2 The Bigs

By Sal Corso: April 8, 2024

We’re off to the races across all minor league levels. Let’s take a look at this week’s top performers on the official first week of minor-league baseball.

Dynamic Duos

These organizational and level teammates are crushing to start. Many of which have been highlighted by 2TB in the past:

Answering a few questions that I’m sure you have on those Kjerstad numbers:

1. Yes, they are all stats from 9 games
2. Yes, that last number in the slash line is SLG, not OPS
3. Yes, he’s on a 162-game pace of 450 RBI  

25 year old @Orioles prospect Heston Kjerstad (@hestonkjerstad) starts the season off hot with 5 HR and 21 RBI in his first six games. pic.twitter.com/P0tHXPyJyp

— Prospect Dugout (@prospectdugout) April 7, 2024

Unfortunately, there’s not much room in Baltimore. But these two are doing everything in their power to force the Orioles’ hand. Kjerstad had a record day and week, while the 2019 Bowman Draft legend Peyton Burdick is showing why he was a sought after early-round pick by the Marlins. We would not be surprised if either/both are included in deals at the deadline to fill major-league level needs for that Baltimore team.

Mariners’ fans should be excited. These two young stars in the making are off to a blazing start. We covered Lazaro this offseason, and while I wasn’t as high on him as others (given his very-high K-rate), I did say that he had plenty to time to develop. It seems like he has. Montes has only struck out twice in his 15 plate-appearances to start the season.

Matt Shaw singles and James Triantos scores! Smokies trail 3-1 in the bottom of the 1st. @JamesTriantos #LastYearBestYear pic.twitter.com/DwwwpeFyf0

— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) April 7, 2024

The Cubs are off to a nice start this year (6-3). However, they are not getting much production from 2B and 3B. Triantos and Shaw are both major-league ready. Hoerner and Madrigal are both very solid major-league players who should find their way this season. However, the two rising prospects are sure to put some pressure on the latter if consistent production is not there.

Top Performances

Chandler Simpson (A+): The Rays speedster and Victor Scott’s BFF is off and running (literally). 5 Hits and 4 SB in 3 games with a .778 OBP.

.714/.778/.1.492 5 H 4 SB

Sammy Zavala (A+): We are high on Zavala. And with the Padres seemingly locking up 4^th place in the West for the next few years, I still don’t truly understand the Cease trade. But you can read my rant about that in my Sammy Zavala Prospect Profile.

.333/.375/.667 3B HR RBI SB

First turn in A+, 2024 for sammy zavala, triple against the LF wall. Come on, with God always. pic.twitter.com/7yot26tBqb

— Tiburón 🦈 JZ (@JzTiburon) April 5, 2024

Colby Thomas (AA): The big stat here is not any of the ones listed below. It is the 0 strikeouts in 12 at-bats. Oakland is a mess, and they clearly just send players up and down for no reason (re: Esteury Ruiz). So let’s see Colby make a nice move upwards.  

.417/.500/.917 2 HR 2 RBI

.300+ AVG | 1.000+ OPS | Sub-20% K-Rate| 30%+ Hard-Hit-Rate

There’s a little Dyan Jorge mention. Another high-on-the-list 2 The Bigs prospect. Tovar and Amaedor should be locked in at the pro-level for the struggling Rockies, but Jorge can take a fast route to the pros if he performs, given the Rockies may be the worst franchise in baseball.

Remember These Bowman Names?