. Susana retired the next batter to end the inning. One was an extremely impressive home run by Kevin McGonigle. And on Sunday, he walked in Kevin McGonigle with the bases loaded.

McGonigle drew two of Erie's three walks. He's the one hitter in the Erie lineup who seemed able to handle Susana in two starts this week. McGonigle was 1-for-2 with two walks, a home run and a strikeout against Susana. The rest of a very talented Erie lineup went 3-for-32 with three walks and 23 strikeouts.

Overall, Susana allowed two hits, one run and walked three in five innings while striking out 10 on Sunday. He regularly got to 100+ mph with his fastball, and touched 103 in his first start of the week.

His 85-87 mph slider was even more effective than his fastball on Sunday. But then he also relied on this weapon of a changeup on Sunday.

A hitter facing Susana has to gear up for 102 mph at the top of the zone. Adjusting from that to hit an 85-88 mph slider with power and depth is an extremely challenging task in itself. But when Susana is throwing 94 mph changeups that veer right at the plate like this, hitters should consider coming to the plate waving a white flag.

Tommy Troy, 2B/OF, D-backs: Recently promoted to Triple-A Reno, Troy has found the hitter-friendly confines of the Pacific Coast League suit him. He went 3-for-4 with his second Triple-A home run on Sunday, and he's now hitting .299/.377/.478 in 16 Triple-A games. Troy played second base on Sunday, but in the past month, he's started playing center field as much as he plays second. His plus speed could make that a solid fit for him. He has yet to make an error in his first 12 games in center.

Justin Crawford, OF, Phillies: Crawford went 2-for-4 with his fifth home run of the season on Sunday for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. While power is not normally his game, the center fielder does hit the ball hard. He caught all of a Forrest Whitley changeup, hitting it 400 feet. While Crawford is still working on learning to pull the ball in the air consistently, he is a very pure hitter. Crawford is hitting .328/.406/.439 with 42 steals in 53 attempts. Crawford is currently second in the International League in batting average, trailing Nick Solak by seven points. His on-base percentage is sixth-best in the league and he leads the league in hits (135) and runs (80).

Walker Jenkins, OF, Twins: Jenkins, the No. 12 prospect in baseball, is headed to Triple-A St. Paul. Jenkins had missed the first half of the 2025 season with a foot injury, but he has been spraying line drives at Double-A Wichita ever since he returned there in mid June. Jenkins hit .309/.426/.487 in 52 games with the Wind Surge. He had almost as many walks (34) as strikeouts (44) while bouncing between center and right field. Injuries are pretty much the only thing that has slowed down the Twins' 2023 first-round pick. He's a .303/.410/.474 career MiLB hitter, but he has yet to play 100 games in a season because of stints on the injured list.

A.J. Ewing, 2B/OF, Mets: The Mets promoted Ewing to Double-A Binghamton on Aug. 12. He's found the Double-A Eastern League to be almost too easy in his first 12 games at the level. Ewing went 3-for-5 with three steals in three attempts and a double on Sunday. It was his third three-hit game since he reached Double-A, and he's 12-for-23 over his past five games with five doubles over that time. Overall, Ewing is hitting .314/.409/.436 with 65 steals in 74 attempts across three levels this year. He's been one of the breakout stars of the season among Mets' MiLB hitters, and his climb to Double-A has done nothing to slow him down.

Jaxon Wiggins, RHP, Cubs: Wiggins returned to the mound for the first time in a month and only the second time since June 20. He threw three scoreless, hitless innings and the Double-A Knoxville broadcast reported that his first pitch was 101 mph on the stadium gun and his fastball was consistently in the upper 90s. The Cubs never placed Wiggins on the injured list, and there likely is a load management component to his limited workload. The 65.1 innings he has thrown this season nearly equals the 66 innings he maxed out at with Arkansas in 2022. Wiggins had Tommy John surgery in 2023.

Editor’s Picks

RoboScout: Dive into nearly 30 prospects who are valuable targets in fantasy, including why Mets RHP Jonah Tong is now the model’s top pitching prospect. Read more…

Org Reports: We’re rolling out our month-end reporting this week on notable performers from every organization in August. Check out the latest: 

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Yhoiker Fajardo, RHP, Red Sox: For the fifth time in his past six starts, Fajardo walked off the mound for Low-A Salem at the end of his start with zeroes on the scoreboard. Fajardo held Carolina scoreless for six innings on Sunday. Fajardo last allowed a run in his Aug. 8 start against Kannapolis, where he allowed two runs in three innings. Since July 10, he's allowed just three runs in 38 innings over seven starts.

The Red Sox are limiting Fajardo's innings, and his start earlier this week was ended after just one inning because of a nearly three hour rain delay, but when he's gotten to pitch, Fajardo has been dominant. For the season, he's 1-4, 2.08, having posted a 0.44 ERA in six appearances in the Florid Complex League before his promotion to Salem. He's held opponents to a .193/.264/.268 slash line this year, and he's yet to allow a home run this season. Fajardo is looking like a savvy acquisition over the winter in a minor trade with the White Sox.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

  • A pair of former Tennessee Volunteers had two-homer games on Sunday. Brewers Double-A farmhand Blake Burke and Padres Low-A outfielder Kavares Tears each went yard twice amid big days at the plate.

  • Sebastian Walcott went 3-for-5 for Double-A Frisco for his second consecutive multi-hit game as he tries to break out from a slump. The Rangers’ top prospect has a .573 OPS in August.

  • Giants righty Keyner Martinez struck out nine batters over four innings for Low-A San Jose. He allowed three runs, which is actually the most runs he has allowed in a start all season between the Arizona Complex League and Low-A.

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