Hot Week & The Top 100: High-A Hitters Rule The Weeek

High-A hitters highlighted the top-five minor league players of the week for the week of May 12 – May 17, with one hitter from Triple-A cracking into the top five. For the Hub City Spartanburgers, it was a strong week as two of their players were included in this week’s top hitters.

Another interesting note was that once again, for the second week in a row, no MLB Pipeline Top-100 hitters hit better than unranked players this week, proving that even the unranked prospects are battling for spots at the next level.

Malcolm Moore, catcher from the Hub City Spartanburgers (High-A, Rangers); Luke Hill, third baseman with the Lake County Captains (High-A, Cleveland Guardians); Jacob Gonzalez, shortstop with the Charlotte Knights (Triple-A, White Sox); Chase Call, outfielder with the Ashville Tourists (High-A, Astros); and Luke Hanson, a shortstop also with the Hub City Spartanburgers (High-A, Rangers), represented the top hitters in minor league baseball this week. 

The Hub City Spartanburgers were on the road facing the Ashville Tourists this past week. As such, this series featured three of the five top hitters for the week. The Spartanburgers took the series 5-1 over the Tourists this week, with the Tourists narrowly avoiding being swept with a massive 11-23 win on Friday. All six games were high scoring in this series, with the pitchers getting rocked. Game one 13-11, game two 6-4, game three 18-4, game four 11-23, game five 10-5, with the Spartanburgers defeating the Tourists 19-12 on Sunday. It was a very offensive-dominant series.

Malcolm Moore, C – Hub City Spartanburgers (High-A, Rangers)

Starting with Moore from the Spartanburgers, in five games played during the six-game series, he was 13-for-25, hitting .520/.571/1.160, with a 1.731 OPS. This included hitting four doubles, four home runs, driving in 10 RBIs, and eight runs scored. He also walked three times. His most notable performance was on Sunday when he went 4-for-6, with a double, home run, two RBIs, and four runs scored. 

Over the course of the season, the Rangers’ first draft pick (pick No. 30 overall) from the 2024 MLB draft is hitting a combined .318/.409/.573, with a .982 OPS. The 22-year-old has 10 doubles, six home runs, 13 walks, and 22 runs scored as he absolutely cruises through High-A on the hunt to hit Double-A.

Luke Hanson, SS – Hub City Spartanburgers (High-A, Rangers)

Staying in the same series, Hanson also had a standout week in High-A against the Tourists. The shortstop was 10-for-26 at bats across the six games, hitting .385/.407/.923, with a 1.330 OPS. That included hitting two doubles, four home runs, walking once, with 16 RBIs, and six runs scored.

In game three on May 14 alone, he was 3-for-6 with a double, two home runs, nine RBIs, and three runs scored.

Over the course of the season, the 22-year-old who was drafted just last year is hitting .226/.291/.443, with a .734 OPS in his first full season at High-A. He played in eight games in 2025 in High-A, and started the year there this season. Over the course of the year, he has seven doubles, six home runs, 11 walks, five stolen bases, 29 RBIs, and 19 runs scored.

Though he has a slow start to the year, he’s starting to find his groove as of late.

Chase Call, OF – Asheville Tourists (High-A, Astros)

Finally, Call rounds out the group of three players from the same series to have an impressive week at the plate. Call, the 24-year-old from Los Angeles, California, was 10-for-18 through the four games he appeared in this week. He hit .556/.600/1.222, with a 1.822 OPS), which included three doubles, three home runs, two walks, three stolen bases, with 10 RBIs, and eight runs scored. He was 4-for-5 on May 15 and May 17 each, driving in three RBIs on May 15 and five RBIs on May 17.

Over the course of the season, the Astros’ 16th round draft pick from 2025 is hitting a combined .240/.347/.510, with a .857 OPS. He has eight doubles, a triple, six home runs, with 14 walks, 10 stolen bases, and 19 RBIs, along with 23 runs scored. His 10 stolen bases prove that once he’s on the base pads, he’s a true force to be reckoned with.

