Seth Hernandez, RHP, Pirates: After six excellent starts at Low-A Bradenton, the Pirates are promoting Hernandez to High-A Greensboro. The news was first reported by Chase Ford.

Hernandez has been the most dominant pitcher in the Florida State League and is in the midst of one of the best professional debuts by a prep pitcher in recent years. The Pirates’ 2025 first-round pick went 3-0, 0.96 with 13 hits and seven walks allowed over 28 innings while striking out 48% of the batters he faced.

While Hernandez can touch 100 mph with his fastball, his changeup and slider overwhelmed Low-A hitters. With hitters geared up to face his fastball, they often flailed at his changeup and breaking ball.

High-A should give Hernandez a tougher test, especially as his new home of Greensboro is particularly home run friendly. If Hernandez remains on the once-a-week schedule he followed in Bradenton, his first start should come Friday at Jersey Shore. He recently climbed to 10th in Baseball America’s Top 100. 

Franklin Arias, SS, Red Sox: Arias strung together the seventh four-hit game of his pro career—and first of the season—on Sunday, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored in Portland’s 12-4 win over New Hampshire.

Arias opened the day with a single back up the middle in the first inning. He slashed a line drive in the right-center gap in the fourth for a double. Arias added another double in the sixth, lifting the ball just beyond the Fisher Cats' shortstop, then wrapped his day with a hard line drive to left in the seventh. The ball almost got into the gap but left fielder Eddie Micheletti Jr. managed to nab it to hold Arias to a single.

Arias is now hitting .366/.444/.710. The 20-year-old ranks second in the Eastern League in batting average, third in slugging and third in on-base percentage. He’s also second in OPS (1.154), eighth in home runs (8), ninth in extra-base hits (16) and sixth in total bases (66).

Blake Burke, 1B, Brewers: Burke added to his power surge by homering in both games of a doubleheader on Sunday. Burke went 3-for-4 with a homer in the opener and then 1-for-2 with a homer in the nightcap. Burke now has 11 home runs in 32 games, which passed David McCabe for the Southern League home run lead. Burke is also tied for third in the league with eight doubles and he leads the league with 20 extra-base hits. Burke is hitting .248/.336/.581.

Wehiwa Aloy, SS, Orioles: Aloy had the first three-homer game of his pro career Sunday, nearly single-handedly powering High-A Frederick past Jersey Shore. The Orioles’ supplemental first-round pick in 2025 out of Arkansas wore out center field, clearing the fence in the first inning, again in the fourth as part of a stretch of three consecutive Frederick home runs alongside Reed Trimble and Ike Irish, and once more in the sixth. Aloy has now hit six home runs in eight games this month and has 10 homers in just 27 games this season. The shortstop/third baseman is hitting .306/.355/.630.

Starlyn Caba, SS, Marlins: Caba hit his third home run of the season for High-A Beloit on Sunday in a 3-for-6 day that saw him score three runs.

Three home runs may not seem all that significant, but it's a sign of Caba's power improvements. Caba came into the season with just three career home runs, and he hit just one in 51 games last year. Caba's lack of power has long been the biggest concern about his development. He's an exceptional defender, but he slugged under .300 in each of the past two seasons.

This year, he's hitting .274/.397/.432, which is a dramatic improvement over his .222/.335/.278 slash line at Low-A Jupiter last year.

Jordan Woods, LHP, Royals: The 22-year-old Low-A Columbia lefthander had one of the best days we'll see all year on Sunday. Woods threw six perfect innings, striking out 14 Kannapolis batters.

Woods struck out the side in the first and didn't allow a ball out of the infield until the final out of the fourth inning. He responded to that flyout by striking out the final six batters he faced before being pulled after throwing 76 pitches. His 14 strikeouts tied a Fireflies single-game franchise record.

The perfect game disappeared quickly after Woods exited. The first three Kannapolis batters reached in the seventh inning, culminating in a three-run homer by Javier Mogollon that sparked a comeback win.

Woods doesn't blow hitters away with velocity, as he sits just above 90 mph, but he mixed his big curveball and changeup quite well on Sunday. He’s now a sparkling 2-0, 1.73 with 13 hits and eight walks allowed over 26 innings while striking out 43 batters, good for a 43% strikeout rate.

Woods was an undrafted free agent signed out of Canada in 2022. He's repeating Low-A after going 4-5, 4.12 last year.

Editor’s Picks

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Eric Hartman, OF, Braves: The High-A Rome outfielder was already in the midst of a breakout season, but he took it to another level Sunday, going 4-for-5 with a walk, double and two home runs in Rome’s 17-4 win over Asheville. Hartman now has 12 home runs, tied for fifth most in the minors, along with 13 steals in 16 attempts. Considering it's May 10, a 20-20 season seems extremely likely. Hartman stole 48 bags in 89 games last year, so if anything, his stolen base numbers can be expected to grow. A 20th-round pick in 2024, the 19-year-old Hartman is now hitting .331/.417/.710 this season.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Multiple Brewers boppers had big days on Sunday for High-A Wisconsin. Eric Bitonti went 5-for-5 with a homer and two doubles. Andrew Fischer wasn’t far behind, going 4-for-6 with two homers and a triple.

• Braves High-A shortstop John Gil hit two more homers yesterday. The 20-year-old is hitting .305/.403/.508 with six homers, 20 steals and 21 walks to 26 strikeouts.

• In the same game that Wehiwa Aloy homered three times, Orioles High-A lefty Joseph Dzierwa struck out nine batters in 3.2 innings.

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