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Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF, Twins: Rodriguez is a divisive prospect. Regardless of how you feel about his future role, there’s no denying he’s scorching hot to begin the season. Rodriguez hit his second home run Thursday and reached base three times. Rodriguez has reached base two or more times in all five games to begin the season, and on Thursday he slugged a home run for the second consecutive game. Rodriguez is 7-for-18 to begin 2024 with an obscene .542 on-base percentage.

Jacob Wilson, SS, Athletics: The Athletics’ first-round pick is off to a rousing start in Double-A to begin 2024. On Thursday, Wilson collected four hits including his first home run of the season. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth and Midland trailing 5-4, Wilson took an 0-2 pitch to left field to give Midland an 8-5 lead. Wilson is 9-for-22 to the begin the season with a pair of extra base hits.

Graham Pauley, 3B, Padres: It’s rare that a hitter hits his first MLB home run before his first Triple-A home run, but that’s in fact the curious case of Graham Pauley. After breaking camp with the Padres, Pauley was demoted to Triple-A late last week. On Thursday, Pauley did something he had already done in the majors with the Padres: hit a home run. Pauley’s home run was a grand slam, as he stepped to the plate in the top of the second, taking a 76 mph breaking ball from Carson Whisenhunt to right center. The ball left the bat at 100.6 mph with a launch angle of 27 degrees.

Jonny Farmelo, OF, Mariners: The Mariners 2023 draft class has been off to a rousing start since entering pro ball, and Jonny Farmelo is breaking out to begin 2024. On Thursday, Farmelo hit his third home run of the young season. A speedy center fielder and well-rounded prospect, Farmelo is showing his power-hitting ability to begin the season.

Doug Nikhazy, LHP, Guardians: Doug Nikhazy has yet to allow a run over his first two starts of the season. Thursday, Nikhazy allowed one hit over five scoreless innings, running his total to 10 scoreless frames to begin 2024. Nikhazy struck out eight over five innings generating 14 whiffs, three against his slider, seven against his fastball and four against his changeup. If Nikhazy continues to miss bats and put up zeroes he could be the next Guardians pitcher to make a large in-season jump.

Aidan Miller, SS, Phillies: The Phillies 2023 first-round pick, Aidan Miller went 2-for-5 with a home run and a stolen base on Thursday. Miller is 7-for-20 to begin the season with a surprising five stolen bases on five attempts. In the bottom of the fifth inning Miller took a 2-2 curveball over the plate 362 feet to left field for his first professional home run. It was an unusual shot, as the ball left the bat at 93.2 mph at a launch angle of 39 degrees. Miller was billed for his hit tool coming out of the draft last season and has shown advanced skills so far. Some cleanup to a hitch in his load has improved Miller’s ability to hit for impact.

James Wood, OF, Nationals: Nationals top prospect James Wood continues to push his way toward a callup to the major leagues, as the gargantuan outfielder slugged a pair of home runs Thursday afternoon. Wood had four hits on the day before the game was called due to rain. After striking out against Ricky Tiedemann in his first at-bat, Wood struck revenge in his second at bat as he pummeled an 82 mph slider from Tiedemann 403 feet to right field. Wood followed in his next two at bats with a 108 mph single and a 111.9 mph double. In Wood’s final at-bat before the game was called in the eighth due to rain, he took a Hagen Danner 96 mph fastball on the outer half 425 feet to center field. Wood hit four balls in play on Thursday afternoon at 106.8 mph or above, including three batted ball events above 108 mph. 

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

Andrew Salas, SS, 2025: Ben Badler dropped a new report from the Dominican Republic yesterday, including several top players from the 2025, 2026 and 2027 international classes who impressed him (and are already linked to MLB teams). One was Andrew Salas, the younger brother of Padres top prospect Ethan Salas and Twins infielder Jose Salas. Andrew is in line for one of the bonuses in the 2025 class. Ben explains why and has some new video.

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