The BAPR is a free daily morning newsletter. Please consider help spreading the word by forwarding to your friends and helping us grow the Baseball America community!

Yanquiel Fernandez, OF, Rockies & Colby Thomas, OF, A’s: As first reported by Francys Romero, Fernandez is expected to join the big league club for their Tuesday home game against the Astros. Long considered one of the Rockies' best power prospects, Fernandez is hitting .284/.347/.502 for Triple-A Albuquerque this season with 14 doubles and 13 home runs in 64 games. He has been especially hot in June, as he hit .364/.394/.652 with five home runs in 17 games.

Fernandez, 22, has played right field exclusively this year in Albuquerque. He originally signed with the Rockies out of Cuba in 2019. He was added to the 40-man roster after the 2023 season. After struggling to make contact early in his career, he's traded some power for a much better contact rate. This year he's struck out only 14% of the time while posting an 8.5% walk rate. In 2023, he struck out in 25.3% of plate appearances with a 32.9% strikeout rate in his stint in Double-A.

Fernandez isn’t the only outfield prospect looking to find the right blend of power and contact who got called up on Monday. So did 24-year-old A’s outfielder Colby Thomas, who made his debut as a defensive replacement in left field for Tyler Soderstrom on Monday night and made this decisive throw to keep the game tied and allow the A’s to win it in the ninth.

Thomas, like Fernandez, had really heated up in June and was hitting .297/.365/.542 with 17 homers for Triple-A Las Vegas. He entered the season ranked third in the A’s system and on BA’s Top 100, although evaluators early in the year weren’t quite convinced in Thomas’ approach. But he has subtly improved his plan of attack throughout the year and reaped the rewards over the last month. Thomas is still an ultra-aggressive hitter but he crushes fastballs, has at least above-average in-game power and a deep bag of supplementary tools, including plus corner outfield defense. Thomas and Tyler Soderstrom could settle into a left field platoon in relatively short order.

Chase Burns, RHP, Reds: For this first time since April 20, 2023 against South Carolina in his sophomore season in college, Burns failed to get out of the first inning in his start on Monday.

Making his second MLB start, Burns walked Jarren Duran to begin the bottom of the first at Fenway Park. Roman Anthony then hit into what looked to be a likely double play, but second baseman Matt McLain threw wide of the target, which meant that runners were on the corners instead of one or even two outs.

And then it all fell apart. Abraham Toro singled. Carlos Narvaez doubled. After Wilyer Abreu grounded out, Trevor Story hit a three-run home run. Marcelo Mayer added a double and David Hamilton a single to score Mayer. When Ceddane Rafaela walked to become the eight batter of nine to reach against Burns, he was lifted.

His line was 0.1 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 2 BB and 0 SO. Burns didn't have trouble throwing strikes, and he did touch 100 mph, but he caught too much of the zone, and he was fooling no one.

The Red Sox had six hard-hit balls (95+ mph exit velocity). Burns induced one swing and miss in 33 pitches.

Burns' ERA is a now unsightly 13.50 ERA. But it will also likely be a useful learning experience, and a reminder that big league development has its highs and its lows.

Eduardo Beltre, OF, Twins: This season has been a struggle for Beltre. His batting average has been above .200 for just two days of the Florida Complex League season, and he's had to work hard to get his OPS above .600.

But as the season winds down, Beltre is starting to heat up. He went 2-for-4 with a home run, a stolen base and two runs scored on Monday. It's his second home run of the month and his fourth multi-hit game. He's hitting .229/.316/.458 in June, which has raised his overall slash line to .179/.302/.349. Beltre hit .326/.453/.618 last season in the Dominican Summer League.

Editor’s Picks

New Top 100 Update: A flamethrowing teenager in the Orioles system has entered the back of our list, and based off the feedback we’re getting from scouts, he may not be done climbing. Read more…

Statcast Standouts: Colby Thomas wasn’t the only player to impress Eli Ben-Porat over the past week. Read more…

Futures Game Rosters: Here’s our quick-hitting analysis for every player selected to next week’s all-star game of prospects. Read more…

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

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

Tyson Hardin, RHP, Brewers: Promoted to Double-A Biloxi on June 18, Hardin has now made three starts with the Shuckers and has continued to impress against Southern League competitors. In his two starts this week against Columbus, Hardin allowed just one earned run across 11 innings, as he walked one and struck out 11 over the two outings. Hardin’s fastball is a plus pitch due to its flatter plane of approach and his ability to get more induced vertical break than expected from his release height. He sits 94-95 mph and mixes a low-90s cutter, a sweepy low-to-mid-80s slider and a changeup. Hardin is one of the top breakout pitching prospects in the minors this season and a great draft find by the Brewers.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• After missing time with a blister, breakout Red Sox LHP Brandon Clarke returned to High-A Greenville’s rotation this week.

• While no longer prospect-eligible, Rays rookie Chandler Simpson is now tied for fourth in the majors in steals (22) in just 42 games.

In Case You Missed It