This will be your weekly look at the hottest prospects in the system, highlighting the top performers at the plate and on the mound. Below is the hotlist for Week Three. Check out the previous week’s hotlist here.
Who’s Hot At The Plate?
Anthony Huezo – Huezo had a breakout year making his way to full-season and he’s off to a nice start this year. This week in six games, Huezo hit .364 with 2 doubles, a triple, 2 home runs and 3 stolen bases. Overall he has a .866 OPS through 13 games.
Will Bush – Bush has been really good to start the season and this week was no different. Bush played in five games for the Hooks and hit .333 with 2 home runs, 4 runs batted in and drew 7 walks. He has a .510 OBP with more walks than strikeouts this year.
Cesar Hernandez – Hernandez appears to really have found his swing this year. The 22-year-old played in five games this week for Asheville and hit .600 with 5 runs batted in and didn’t strike out once. On the season he .452 with only 4 strikeouts in 9 games.
Trevor Austin – Austin had possibly his best week as a pro. The utility player for the Hooks hit .313 but four of his five hits were for extra-bases included three home runs. He also walked four times and stole a base this week.
Yamal Encarnacion – Encarnacion has bounced around as a utility player but has been solid this year. This week the 22-year-old hit .444 with 6 stolen bases over 5 games for the Hooks. In 12 games this year he is hitting .318 with 9 RBI and 7 stolen bases.
Who’s Hot On The Mound?
Bryce Mayer – After a shaky first outing for Mayer, he turned in a good one this week. In his one start for the Hooks, the right-hander struck out 7 batters over 4 scoreless innings.
Gabel Pentecost – Pentecost had one great outing and one rough outing coming into this week. This week though, he turned in another good outing striking out 8 batters over 5 innings allowing just 2 runs for the Woodpeckers.
Ethan Pecko – Pecko has been pitching in rehab appearances for the Woodpeckers but his numbers this week were too good to leave off. He made one start in Fayetteville and struck out 8 over 3 scoreless innings. He should be ready for Triple-A soon.
Parker Smith – Smith has a chance to make some noise in 2026 and this week he was solid. In his one start he struck out 7 over 6 innings allowing 3 runs, though all came on a 3 run home run. It was a good outing and another step in the right direction.
TEAM ERA and OPS:
Sugar Land – From 2.17 ERA to 3.16 ERA – From .631 OPS to .682 OPS
Corpus Christi – From 3.18 ERA to 3.77 ERA – From .583 OPS to .673 OPS
Asheville – From 4.66 ERA to 6.52 ERA – From .634 OPS to .739 OPS
Fayetteville – From 5.67 ERA to 6.16 ERA – From .683 OPS to .709 OPS
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