Full-season minor league action returns today. Below, see a few standouts from Complex League play this week, plus our midseason Players of the Year in every system after the first half of play in 2024.

Drue Hackenberg, RHP, Braves: Hackenberg, the Braves’ 2023 second-round pick, had never reached double digits in strikeouts before Sunday. He blew that away, setting a Double-A Mississippi single-game record with 16 strikeouts against Pensacola. Hackenberg seemed to have everything working. He didn’t record an out on anything other than a strikeout until the final out of the third inning. He got swings and misses on his 95-mph fastball. He spotted his hard high-80s changeup and his slider. Jakob Marsee had the toughest time. He struck out three times against Hackenberg and twice more after Hackenberg left.

Tre’ Morgan, 1B, Rays: Morgan has shown no rust in his return to the regular season after participating in the Futures Game Skills showcase. Morgan went 3-for-5 with his 17th double and fifth home run of the season on Sunday. That raised his overall batting average to a MiLB-best .362. He’s battling with fellow Tampa Bay Rays prospect Chandler Simpson for that batting title. Simpson also had three hits on Sunday and is now hitting .355.

Max Clark, OF & Kevin McGonigle, SS, Tigers: Clark went 3-for-4 with a single, a double, a home run, a walk and a stolen base in his final game at Low-A Lakeland. It was his seventh home run and his 26th steal in 28 attempts. After the game it was announced that he and teammate Kevin McGonigle, the system’s top two position prospects, were being promoted to High-A West Michigan. Clark hit .286/.386/.421 for the Flying Tigers and ranks No. 25 on the Baseball America Top 100. McGonigle ranks just one spot behind him and was hitting .326/.407/.470.

Mikey Romero, 2B, Red Sox: A day after he hit his third home run of the season, Romero hit a pair of home runs (his fourth and fifth) as part of a four-hit day for High-A Greenville. Romero, the Red Sox’ first-round pick in 2022, had struggled in the first half of the season, but he raised his OPS by almost 100 points in the past two days. He’s now hitting .244/.289/.449.

Brett Wichrowski, RHP, Brewers: Wichrowski held Double-A Montgomery to five hits and one run in six innings on Saturday. With one more start this month, Wichrowski has a 1.62 ERA with a 15-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 16.2 innings over three starts.

Jackson Jobe, RHP, Tigers: Jobe threw the first six innings of a no-hitter for Double-A Erie against Binghamton. Three relievers (Jake Higginbotham, Matt Seelinger and Garrett Hill) each threw a hitless inning apiece to finish off the no-hitter. Jobe is now 2-1, 1.38 with just 12 hits allowed in 32.2 innings. He has walked 16 and struck out 45. Opponents are hitting .102 against him this month in three starts for Erie.

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

Paulino Santana, OF, Rangers: Santana was the crown jewel of Texas’ most recent international signing class. The righty swinger led off for the American League and started in center field in Sunday’s Dominican Summer League All-Star Game. Baseball America’s Josh Norris was onsite for the game and identified Santana as one of the top performers. See why in our 2024 DSL All-Star Game superlatives piece below, including analysis and video exclusively for Baseball America subscribers.

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