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Paul Skenes, RHP, Pirates: Skenes’ starts have become something of a weekly event so far in 2024, with fans equal parts enamored with his velocity and curious about Pittsburgh’s plans for the prized righty. Two things happened Wednesday for the first time this season: Skenes allowed a run and, more importantly, he pitched into the fifth inning against Triple-A Omaha. Skenes was mostly in control, striking out seven while walking just one over 4.1 innings and again showing triple-digit velocity. His lone blemish was a Nate Eaton RBI single in the second inning. Skenes relied on his mid-90s splitter/splinker far more frequently in this outing, throwing it 22 times.

Jordan Beck, OF, Rockies: Beck continues to rack up hits in bunches. Beck went 3-for-5 with a double in Triple-A Albuquerque’s 11-9 loss to Oklahoma City, including four balls hit 98 mph or harder. Notably, three of those four hard-hit balls came against rehabbing Dodgers righty Walker Buehler. Beck now owns a 1.002 OPS through 21 games at Triple-A and continues to show a good feel for the strike zone, walking 13 times compared to 19 strikeouts.

Chandler Simpson, OF, Rays: Simpson is one of the fastest players in baseball, but so far this season his contact hitting should be getting the highlights. After Wednesday’s 2-for-4 showing, Simpson now has eight multi-hit games over his first 14 games of the season. In addition to the pair of hits, Simpson stole his 18th base of the season. He’s one of the better base stealers in the minors and has a stolen base in 12 of 14 games this season.

Yanquiel Fernandez, OF, Rockies: The Rockies’ No. 3 prospect had two hits including a monster home run on Wednesday. Fernandez stepped up to the plate with two on and two out in the bottom of the third and took a Zach Penrod pitch deep to right field, landing in the upper deck and just missing leaving the stadium by a few feet. Few prospects in the game can match Fernandez’s natural raw power ability. He projects to hit 30 or more home runs in his peak seasons.

Marcelo Mayer, SS, Red Sox: After an 0-for-5 showing on Tuesday night, Mayer had a big night in Hartford on Wednesday. Mayer homered to right field in his first at-bat, followed by a single in the third inning and a double in the fourth. Over his final two at-bats, the remaining triple to complete the cycle alluded Mayer as he walked in his final attempt. Fully healthy to start 2024, Mayer looks like the Red Sox shortstop of the future, a time that could come later in 2024.

Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF, Cubs: The Cubs recalled top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong on Wednesday after placing Cody Bellinger on the injured list with a fractured rib. Crow-Armstrong, who ranks No. 19 on our Top 100, was hitting just .203/.241/.392 through 19 games with Triple-A Iowa. The 22-year-old made his big league debut last September and appeared in 13 games, mostly as a pinch-runner and defensive specialist, but has yet to notch his first career hit. He figures to have a longer runway to make an impact this time around with Chicago, which is also dealing with an injury to outfielder Seiya Suzuki. While Crow-Armstrong’s bat has yet to heat up, at minimum he should provide immediately provide plus center field defense, where he has Gold Glove potential over the long run.

Check out the Prospect Wire for more updates from yesterday include check-ins on A.J. Vukovich, Ty Madden, Addison Barger & more. 

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

Brett Wichrowski, RHP, Brewers: Wichrowski is one of the biggest arrow-up pitching prospects in baseball. Every team had several opportunities to add him last year, but the Brewers snapped him up in the 13th round of the draft and signed him for $100,000. At the time, Wichrowski was a junior at Bryant, where he had a 4.50 ERA split between starting and the bullpen, with a 64-25 K-BB mark in 50 innings and a fastball that was sitting in the low 90s, topping at 96 mph.

As Josh Norris pointed out, his stuff exploded as soon as he got to spring training, where he touched 100 mph. He has since reached 101 mph, sitting at 94-97 mph as a starter for High-A Wisconsin, where he has a 1.64 ERA with 14 strikeouts and two walks in 11 innings. The extra five mph to give him a triple-digits fastball is exciting, but it’s a mid-80s slider that breaks like a Whiffle ball at times that helps him pile up empty swings. Wichrowski has transformed himself from a player outside the Brewers Top 30 prospects entering the year into one whose pushing his way toward the top 10 prospects in one of the game’s strongest farm systems.

Ben Badler has nine more arms showing similar stuff gains early in 2024 below.