With this series now behind both teams, the Spartanburgers return home to take on the Rome Emperors (Braves), while the Tourists head to Bowling Green to take on the Hot Rods (Tampa Bay Rays).

Luke Hill, 3B – Lake County Captains (High-A, Guardians)

Hill and the Captains this past week were on the road to take on the Drayton Dragons of the Cincinnati Reds organization. Hill and the Captains split the series with the Dragons 3-3, in which Hill was 10-for-26 across the six-game series. He hit .500/.630/1.250, with a 1.880 OPS. That included three doubles, four home runs (two on May 14), with seven walks. He drove in 11 RBIs, and 10 runs scored. He at least two runs scored in four of the six games in a great series for the third baseman. He also led all hitters in the minor leagues in OPS this week.

Drafted just last year by the Guardians (fourth round), Hill played 15 games in Low-A last year before getting the call to High-A to start the 2026 season. Over the course of his first season at High-A, he is batting .278/.432/.622, with a 1.054 OPS. He has four doubles, nine home runs (through just 28 games), 24 walks, with two stolen bases. He has 27 RBIs, and 20 runs scored.
Though early in his career, he’s on track for a quick trip through the minor leagues if he continues hitting extra-base hits at this pace.

Jacob Gonzalez, SS – Charlotte Knights (Triple-A, White Sox).

This week Gonzalez and the Knights were in Norfolk, Virginia to take on the Norfolk Tides in a six-game series. They also split their series 3-3. Over the course of fives games he appeared in out of the six, Gonzalez was 10-for-21, hitting .476/.542/1.143, with a 1.685 OPS). He hit two doubles, four home runs, with three walks, and one stolen base. He drove in 12 RBIs, the most in minor league baseball this year, and had six runs scored over the course of the series. His best game was game six on Sunday, in which he was 4-for-5, with two doubles, a home run, four RBIs, and two runs scored.

MLB Pipeline Top-100 hitters

Though none of them managed to find themselves in the top five hitters for the week, five of MLB Pipeline’s Top-100 hitters also had strong weeks at the plate.

Ralphy Velazquez (MLB Pipeline No. 59), first baseman with the Akron RubberDucks (Double-A, Guardians) was 9-for-25 against the Chesapeake Bay Sox. He hit .360/.407/.880, with a 1.287 OPS. That included three home runs and eight RBIs.

Theo Gillen (MLB Pipeline No. 43), outfielder for the Bowling Green Hot Rods (High-A Rays), was 13-for-28 against the Greenville Drive (Red Sox). He hit .464/.500/.750, with a 1.250 OPS. That included one home run, five RBIs, and three stolen bases. He is currently tied for the most hits among hitters in the top-100.

Nashville Sounds (Triple-A, Brewers) shortstop, Jett Williams (No. 60 on the MLB Pipeline Top 100) made a lot of headlines this week and by all accounts, has to be making David Stearns and the Mets start to scratch their heads about getting rid of the young prospect. Williams this week was 6-for-16, hitting .375/.565/1.063, with a 1.250 OPS. He hit two home runs, had five RBIs, and walked five times. He’s a player who controls the plate and finds a way to make an impact.

Cooper Pratt (MLB Pipeline No. 66), also a shortstop with the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate, followed behind Williams with his performance in the Sounds’ series against the Iowa Cubs. He was 8-for-20, hitting .400/.478/.850, with a 1.328 OPS. He hit two home runs and had nine RBIs.

Rounding out MLB Pipeline Top-100’s Top-five for the week was Josuar Gonzalez (No. 31 with MLB Pipeline), a shortstop from the rookie-level ACL Giants. In three games played this week, he was 7-for-12, hitting .583/.688/.1.000, with a 1.688 OPS. He hit one home run, walked four times, stole two bases, and drove in eight RBIs.

A young Holliday, Ethan Holliday was just outside the standings. He hit three home runs this week and had a 1.247 OPS.
While the top of the top prospects didn’t have their best weeks for the second week in a row, the young prospects made their bats heard.