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Josi Nova, SS, Royals: Arizona Complex League Royals shortstop Josi Novas was the star of the second day of the Arizona Complex League season. He went 4-for-6 with a pair of home runs in the Royals’ 20-4 win over the ACL A’s. The 19-year-old shortstop also doubled. Rovas had a solid ACL season last year, hitting .324/.437/.450.

Sammy Stafura, SS, Reds: In his second game of the Arizona Complex League season, ACL Reds shortstop Sammy Stafura went 4-for-4 with a double and a triple. Stafura was the Reds’ second-round pick in 2023. He had just three hits in 12 games in the ACL last year, but he topped that number in the span of three hours on Monday. It wasn’t all good for Stafura on Monday. He had two errors in the game.

Mason Black, RHP, Giants: Giants righthander Mason Black’s MLB debut started great, but ended on a down note. He retired the first five Phillies in order and induced a Bryce Harper fly out to escape a bit of trouble in the third inning. Black did allow a run on a Whit Merrifield single in the fourth, but he headed to the fifth inning trailing 1-0. But given a third chance to see the rookie, the Phillies’ feasted. Back-to-back singles by Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto set up a Harper’ three-run home run, and doubles by Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos scored another run and chased Black from the game. Black’s final line was five runs and eight hits allowed as well as three walks in 4.1 innings. He struck out four. Black hadn’t thrown more than 71 pitches in any MiLB game this season. He threw 84 in his MLB debut and seemed to tire in his final inning.

Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP, Twins: Coming out of the 2023 season, Simeon Woods Richardson’s seemed to have slid down the Twins’ starting pitching depth chart. His stuff had backed up, and he had too many outings where he struggled to put away hitters. He’d allowed seven hits and five runs in 4.2 innings in his lone appearance for Minnesota in 2023. Woods Richardson regained some of his arm speed during the offseason and it’s made a world of difference. When he’s sitting 90-91 mph, as he often did in 2023, he struggles. But on Monday, he was sitting 92-94 mph and touching 95. As we noted in our offseason report, Wood Richardson becomes a viable back-end starter when he’s sitting 93-94. He held Seattle to just one hit in six scoreless innings on Monday. He walked one and struck out eight as he lowered his ERA to 1.74.

Jonny DeLuca, OF, Rays: Fresh off the injured list, Rays center fielder Jonny DeLuca went 2-for-4 on Monday with his first home run as a Tampa Bay Ray. DeLuca was acquired with Ryan Pepiot in last offseason’s trade that sent Tyler Glasnow to the Dodgers. He missed the first month of the season with a broken hand, but returned to the lineup last Friday. He’s started every game since then, and has looked quite comfortable at the plate. He’s currently hitting .333/.375/.667.

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

Josh Ekness, RHP, Marlins: Miami popped Ekness in the 12th round of the 2023 draft out of Houston, where he transferred after two seasons at Lamar. At both stops the righthander showed a promising combination of high-octane heat and a nasty slider. This year, he’s using that mix to bully Low-A hitters. Over 10 games, Ekness has pitched 13 innings, allowed five hits, walked three and struck out 21. He’s brought his fastball up to 99 mph and has posted respective whiff and strikeout rates of 16.7% and 42%. The latter figure is the second-best in the Marlins’ system among pitchers with more than 10 innings. The caveat here is that he’s a college arm in Low-A, but the stuff is intriguing enough to make him someone to monitor as a possible quick mover. Ekness is the helium pick in today’s Hot Sheet, available exclusively for Baseball America subscribers below.