Murf Gray, 3B, Pirates: The Pirates' supplemental second-round pick last year, Gray was one of the hottest hitters in the Florida State League to start the season. At the same time, it was worth noting that he was a Fresno State product dominating Low-A competition.

The Pirates promoted Gray to High-A a few weeks ago, and he has shown no signs of slowing down. Gray went 3-for-6 with a pair of home runs on Sunday at Asheville.

He has now hit eight home runs in just 16 High-A games and is batting .333/.413/.727 for Greensboro. Overall this season, Gray is hitting .351/.429/.644. He has a six-game hitting streak and seven multi-hit games over his past 15 contests.

Nationals Promotions: The Nationals are promoting shortstop Eli Willits, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft, to High-A Wilmington. The Nats are also promoting middle infielder Devin Fitz-Gerald and outfielders Ethan Petry and T.J. White to Double-A Harrisburg.

The moves were first reported by TalkNats. Willits ranks 21st on the Baseball America Top 100 Prospects while Fitz-Gerald ranks 71st.

Willits hit .300/.418/.500 with six home runs and 29 stolen bases in 36 attempts over 47 games with Low-A Fredericksburg. The FredNats clinched a playoff spot on Sunday by winning the first-half Carolina League North Division title.

Fitz-Gerald, acquired in the offseason trade that sent MacKenzie Gore to Washington, hit .267/.373/.530 with 12 home runs and 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts over 51 games at Wilmington. Those numbers are even more impressive considering Wilmington's pitcher-friendly environment. Fitz-Gerald hit .279/.360/.604 on the road. He had been in a recent slump, however, as his single on Sunday was his first hit in five games this month.

Petry, a 2025 second-round pick out of South Carolina, hit .297/.392/.521 with nine home runs in 43 games at Wilmington. White hit .257/.405/.434 in 43 games with the Blue Rocks in what was his fourth season at the High-A level.

Hagen Smith, LHP, White Sox: Smith lowered his ERA with Triple-A Charlotte to 4.19 on Sunday, allowing one run over 4.1 innings while striking out nine of the 19 batters he faced. It was one of his best outings of the season.

While Smith was sharp, the outing also highlighted some of the challenges he still faces. His 89 pitches were the most he has thrown in a game this season and the second-most in any professional outing. Across 35 career pro starts, Smith has worked more than five innings just once and has completed five innings only six times.

Smith sat 92-94 mph and touched 95 with his fastball. He generated five whiffs with his low-80s slider and added three more on just eight pitches with his upper-80s cutter.

Bishop Letson, RHP, Brewers: Letson held Double-A Montgomery scoreless for six innings on Sunday, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out eight.

It was Letson's best start of the season, but it also continues a recent turnaround. Letson allowed nine runs in 5.2 innings in his first three starts of the season, posting a 14.29 ERA while walking nine batters in those three starts.

Now, he's allowed just three runs in his past three starts, striking out 16 in 14.1 innings with five walks allowed and only nine hits. He's lowered his ERA to 4.86 overall.

Gage Jump, LHP, Athletics: For a second time in three MLB starts, Jump was in complete control. He held the Astros scoreless for 6.1 innings, allowing three hits and three walks while lowering his ERA to 2.45.

Jump gave up four runs in five innings in his MLB debut, but he has since allowed just one run over 13.1 innings across his past two starts.

Jump consistently spotted his 96-97 mph fastball, and both it and his upper-80s slider were extremely effective.

Zyhir Hope, OF, Dodgers: Sundays have been very good to Hope.

In 22 weekday games, the Double-A Tulsa outfielder has four home runs this year. In 10 Sunday games, Hope has hit six homers. He was at it once again this Sunday, as he hit home runs in both halves of a doubleheader. Technically, his first home run came in the continuation of Saturday's delayed game, but it was an opposite-field home run on Sunday afternoon. In the nightcap, he added another.

Hope also had a two-homer game earlier this week on Tuesday. He now is hitting .294/.351/.528 overall.

Briggs McKenzie, LHP, Braves: It took the Braves just one Low-A start to decide McKenzie was ready for High-A.

McKenzie allowed just one hit and one walk over five scoreless innings in his lone start for Augusta on Friday. Two days later, the Braves promoted McKenzie to High-A Rome. McKenzie was the club's fourth-round pick in 2025 but that's a bit of a misnomer, as he received the team's largest signing bonus ($2,997,500) of the 2025 draft.

McKenzie allowed one run in three starts with the Florida Complex League Braves before his promotion to Augusta. He has an excellent changeup and breaking ball to go with a solid low-90s fastball that still has plenty of room for further velocity development. McKenzie is now 1-0, 0.55 in 16.1 innings this year with three walks and 17 strikeouts.

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Breyson Guedez, OF, Athletics: The Athletics' No. 14 prospect, Guedez went 5-for-5 with three doubles and a triple on Sunday. It continues a promising upturn for Guedez. He was hitting .250/.294/.330 at the end of May, but a scorching 13-for-24 start to June raised his slash line to .281/.325/.379. Guedez wore out the opposite field on Sunday. He pulled a double to the right field fence in the fourth inning, but his first double of the game went down the left field line. He later doubled into the left-center field gap before adding a triple off the left-center field wall.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• D-backs prospect Yassel Soler went a perfect 4-for-4 with two doubles on Sunday for High-A Hillsboro.

• Marlins LHP Thomas White is expected to miss the rest of the season with a left shoulder capsular sprain.

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