*Top Hitter of the Day*

• Gareth Morgan, DH – Inland Empire 66ers – Los Angeles Angels – – 3-6, 2 HR (1,2), 3R, 6RBi, 3K – – Morgan may be batting a meager .213 on the season with only 10 hits in 47 at-bats across 13 games with both Modesto and Inland Empire, but five of those ten hits have been home runs. The Angels free-agent signee back in April posted the third two-homer game of his career last night (here’s #1 and #2), leading the 66er’s to an 19-6  drubbing of the Lancaster Jethawks. Morgan clubbed his first of the game, a two-run line drive over the left field wall, off Rockies top prospect Ryan Rolinson, who took the loss, giving up nine earned runs on nine hits, with four walks in 3.2 innings, dropping him to to 2-3 with a 4.23 ERA on the season.  Morgan’s second home run of the evening started Inland Empire’s four-run ninth, as he connected on a 1-2 pitch off reliever Tommy Doyle, scoring right fielder Ryan Vega who singled after infielder Franklin Torres led off the inning with a walk. Morgan’s blast also helped him set a career high with six runs batted in. His previous high was four, which he did twice last season while with Modesto (April 7 versus Lancaster; and August 1 against Stockton). A rehabbing Juston Upton also got into the 19-run mix going 4-5 with two home runs of his own, scoring five runs and driving in four. 

California League: 

• Jake McCarthy, CF – Visalia Rawhide – Arizona Diamondbacks – – 2-4, HR (1), 2R, 3RBi, BB, K, SB (12) – 
• Nick Allen, SS – Stockton Ports – Oakland A’s –– 3-4, 2 2B, 2R – Allen further stretched his Cal League lead in doubles with his 21st and 22nd on the season last night against Modesto. The San Diego native also sits second in the league (116) behind only Lancaster’s Luis Castro in total bases (125).   

Carolina League: 

• Jake Adams, 1B – Fayetteville Woodpeckers – Houston Astros – – 1-4, HR (11), R, 4RBi, K – 
• Steele Walker, CF – Winston-Salem Dash – Chicago White Sox – – 4-5, HR (3), 3B, 2B, R, 4RBi – – The White Sox second round draft choice out of the University of Oklahoma (2018) registered a career high and a career first last night. The 5’11”- 190 lefty posted his first ever four hit game, and he made it count with his first career cycle leading the Dash to a 6-2 victory over the Carolina Mudcats.
• Samuel Huff, C – Down East Wood Ducks – Texas Rangers – – 1-4, HR (5/20), R, 2RBi, K – – With his sixth inning, two-run blast last night against South Bend, Huff became the sixth minor league player to reach 20 home runs on the season. The 6’4″- 230 lb. righty is tied at 20 with Cleveland top prospect Bobby Bradley and former Arizona Diamondback starter, (now with AAA Reno) 28-year-old outfielder Yasmany Tomas. Fellow Diamondback Kevin Cron sits tied with Houston outfielder Kyle Tucker at 21, while the Man Child, Houston’s Yordan Alvarez blasted 23 for AAA Round Rock before his recent call-up to the major league club. 

Florida State League: 

• The Florida State League had a scheduled day off Friday. 

Midwest League:

• Chris Betts, C – Bowling Green Hot Rods – Tampa Bay Rays – – 1-3, HR (12), R, 2RBi, BB, K – 
• Will Benson, LF – Lake County Captains – Cleveland Indians – – 1-3, HR (17), R, RBi, BB, K – – Benson’s ninth inning solo shot was his first home run since June 2, but Cleveland’s #25 ranked prospect and Midwest League leader in total bases (127) still holds the MWL home run lead (too) with 17 over Hulsizer (below), and Betts (above).  
• Niko Hulsizer, LF – Great Lakes Loons – Los Angeles Dodgers – – 1-4, HR (15), R, 2RBi, BB, K – 
• Andy Weber, DH – South Bend Cubs – Chicago Cubs – – 4-5, 2B, R, 2RBi – 
• Xavier Edwards, 2B – Fort Wayne TinCaps – San Diego Padres – – 2-4, 2 SB (16,17) – 
• Ulrich Bojarski, DH – West Michigan Whitecaps – Detroit Tigers – – 2-4, HR (10), R, 2RBi, 2K – 
• Jerar Encarnacion, RF – Clinton Lumberkings – Miami Marlins – – 2-4, HR (10), R, RBi – 
• David Fry, RF – Wisconsin Timber Rattlers – Milwaukee Brewers – – 1-3, HR (8), R, 2RBi, BB, 2K – – Although Fry clubbed his eighth homer of the season, the 2018 – seventh rounder out of Northwester State (LA) leads all the minors with 27 doubles. 

South Atlantic League: 

• Patrick Dorrian, 3B – Greensboro Grasshoppers – Pittsburgh Pirates – – 2-3, HR (6), 2B, R, 3RBi, BB, K –
•  Diego Rincones, LF – Augusta GreenJackets – San Francisco Giants – – 3-3, 2B, R, 3RBi – – The 20-year-old logged his eighth three-hit game of the season last night, leading Augusta to a 6-5 win over Rome. It was also the Venezuelan’s fifth multi-hit game in his last seven and he’s collected a hit in eight of his last ten games. 
• Julio Rodriguez, RF – West Virginia Power – Seattle Mariners – – 3-5, HR (1), R, 3RBi, K – – The 18-year-old Dominican Republic native clubbed his first home run of 2019 last night versus Hagerstown. 

