Gage Wood, RHP, Phillies: The Phillies are promoting the 22-year-old righthander to Double-A Reading. He was the organization's first-round pick, drafted 26th overall, out of Arkansas last year. Wood opened the season at Low-A Clearwater and made eight starts in the Florida State League, recording a 3.42 ERA with 40 strikeouts and 12 walks in 26.1 innings. Wood threw a ton of strikes and drew a lot of whiffs against his 96 mph fastball and mid-80s slider against FSL competition. If his stuff continues to play against older competition, he could be on a fast track to Philadelphia.

Murf Gray, 3B, Pirates: After leading the Florida State League with a 1.042 OPS, Gray is moving to High-A Greensboro. Pittsburgh drafted Gray in the second round last year out of Fresno State. In his initial pro action with Low-A Bradenton this year, the 22-year-old batted .359/.436/.606 with eight home runs in 38 games. He led the FSL with 51 hits, 86 total bases and 34 RBIs. Gray pairs strong contact skills with a propensity to hit the ball hard with regularity, though he can be induced to chase out of the zone. He handled third base well in the FSL but is a risk to move off the position as he matures.

Seaver King, SS, Nationals: King turned his career around this year at Double-A Harrisburg. Now, he gets a chance to prove himself at Triple-A Rochester after Washington promoted him Monday.

Drafted 10th overall out of Wake Forest in 2024, King sped to Double-A last year but stalled. He hit just .233 with no power in 80 games before getting back on track in the Arizona Fall League by changing his hitting mindset. King batted .336/.427/.562 with five home runs and five stolen bases in 35 games in the Eastern League. He had improved both his walk and strikeout rates compared to last season and was seeing occasional time at second base in addition to shortstop.

Yovanny Cruz, RHP, Yankees: The Yankees announced Monday that they are calling up the 26-year-old reliever to make his major league debut. The righthander appeared in 15 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, working 18 innings and striking out 23 and walking nine to go with a 3.00 ERA. Cruz is one of the hardest throwers at Triple-A, having thrown 28 pitches at 100 mph or faster this season. Only Carlos Lagrange and Seth Halvorsen had thrown more at Triple-A. The Cubs signed Cruz out of the Dominican Republic in 2016, and he played for the organization through 2023 before signing minor league deals with the Padres, Red Sox and Yankees in recent seasons.

Zach Thornton, LHP, Mets: The Mets have a hole in their rotation created by the loss of Clay Holmes, who fractured his fibula when struck by a 111 mph line drive on Friday. Thornton will be part of the solution when Holmes' rotation spot comes up again on Wednesday.

The Mets announced that they are calling up the 24-year-old Thornton to pitch in that game at Washington, either starting or in bulk relief. It will be Thornton's major league debut. He climbed into the system's top 10 prospects in the May update of the Mets' top prospects.

Thornton attacks batters with six pitches, most of them fastball and slider variants. He pitches at 92 mph and tops out at 95 while mixing in sliders, sweepers, cutters, two-seamers and occasional changeups.

While Thornton lacks a putaway pitch, he excels at hitting spots and inducing soft contact. His 5.4% walk rate over the past two seasons is one of the lowest in the minor leagues, while a strikeout rate near 28% pushes his K-BB into elite territory at 22.4%.

Thornton will be the fourth rookie to suit up for the Mets this season, joining Nolan McLean, Carson Benge and AJ Ewing.

Ralphy Velazquez, 1B, Guardians: Velazquez is on his way to Triple-A Columbus after a successful 36-game stint at Double-A Akron. He batted .317/.414/.566 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs. Among Double-A players who are 21 years old or younger, Velazquez's 159 wRC+ ranks first, while his .248 isolated slugging is third. Velazquez ranks as the system's No. 2 prospect on our May update and would be the favorite to move into the top spot if and when Travis Bazzana graduates.

Cris Rodriguez, OF, Tigers: Rodriguez went 3-for-3 with a triple in a Florida Complex League game Monday. The righthanded-hitting Rodriguez sandwiched singles to center field around a second-inning triple to right field. Through 12 games this season, the 18-year-old Rodriguez is batting .244/.286/.467 with two home runs and two stolen bases.

Editor’s Picks

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Ben Grable, RHP, Yankees: The quickest member of the Yankees’ 2025 draft class to reach the big leagues might be Grable, the team’s 11th-round pick out of Indiana. He blew the doors off the competition at High-A before quickly earning a bump to Double-A, where he’s encountered a little bit more resistance. He gets his outs thanks to one of the system’s most electric fastballs, which gets up to 97 mph and features an average of 21 inches of induced vertical break. He complements the pitch with a slider and a splitter. Neither is used particularly often, but the slider shows the makings of an above-average offering. If it all comes together, he could be a high-leverage reliever.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Mariners top prospect Colt Emerson hit his first big league homer Monday in a 6-1 win over the White Sox.

• A’s lefty Wei-En Lin went on the Double-A injured list on May 13 with a left quad strain.

• The Pirates recalled No. 4 prospect Jhostynxon Garcia from Triple-A Indianapolis.

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