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Jesús Made, SS, Brewers: The Brewers promoted their 18-year-old shortstop to Double-A Biloxi for the final week of the Southern League season. He played in five games during the regular season and then two more in the playoffs before Montgomery knocked out Biloxi in the first round. But before Biloxi's season ended, Made laced an opposite-field home run in a 4-2 Shuckers defeat. It was the first Double-A homer for a player who was playing in the Dominican Summer League a year ago.

Konnor Griffin, SS, Pirates: Griffin went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base for Altoona in a 6-1 defeat to Double-A Erie in the first round of the Eastern League playoffs. The two teams will meet for one more game, with the winner facing Binghamton in the EL finals. Through two playoff games, Griffin has gone 5-for-8 with a double and two RBIs.

Kemp Alderman, OF, Marlins: The Triple-A Jacksonville corner outfielder added to his September damage report with a home run, a stolen base, a walk and three RBIs as part of a 2-for-4 day at the plate at Norfolk. He is hitting .299/.333/.672 with seven homers in 17 games since moving to Triple-A at the end of August. Counting his time at Double-A Pensacola, Alderman has 21 homers and 21 steals, making him one of 15 total 20-20 players in the minor leagues this season. That achieves a preseason goal for the 23-year-old, who stated his desire back in spring training to go 20-20 this season.

Jack Wenninger, RHP, Mets: Wenninger limited Double-A Somerset to one hit over six shutout innings to pitch Binghamton into the Eastern League finals. He struck out nine and allowed one walk. Binghamton won the game 5-4, with center fielder AJ Ewing supplying a run scored and two RBIs in a 2-for-4 day at the plate. As for Wenninger, he added velocity this season and began incorporating a two-seamer, a new shorter slider and an occasional curveball. His splitter is his bread-and-butter pitch. He finished second in the EL with a 2.92 ERA and 147 strikeouts and first with a 1.15 WHIP.

Hagen Smith, LHP, White Sox: Smith helped Double-A Birmingham get even with Chattanooga in the first round of the Southern League playoffs. The two teams are tied at one game apiece in the best-of-three after Smith delivered five no-hit innings with 10 strikeouts and two walks. A pair of Birmingham relievers preserved the 4-0 shutout. Smith struggled with control all season but pitched much effectively down the stretch, with a 3.52 ERA, 39 strikeouts in 30.2 innings and a .186 opponent average in his last seven starts.

Roki Sasaki, RHP, Dodgers: Sasaki pitched out of the bullpen for the first time this season on Thursday and looked sharp, striking out a pair of Triple-A Tacoma batters while touching 100.1 mph. Sasaki needed 16 pitches to get through the inning, and four of the six swings he elicited on his heater were whiffs. His four-seamer averaged 98.9 mph, nearly 3 mph above his season average. The Dodgers extended Sasaki's rehab clock with Triple-A Oklahoma City after reporting a new calf issue that cropped up. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sasaki is scheduled for one more relief appearance on Sunday and, if all goes well, he could be an option out of the bullpen for the big league club shortly thereafter.

Editor’s Picks

10 AL Sleepers: Geoff Pontes pops the hood on some AL hitting prospects to find sleepers for 2026 with intriguing Statcast metrics. Read more…

9 Strong International Signing Classes: With season-long performances to look back on, Ben Badler highlights teams whose international signing classes stood out in 2025. Read more…

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Ethan Frey, OF, Astros: Frey is the owner of one of the best professional debuts from the 2025 draft class. Over 26 games with Low-A Fayetteville, he hit .330/.434/.470 with three home runs and a 16.5% walk rate against a 20.5% strikeout rate. A 6-foot-6, 225-pound outfielder drafted out of LSU in the third round, he looks like he could be one of the steals of the draft.

Frey’s strong production is backed by excellent underlying metrics. He rarely swings and misses, as shown by a 15.4% in-zone whiff rate, and he rarely expands the zone. While his launch angles are on the flatter side of average, Frey's underlying power is still noteworthy. Consider, for example, that his 108.3 mph 90th percentile EV is the same as Top 100 Prospect sluggers like the Mariners' Lazaro Montes and the Orioles' Samuel Basallo.

With strong plate skills, plus exit velocity data and a solid amateur track record, Frey is one of the 2025 draft’s most intriguing ascending assets. 

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Jonah Tong delivered the best start of his brief big league career on Thursday, allowing just one unearned run over five innings against the Padres while striking out eight and issuing zero walks.

• Rays RHP T.J. Nichols struck out seven batters and allowed two runs over 5.1 innings against Double-A Biloxi. Nichols has a 1.81 ERA over 69.2 innings with 76 strikeouts and a 69% strike percentage since July.

• Angels 2B Christian Moore went 2-for-3 with two doubles against the Brewers to raise his batting average to .202 this year. He is two at-bats away from graduating prospect eligibility.

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