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Paul Skenes, RHP, Pirates: Skenes held the Reds to six hits and one walk, allowing one run in six innings on Monday. He struck out seven. What was impressive is how routine Skenes’ dominance already feels. This was his seventh big league start. He has worked through the sixth inning in five of his past six starts, and the only start where he didn’t work at least five innings was his MLB debut.

From his debut on May 11th to now, he ranks in the top 10 in strikeout rate, FIP, fWAR and xFIP among MLB starting pitchers. He’s also 11th in MLB over that time in ERA. Skenes’ 65 100+ mph pitches in his seven MLB starts is easily the most by any MLB starter this year, and it already ranks 14th on the career list for starting pitchers in the pitch tracking era (2008-present). In the publicly tracked levels of pro baseball (MLB, Triple-A and the Low-A Florida State League) there have been 312 100+ mph pitches by starting pitchers in 2024. Skenes has thrown 163 of those 312 pitches.

Felnin Celesten, SS, Mariners: Felnin Celesten had the best day of his very young pro career on Monday in the Arizona Complex League. Celesten went 5-for-6 with three singles, a double and his third home run of the season in the ACL Mariners’ 13-7 win over the ACL Padres. Celesten raised his slash line to .328/.410/.526. It was the first five-hit game of Celesten’s career, which isn’t surprising since he made his pro debut just a month and a half ago.

JR Ritchie, RHP, Braves: The Braves have had plenty of bad news when it comes to pitcher injuries this year, with Spencer Strider, Huascar Ynoa, Tyler Matzek, Owen Murphy and Hurston Waldrep all battling injuries. But Atlanta did get a piece of good pitching news on Monday, as JR Ritchie, the team’s supplemental first-round pick in 2023, made his 2024 debut in the Florida Complex League. Ritchie is returning to the mound after Tommy John surgery. He allowed one hit while striking out one in two scoreless innings of work.

Keoni Cavaco, INF, Twins: As part of a trio of moves for High-A Cedar Rapids, the Twins announced that they have released infielder Keoni Cavaco. The 13th pick in the 2019 draft, Cavaco was a pop-up prospect that spring who went from off of draft boards into first-round consideration. He was very young for the class, but the hitting potential he showed in high school struggled to translate to pro ball. He hit .212/.267/.335 over five pro seasons, reaching High-A. He hit .144/.202/.327 this year with Cedar Rapids before his release. Cavaco has an excellent arm and could be a candidate to move to the mound if his career is to have a second act.

Want to get ahead? Each day we’ll surface one prospect from recent Baseball America coverage who could be on the rise.

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Welinton Herrera, LHP, Rockies: It’s unusual to highlight a relief-only prospect in Low-A as a helium candidate, but Herrera is not run of the mill. Over 21 appearances, Herrera is 8-2 with 2.03 ERA and a 43.5% strikeout rate to a 5.6% walk rate. Herrera is an undersized lefty that creates a low release height on his fastball that allows him to miss bats. His mid-to-low-80s gyro slider is his primary secondary. Herrera uses it as a change-of-pace pitch when paired with his above-average fastball. His fastball quality is so good that he has a 21% swinging strike rate against the pitch this season. Herrera is relief-only, but he looks like the type of high-powered deceptive lefty organizations crave. (GP)