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Tony Blanco Jr., 1B/DH, Pirates: The 2025 season began with tragedy for Blanco, whose father—former major leaguer Tony Blanco— tragically lost his life this April in the Jet Set nightclub roof collapse in the Dominican Republic. Blanco Jr. was held out of action until a few weeks ago and made his Low-A debut on July 19. On Wednesday, he hit his first home run at the level, launching a 92 mph fastball 415 feet with an exit velocity of 118.9 mph. That eye-popping number puts Blanco in rare company—only two major leaguers, Oneil Cruz and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., have hit a ball harder this season. Blanco’s outlier power is worth a follow, but his high strikeout rate will need to come down for him to find it against the best pitchers in the world one day.

Colt Emerson, SS, Mariners: After a slow start to the season, Emerson has been on fire. He entered last night hitting .313/.427/.535 since June 1, then went 2-for-3 with his 11th homer of the season. Emerson is one of the best pure hitting prospects in the game. How much power he grows into will be the difference between an above-average regular and an all-star.

Brody Brecht, RHP, Rockies: After missing nearly two months with back inflammation, Brecht has been inconsistent since returning to Low-A Fresno’s rotation. However, he delivered one of his best professional outings on Wednesday, tossing four scoreless innings with seven strikeouts while allowing three hits and one walk. Brecht features big stuff, including a fastball that sits in the mid-to-high 90s and a plus slider. He generated 11 swinging strikes in the outing and showed improved strike-throwing, though his command remained fringy, often leaving pitches over the heart of the plate. Brecht has midrotation upside but comes with concerns around health and consistent command.

Arjun Nimmala, SS, Blue Jays: Entering Wednesday’s game, the Blue Jays’ top prospect was hitting just .163/.269/.256 since June 1, with noticeable struggles against sliders and pitches on the outer half. But he took a step in the right direction, going 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs in High-A Vancouver’s 10-5 win over Tri-City. Nimmala’s two-run homer with two outs in the top of the first set the tone for the night. After a strong start and a prolonged slump, Nimmala could use a hot finish to help re-establish himself among the top shortstop prospects in the minors.

Dylan Beavers, OF, Orioles: While 2024 is a season Beavers would likely prefer to forget, his 2025 performance is helping to erase it from memory. On Wednesday, Beavers continued his strong campaign by going 2-for-3 with his 14th home run of the season. He led off the game by launching a hanging breaking ball to right field on the third pitch he saw and reached base four times overall, adding two walks to his pair of hits. Quietly, Beavers has developed into one of the most well-rounded hitters in the upper minors. If he continues on this trajectory, he looks poised to make his MLB debut before the end of the season.

MLB Trade Deadline Tracker

Happy trade deadline! If last night was any indication, expect a serious flurry of moves today ahead of the 6 p.m. ET deadline. You can find reports on every prospect dealt so far below, including…

• Every player involved in the M’s-D-backs Eugenio Suarez deal

• The Reds, Rays and Dodgers synced on a three-team deal

• The Phillies landed the biggest fish so far in Jhoan Duran

• The Mets added bullpen help yesterday, including Ryan Helsley

• Blaze Jordan is headed to the Cardinals

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Braden Davis, LHP, Cardinals: No pitcher in the minors had a better July than Davis. Over four starts split between Low-A Palm Beach and High-A Peoria, the 22-year-old lefty posted a 0.95 ERA and struck out 32 batters across 19 innings. The strikeouts didn’t slow down with the jump to High-A, either, as Davis punched out eight in each of his two starts with Peoria. While opponents batted just .125 against Davis in July, he did struggle with command, as 12.2% of batters reached via walk. Davis’ 32 strikeouts led full-season leagues for the month, as his plus changeup kept hitters off-balance.

The Cardinals’ fifth-round pick in 2024 out of Oklahoma, Davis made his professional debut this spring and has shown more swing-and-miss capability than his smaller size (5-foot-11 and 180 pounds) or low-90s fastball velocity would suggest.

Davis will show four different pitches and has found more velocity since college. He really rides his four-seam fastball, generating above-average ride and armside run. After sitting in the low 90s during college, Davis now sits comfortably 92-94 mph in starts. His ability to ride his fastball and generate run allow the pitch to play up and generate whiffs at a higher rate for a four-seam.

His primary secondary is a changeup in the low 90s with a Bugs Bunny changeup that looks like a dead zone fastball in the low 80s but plays like a plus pitch. It has parallels to Drew Thorpe’s changeup that dominated the lower minors. His slider is a slurvy, low-80s breaking ball that resembles a curveball more than a slider. His mid-80s cutter is a bridge pitch between the slider and fastball.

Davis has shown deceptive bat-missing traits, but how his changeup and fastball combination will play in the upper minors is still a question waiting to be answered.

See nine other pitching prospects with standout data from July.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• With the A’s holding Mason Miller out of a save situation ahead of today’s deadline, RHP Jack Perkins instead locked down a two-inning save.

• Mets RHP Jonah Tong continued his dominant season with eight more strikeouts over three innings for Double-A Binghamton, although he also walked five batters.

• After coming over from the Mets in the Gregory Soto deal, new Orioles RHP Wellington Aracena struck out six over 4.2 shutout innings for Low-A Delmarva.

• Cubs outfielder Kevin Alcantara hit a pair of homers yesterday for Triple-A Iowa.

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