Jett Williams’ 2024 campaign has been tough sledding, but New York’s prized infielder is finally showing signs of a return to normal. Elsewhere, two Top 100 Prospects depart games early due to injuries, and Baseball America’s Josh Norris identifies five prospects traded at the deadline making strong first impressions.

Kristian Campbell, 2B/OF, Red Sox: In what has been a dream season, Campbell has finally encountered some adversity. Campbell left Wednesday’s game in the fifth inning after tweaking his shoulder. Triple-A Worcester manager Chad Tracy described the injury as a little tweak or muscle spasms within his shoulder. Campbell will likely miss a few games while he rests, but concern seems low.

Tink Hence, RHP, Cardinals: The Cardinals' top pitching prospect exited Wednesday's start for Double-A Springfield in the second inning after 29 pitches. Hence has dealt with wear-and-tear injuries throughout his career, but durability has become a bigger question mark in the second half of 2024. Hence missed a month with shoulder and chest tightness and St. Louis has limited him to a maximum of four innings per start since his return in July. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound righty has excellent stuff when healthy, but his undersized frame continues to worry.

Justin Crawford, OF, Phillies: Crawford is known for his contact hitting, speed and defense, but there’s perhaps more power than many realize. Crawford hit his ninth home run of the season on Wednesday and his third since being promoted to Double-A. Crawford went 2-for-4 on Wednesday driving in three runs as Reading defeated Harrisburg 3-0. Over 37 games at Double-A, Crawford is hitting .333/.380/.458 with 13 extra-base hits and 15 stolen bases.

Jett Williams, SS, Mets: It’s been a season to forget for Williams, as a wrist injury that required surgery has limited him to just 24 games. Since returning it’s been rough sailing for Williams, but he seems to be turning that around. On Wednesday, Williams tallied his third straight multi-hit game as he went 2-for-5 with a double. The Mets’ No. 1 prospect has caught fire over the last week of the season despite the difficult season.

Juaron Watts-Brown, RHP, Blue Jays: Watts-Brown picked a great time to rack up a career high in strikeouts. He went 5.2 innings while allowing two runs on six hits while striking out 10 to help High-A Vancouver win game two of the Northwest League Championship and even the series. After a strong start in Dunedin to begin his professional career, Watts-Brown had mostly struggled over his previous nine starts prior to Wednesday.

Austin Peterson, RHP, Guardians: Peterson has been an unexpected breakout in 2024. On Wednesday, Peterson outpitched Chase Dollander to lead Akron to a 5-4 win over Hartford. Peterson tossed six scoreless allowing three hits and no walks while striking out six. Peterson will finish the season with a 14-7 record over 27 starts with a 2.64 ERA and 159 strikeouts to 21 walks. Peterson has back-of-the-rotation potential despite below-average stuff.

Prospects Dealt At The Deadline Who Are Impressing Us

In all, 89 prospects changed organizations at the deadline. At the time, no traded prospect ranked among Baseball America’s Top 100. Since then, catcher Thayron Liranzo, who moved from the Dodgers to the Tigers in the deal that sent righty Jack Flaherty to Los Angeles, has entered the list and currently ranks 88th overall. He’s one of five examples of prospects who have turned in stellar performances since the deadline, as Josh Norris details below for Baseball America subscribers. 

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Callan Moss, 1B, Royals: The Royals made headlines by drafting Jac Caglianone with their 2024 first-round pick, but he’s not the only first baseman in Kansas City’s system worth eyeing. Moss is a nondrafted free agent who caught the attention of RoboScout this week. He has a 106 mph 90th percentile exit velocity and has reached 111 mph. His contact rate is nearly 80% and he is chasing at less than 20% of pitches out of the zone. His overall quality of contact (xwOBAcon above .360) has transcended his suboptimal 60% groundball rate. Moss is an interesting first baseman sleeper who looks like he is worth a flier with a late-round FYPD pick.

In Case You Missed It

Jackson Holliday congratulated Roman Anthony on becoming baseball’s new No. 1 prospect.

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