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- Josuar Gonzalez Arrives In Arizona
Josuar Gonzalez Arrives In Arizona
Plus: Yankees first-rounder Dax Kilby remains hot, and does Boston have another LHP waiting in the wings?
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Dax Kilby, SS, Yankees: With their first-round pick this summer, the Yankees chose prep shortstop Dax Kilby. So far, the early returns have been a smashing success. That trend continued on Tuesday, when Kilby collected two hits—including a triple—and walked twice in Tampa's loss to Clearwater. Kilby also scored twice and stole two bases, bringing his season total to a dozen. Kilby has played 14 games. He's recorded multiple hits in seven of them.
Josue De Paula, OF, Dodgers: After winning MVP of this year's Futures Game, Dodgers prospect Josue De Paula has gone through a bit of a rocky second half. Injuries have sidelined him sporadically, and he generally found the months of July and August to be rough sledding. On Tuesday, he had a bit more pep in his step. In an extra-inning loss to Lake County, the lefty slugger clubbed a pair of doubles and a home run. He now has 15 doubles and 11 home runs on the season.
Connelly Early, LHP, Red Sox: With Payton Tolle now in the big leagues, the next pitching prospect waiting in Worcester's wings might be Connelly Early. The lefty's full talents were on display on Tuesday, when he struck out 10 Scranton hitters over six innings of three-hit, one-run ball. Early got 20 whiffs over the course of his outing, including 11 on his four-seam fastball, which peaked at 94 mph, and those 20 swings and misses led all Triple-A pitchers on Tuesday.
Pure filth from Connelly Early tonight 😮💨
6 IP
3 H
1 ER
0 BB
10 K (career-high)The @RedSoxPlayerDev No. 6 prospect generated 20 whiffs and fired 61 strikes over 92 pitches with the @WooSox.
(🎥@Hunter_Noll)
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica)
12:39 AM • Sep 3, 2025
Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, RHP, Yankees: The Yankees traded away plenty of prospects at this year's deadline, but a move they made over the offseason netted them one of their best prospects. Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz came over from Boston in the Carlos Narvaez deal, and the righthander has been the system's top pitcher outside of current big leaguer Cam Schlittler. Rodriguez-Cruz continued his excellent year on Tuesday by throwing six shutout innings at New Hampshire in Somerset's 1-0 win. He struck out eight and allowed just a hit and a walk before yielding to the bullpen.
Aidan Miller, SS, Phillies: After a mostly cold summer, Phillies prospect Aidan Miller busted out in a big way in August. In 22 games last month, he hit .348/.454/.629 with 13 doubles and four home runs. In his first September game, the trend continued. He led off Reading's series-opener with Hartford with a home run, his 13th of the year. The blast accounted for all of his team's offense during an eventual 2-1 loss to the Yard Goats, but it also helped Miller add another exclamation point to his season-ending flourish.
Aidan Miller 💣
The Phillies’ No. 2 prospect sent out his 13th homer of the year with the @ReadingFightins.
He has three homers and eight RBIs in his last 10 Double-A games.
(🎥@ReadingFightins)
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica)
1:05 AM • Sep 3, 2025
Walker Jenkins, OF, Twins: Now that he's healthy, Twins prospect Walker Jenkins is reminding people exactly why he's held in such high regard. He obliterated the Texas League for 52 games, producing a .913 OPS before he left for Triple-A. Jenkins started a bit a slowly at his new level but was back to his old tricks on Tuesday. Facing Louisville, he racked up three hits—including his first Triple-A triple—and scored a run in St. Paul's eventual loss. In 68 games, Jenkins has 12 doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 14 stolen bases.
Roki Sasaki, RHP, Dodgers: Sasaki endured another up-and-down rehab outing Tuesday for Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Dodgers righty was ambushed for four runs (and two homers allowed) in the first inning of his start against Sugar Land, though he settled in to throw four ensuing scoreless innings. He struck out just two batters and generated six swings and misses on 69 pitches in his five-inning start. Sasaki's four-seam fastball averaged 94.4 mph, which was down from his 96 mph average, and he relied almost entirely on his fastball-splitter combination. In four outings with Oklahoma City since returning in mid August from a right shoulder impingement, Sasaki has a 7.07 ERA and a .315 opponents average against with eight strikeouts to eight walks in 14 innings.
First Look: Josuar Gonzalez Arrives At Bridge League
Giants shortstop Josuar Gonzalez offered plenty of reason for optimism this year after a rousing Dominican Summer League debut where he hit .288/.404/.455 with four homers, more walks (37) than strikeouts (36) and 33 steals. Gonzalez, the No. 84 prospect in baseball, is the only player on Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects who has yet to make his stateside debut, and the underlying data from the DSL--while still very early in his career--certainly backs it up.
On Tuesday, the 17-year-old Gonzalez appeared in bridge league games for the first time in Arizona, going 2-for-3 while playing a solid defensive shortstop. These are unofficial games part of an informal continuation camp, which provides teams a more structured environment for players to get additional in-game reps after the conclusion of the Complex League seasons, and also serves as a comfortable environment for recent selections from the July draft to get their feet wet before continuing up the ladder.
Baseball America's Jesús Cano and Bill Mitchell were on site for Gonzalez's first bridge league action, which you can check out below.
Editor’s Picks
Ethan Holliday’s Adjustment: The Rockies’ first-rounder belted his first minor league homer yesterday. Last week, we spoke with Holliday about how he’s acclimating to pro ball. Read more…
Bridge League Buzz: Go inside Kruz Schoolcraft’s first outing, plus notes on Steele Hall and a pair of Rangers draft picks. Read more…
Hot Sheet: This week’s Hot Sheet is littered with Royals prospects. Read more…
Chat With Us! We’re answering your questions at 2 p.m. ET. Ask them here…
Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day
Each day, we’ll pick a prospect that has our attention.
Santiago Castellanos, RHP, Twins: The Dominican Summer League season is over, and Castellanos spent all season establishing himself as one of its brightest pitching prospects. The righthander didn’t turn 17 years old until he was five starts into his pro career, yet he still blended stuff and pitchability into a package dripping with upside. Castellanos’ fastball sits comfortably between 93-95 mph and can reach a few ticks hotter. He backs it with a changeup and curveball, both with plus potential. The biggest question in Castellanos’ game involves his durability. He’s a smaller pitcher and tired a bit down the stretch. If he can gain strength and stamina, he has the upside of a midrotation starter.
Quick Hits
Prospect news and notes from around baseball…
Mets RHP Nolan McLean isn’t relenting. He turned in another quality start Tuesday, going six innings while allowing two runs with seven strikeouts. His ERA is now 1.37 through four starts.
D-backs RHP Ashton Izzi, who came over from the Mariners at the deadline, threw six scoreless High-A innings with nine strikeouts.
Mets first-rounder Mitch Voit homered and stole four bases for Low-A St. Lucie.
Cubs outfielder Kevin Alcantara went 1-for-3 and scored a run in his first game back in the majors.
Guardians RHP Braylon Doughty has been dealing with right shoulder inflammation.
Padres first-rounder Kruz Schoolcraft will make his full-season debut this weekend.
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