Dominican Summer League: 

• Edilberto Mendoza, C – DSL Rangers1 – Texas Rangers – – 3-4, 3B, 2 2B, 2R, 2RBi – 
• Rehybell Perozo, DH – DSL Rangers1 – Texas Rangers –2-3, 3B, 2B, 4R, RBi, 2BB –
• Brandon Linares, RF – DSL Rangers1 – Texas Rangers – – 3-5, 3B, 2R, 2RBi, K – 
• Angel Baptista, 2B/SS – DSL Rangers1 – Texas Rangers –– 3-4, 3B, 2B, 2R, 6RBi, BB – – Rangers1 starting 5-thru-9 hitters (all seen here) combined to collect 13 of 17 hits and score 12 of their runs, while three Rangers1 pitchers combined to toss a two-hit shutout in a 16-0 pasting of the DSL Indians. 
• Alexander Suarez, CF – DSL Giants – San Francisco Giants – – 3-4, 2B, R, 2RBi, SB (1) – 
• Reidy Mercado, RF – DSL Brewers – Mulwaukee Brewers – – 2-3, 3R, BB, 2SB (9,10) – 
• Axcel Peralta, 1B – DSL Padres – San Diego Padres– 3-3, 3B, 2B, 2R, RBi, BB – 
• Jose De La Cruz, DH – DSL Tigers1 – Detroit Tigers – – 3-5, HR (3), 3B, 2B, 3R, 4RBi, SB (2) – – The Tigers2 leadoff hitter fell a single shy of hitting for a cycle, but hit his second homer in his last three games, and set season highs with three runs scored and four runs batted in, in an 8-4 victory over the Mariners squad. With his nine total bases on the day, De La Cruz now sits one back of total bases leader, Red Sox2 outfielder Bryan Gonzalez who has 34.  
• Alexeis Azuaje, 2B – DSL Phillies Red – Philadelphia Phillies – – 2-5, HR (2), R, 3RBi, 2K – – The 17-year-old righty has registered three consecutive two-hit games, and has three runs batted in and a home run in back-to-back games. 
• Rodolfo Nolasco, DH – DSL Pirates2 – Pittsburgh Pirates – – 2-4, HR (1), 3B, 2R, 5RBi, K – 
• Alexander Mojica, 3B – DSL Pirates2 – Pittsburgh Pirates –– 3-3, HR (2), 2B, R, 4RBi – 
• Elio Prado, LF – DSL Red Sox2 – Boston Red Sox– 2-5, HR (2), R, 3RBi, SB (5) – 
• Junior Calderon, 3B – DSL Royals1 – Kansas City Royals – – 3-5, HR (3), 2 3B, 3R, 4RBi, BB – – After beginning the season 3-30 in his first eight games (.100), the 6’0″- 175 lb. righty has posted seven hits over his last 13 at-bats (.539) and has registered all but one of his extra-base hits on the season in his last three games. 
• Adinso Reyes, SS – DSL Tigers1 – Detroit Tigers – – 3-4, 2 2B, 3RBi, BB – 

New York-Penn League: 

• Isaiah Pasteur, LF – Staten Island Yankees – New York Yankees – – 2-3, 2 2B, 2R – 
• Joe Genord, 1B – Brooklyn Cyclones – New York Mets – – 1-3, HR (1), 2R, RBi, BB, K – 
• Nic Gaddis, 3B – Brooklyn Cyclones – New York Mets – – 2-4, 2 2B, R, RBi – 
• Nicholas Northcut, 3B – Lowell Spinners – Boston Red Sox – – 3-4, 2 2B, R, 3RBi, K – – The former two-way player out of William Mason HS (OH) has the distinction of opening the 2019 New York-Penn League season as it’s first total base leader. If you aren’t familiar with Northcut, here’s a little “get-to-know-you” draft recap piece from back on 2018. 
• Kevin Richards, CF – Vermont Lake Monsters – Oakland Athletics – – 3-4, 2B, R, K – 
• Nicolas Torres, SS – Williamsport Crosscutters – Philadelphia Phillies – – 1-3, 2B, 3R, 2BB, 2K, SB (1) – 
• George Valera, CF – Mahoning Valley Scrappers – Cleveland Indians – – 2-4, 2 2B, 2R, 2RBi – 

Northwest League:

• Luis Asuncion, DH – Spokane Indians – Seattle Mariners – – 1-4, HR (1), 2R, 2RBi, BB, K – 
• Ricardo Genoves, C – Salem-Keizer Volcanoes – San Francisco Giants – – 4-6, R, RBi, K – 
• Franklin Labour, RF – Salem-Keizer Volcanoes – San Francisco Giants –3-6, 2B, R, 2RBi, 2K – 
• DeAires Moses, LF – Everett AquaSox – Seattle Mariners – – 0-3, 2R, BB, 2K, 4 SB (1,2,3,4) – Moses posted one of the more odd stat lines I’ve seen in awhile.

Pioneer League: 

• Justin Yurchak, 1B – Ogden Raptors – Los Angeles Dodgers – – 4-4, 2 HR (1,2), 3R, 5RBi, BB – – Although he’s old for the level (22), you can’t complain about the line Yurchack laid down last night in Ogden’s 12-0 opening day beating of Grand Junction. 
• Sam McWilliams, 2B – Ogden Raptors – Los Angeles Dodgers –– 3-5, HR (1), 2B, 3R, RBi, BB, K – 
• Rhett Aplin, 1B – Idaho Falls Chukars – Kansas City Royals –– 2-5, HR (1), R, RBi, K – 
• D’Shawn Knowles, RF – Orem Owlz – Los Angeles Angels – – 1-3, HR (1), R, 2RBi, BB – 
• Johan Sala, LF – Orem Owlz – Los Angeles Angels –– 1-2, HR (1), R, BB, K –