Prospect Team Of The Month: May

Brendan Rodgers led all minor leaguers with 21 extra-base hits in May (photo by Bill Mitchell)

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An all-star team comprised of prospects, based on their performance in the minors during the month of May. Monthly all-prospect team archives available here.

The runs above average (RAA) estimates are calculated by Baseball America. For batters, weighted on-base average (wOBA) is used to calculate RAA, and for pitchers, runs allowed per nine innings (R/9) is used.

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C Brett Cumberland • Braves
Low Class A Rome (South Atlantic)

The 2016 supplemental second-rounder led all minor league batters with a .520 on-base percentage in May, and only veteran shortstop Eric Stamets out-slugged him. Cumberland caught just nine games in May as backup to Lucas Herbert, but this type of production plays at any position.

AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	RAA
70	16	25	7	0	7	29	16	22	1	0	.357	.520	.757	16.2

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1B Rhys Hoskins • Phillies
Triple-A Lehigh Valley (International)

Hoskins made his second straight prospect team of the month by clearing a .300 average, .400 on-base percentage and .600 slugging percentage. He leads the International League in several categories, including home runs, RBIs, slugging and runs scored.

AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	RAA
100	24	30	7	3	7	29	17	19	2	0	.300	.400	.640	11.2

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2B Scott Kingery • Phillies
Double-A Reading (Eastern)

With a 10-homer month, Kingery vaulted into first place on the minor league home run leaderboard with 16 bombs. Only Brendan Rodgers collected more extra-base hits than Kingery’s 20 in May.

AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	RAA
126	30	41	7	3	10	13	12	20	8	2	.325	.388	.667	13.9

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3B Michael Chavis • Red Sox
High Class A Salem (Carolina)

The 2014 first-rounder spent two seasons at low Class A but appears to be on the right track this season. Chavis led all minor league batters with 30 RBIs in May and was on a triple crown pace in the Carolina League with a .354 average, 12 homers and 42 RBIs at the end of May.

AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	RAA
114	24	42	12	1	7	30	9	28	1	0	.368	.425	.675	14.6

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SS Brendan Rodgers • Rockies
High Class A Lancaster (California)

Only a handful of minor league batters hit .400 for an entire month, but Rodgers added to the accomplishment by leading the field with 46 hits and 21 extra-base hits. He also finished May as the overall minor league batting leader at .393.

AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	RAA
115	24	46	11	2	8	28	4	15	1	0	.400	.426	.739	16.1

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OF Ronald Acuna • Braves
Double-A Mississippi (Southern)

The sole teenage position player in Double-A, Acuna sure doesn’t hit like he has just a half-season of Class A experience on his résumé. The young center fielder shows a broad range of secondary skills with speed, patience and emerging power.

AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	RAA
110	18	42	8	2	4	22	12	30	15	5	.382	.435	.600	13.9

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OF Dylan Cozens • Phillies
Triple-A Lehigh Valley (International)

The reigning minor league home run and RBI champion shook off a slow April to record a typically powerful May in which he ascended to the top spot in the International League in home runs.

AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	RAA
103	20	34	4	3	9	26	9	30	3	1	.330	.386	.689	11.8

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OF Derek Fisher • Astros
Triple-A Fresno (Pacific Coast)

Fisher and Scott Kingery (10 homers, eight steals) were the most prodigious power-speed prospects in May. While the Pacific Coast League is a hitter’s league, Fisher was one of just three batters to compile a 1.000 OPS in the first two months.

AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	RAA
111	18	41	9	0	8	24	8	23	6	4	.369	.421	.667	11.5

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RHP Chance Adams • Yankees
Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (International)

The converted college reliever continues to baffle opposing batters, who can’t seem to get a read. Adams now owns a .172 opponent average and strikeout rate of 10.1 per nine innings in a three-year pro career.

W	L	ERA	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO	BB	SO/9	BB/9	AVG	RAA
4	1	1.50	6	36	21	6	6	2	37	12	9.3	3.0	.172	11.5

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RHP Corbin Burnes • Brewers
High Class A Carolina (Carolina)

The 2016 fourth-rounder from St. Mary’s led all minor league starters with a 0.55 ERA in May. Burnes pitched so well, allowing three runs and seven walks in five starts, that the Brewers promoted him to Double-A Biloxi in June.

W	L	ERA	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO	BB	SO/9	BB/9	AVG	RAA
4	0	0.55	5	32.2	17	3	2	0	29	7	8.0	1.9	.155	14.2

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RHP Tom Eshelman • Phillies
Triple-A Lehigh Valley (International)

While Eshelman walks a fine line without bat-missing stuff, his pinpoint control (nine walks in 10 starts this season) forces batters to beat him. Triple-A batters failed on that count in May with a .176 average and one home run in 46 innings.

W	L	ERA	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO	BB	SO/9	BB/9	AVG	RAA
4	0	1.38	6	45.2	28	10	7	1	29	5	5.7	1.0	.176	12.3

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RHP Jon Duplantier • Diamondbacks
Low Class A Kane County (Midwest)

Duplantier slid to the third round last year out of Rice because of injury concerns but appears to be an astute pick by the D-backs. He finished May as the overall minor league leader for ERA at 0.50 and already throws at least three above-average pitches.

W	L	ERA	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO	BB	SO/9	BB/9	AVG	RAA
4	0	0.79	6	34	17	4	3	1	34	7	9.0	1.9	.149	13.0

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RHP Ariel Jurado • Rangers
Double-A Frisco (Texas)

Jurado ran up a 6.41 ERA in April but regained his composure in May, when the Panamanian righty resumed pounding the strike zone and generating a high rate of ground balls.

W	L	ERA	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	SO	BB	SO/9	BB/9	AVG	RAA
5	0	1.86	6	38.2	28	8	8	2	26	7	6.1	1.6	.203	11.3