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Sal Stewart, 3B, Reds: Stewart has unlocked a very important new skill. Stewart pulled a home run to left field on Sunday. It was his sixth home run in the past 15 games, as he's starting to show productive power that he's never had before. Stewart has long been a productive hitter with an opposite-field approach, but until recently, he's struggled to pull the ball in the air. Now, he's regularly peppering the left field wall and clearing it, which is a very useful step up for a bat-first infielder. Stewart hit only eight home runs all season last year, and his career high in homers is 12 in 2023, so his six homers in half a month is easily the best power he's ever shown. He's hitting .327/.390/.498 this season. That easily leads the Southern League in batting average, and he also leads the league with 86 hits and 131 total bases. Thanks to this power surge, he's also tied for seventh in the league with nine home runs.

Charlie Condon, OF, Rockies: The Rockies are promoting first baseman/third baseman/left fielder Charlie Condon to Double-A Hartford. The news was first reported by Chase Ford. Condon's jump to Double-A comes after he missed the first month and a half of the season recovering from a wrist injury. He's hit .312/.431/.420 with six doubles and three home runs in 35 games at High-A Spokane. Condon's power has been less than expected (he has a .109 isolated power so far this year), but power can take a while to return after a wrist injury.

Aidan Smith, OF, Rays: Smith has had a relatively modest season with High-A Bowling Green, but Sunday he was spectacular. Smith had the second two-homer game of his career against Asheville. After hitting three home runs in the first two months of the season, Smith now has four homers in June. He's hitting .237/.348/.392 overall this year with 18 steals in 20 attempts.

Colson Montgomery, SS, White Sox: When Montgomery hits a home run for Triple-A Charlotte, expect to see another one. For the third time this month, Montgomery homered twice on Sunday, as he went 2-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs. Montgomery has hit 11 home runs this year, and eight of them have come in two-homer games. Montgomery is on a tear recently, as he finished June hitting .281/.338/.672 this month. He's raised his overall stat line to .220/.296/.445.

Ryan Johnson, RHP, Angels: It's been a wild year for Johnson. The righthander began the season in the Angels' bullpen, where he posted a 7.36 ERA with a .364 opponents average in 14 appearances. That's understandable as the 2024 second-round pick was jumping straight to the big leagues. But having been sent back to High-A Tri-City to start, Johnson has been very good at a more appropriate experience level. Johnson held Vancouver scoreless for seven innings, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out eight. He's now 3-3, 2.38 in nine starts for Tri-City.

Brayden Taylor, 3B, Rays: Coming into this season, Rays second/third baseman Brayden Taylor was known for being a very reliable and well-rounded hitter. But this season has been a massive challenge. Taylor went 0-for-3 on Sunday, which lowered his slash line to .158/.266/.257. Taylor has struck out 29.6% of the time this year. He's had one multi-hit game since April 20.

Two massive PCL homers: The Pacific Coast League is where power gets a boost. With high-elevation stadiums, the ball carries. That was very true on Sunday. First, Salt Lake's Kyren Paris hit a ball that the Bees' reported was measured at 499 feet (and 109.1 mph off the bat). If the 499 feet is confirmed, it will be the longest HR of the season at Triple-A or the majors, topping Roman Anthony's 497-foot blast.

Later on Sunday, Rockies outfield prospect Yanquiel Fernandez hit a home run measured at 473 feet (109.8 mph off the bat).

Editor’s Picks

RoboScout’s Top Prospects: The Robotic One’s final June installment hits on more than two dozen sleepers to target in fantasy. Read more…

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Nate Payne, LHP, Marlins: The Marlins lefty entered RoboScout’s Low-A Top 10 this week after an eight strikeout, zero walk, one hit performance over five innings. On the season, the 19-year-old 2024 18th-rounder has a reasonably high 12% walk rate, though that is more than compensated by his 37% strikeout rate–and in June, Payne has been specifically hot with a sub-1.00 WHIP and sub-1.00 ERA.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Brewers RHP Bishop Letson has been on the IL since early June with a right shoulder injury, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

• Red Sox LHP Connelly Early threw six hitless innings with seven strikeouts yesterday for Double-A Portland. He lowered his ERA to 1.94 over 55.2 innings to go along with 81 strikeouts.

• Triple-A Omaha will be happy if it doesn’t have to face Pirates LHP Hunter Barco again. He’s faced the Royals affiliate in his last two starts and has allowed just one run and six hits over 12 innings while striking out 13.

• Giants prospect Bo Davidson had a monster day for High-A Eugene on Sunday, going 4-for-5 with two homers, a double and six runs scored. He owns a .938 OPS through 61 games.

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