Hot Week & The Top 100: Three Rookies & Cal Raleigh (Rehabbing)

The rookies stole the show again this week as three rookie-level players ranked atop the best hitters from throughout the minor leagues this week, along with a player from Triple-A, and one from High-A as well. Reiner Herrera, C (ACL Guardians – Rookie level, Cleveland Guardians); Cal Raleigh, C (major league rehab assignment, Tacoma Rainers, Triple-A – Seattle Mariners); Tucker Toman, SS (Vancouver Canadians, High-A – Toronto Blue Jays; Juan Martinez, SS (ACL Brewers, Rookie level – Milwaukee Brewers); and Isaias Castillo, OF (DSL NYY Yankees – Rookie affiliate, New York Yankees) were this week’s MiLB hitters of the week.

Reiner Herrera, C – ACL Guardians (Rookie level, Cleveland Guardians)

This week, the ACL Guardians took on the ACL Brewers, ACL Reds, ACL Padres, and ACL White Sox. During that stretch of games, Herrera was 8-for-15 and hit .533/.611/1.467, with a massive 2.078 OPS. He hit two doubles, four home runs, driving in 10 RBIs, and eight runs scored. He also recorded a stolen base.

Over the course of the season, he is batting .330/.485/.740, with a 1.225 OPS, and a .324 BABIP. He has a total of 33 hits this year (six doubles, one triple, 11 home runs), with 38 RBIs, and 31 runs scored. He has recorded nine stolen bases and walked 29 times this year.

With already hitting well-above his average from 2025, now in his second season in the ACL, we could see the 20-year-old catcher promoted to Single-A soon.

Cal Raleigh, C – Major League Rehab Assignment - Tacoma Rainiers (Triple-A, Seattle Mariners)

Raleigh is temporarily playing with Triple-A Tacoma while on a major league rehab assignment. He was placed on the IL on May 14 with a right oblique strain and started his rehab assignments on June 7th, playing with Tacoma the last four games during Tacoma’s series against the Albuquerque Isotopes (Triple-A, Colorado Rockies). The Rainers won five of six games against the Isotopes, including three of the four that Raleigh played in.

Raleigh’s performance in the last four games showed his oblique is no longer a problem as he hit .429/.529/1.500, with a 2.029 OPS. He was 6-for-14, with five towering home runs, 12 RBIs, and seven runs scored in four games played.

Over the course of the season prior to being placed on the IL, he was hitting .161/.243/.317, with a .560 OPS and a .192 BABIP. He has four doubles and seven home runs in the major leagues this season, driving in 18 RBIs and 16 runs scored in the first month of the year before his stint on the IL. He has walked 18 times.

Raleigh is set to come off the IL and be activated again on Tuesday when the Mariners take on the Baltimore Orioles.

Tucker Toman, SS – Vancouver Canadians (High-A, Toronto Blue Jays)

Toman was drafted by the Blue Jays in the second compensation round of the 2022 MLB draft (Pick No. 77 overall). He hasn’t had an easy road so far, spending three years with Dunedin before finally making his way to High-A Vancouver last year. He hit .302 last year, but so far this year, he is hitting just .277 and looking for a spark. This past week could have just been that spark to get him going this year.

With the Canadians taking on the Everett Aquasox (High-A, Seattle Mariners), Toman had a massive week. He was 10-for-16, hitting well over .500. He hit .625/.708/1.313, with a 2.021 OPS. He hit two doubles, this week, three home runs, driving in five RBIs, and six runs scored. He walked four times and acquired 10 total bases in the week. His big game came on June 13 when he went 4-for-5 with a double and a home run.

Over the course of this season, Toman is hitting a total of .277/.410/.447, with a .857 OPS, and a .362 BABIP. He has seven doubles, one triple, six home runs, 27 RBIs, and 29 runs scored. Through 47 games, he has walked 31 times, showing his patience at the plate.

With the road he’s been on, he’ll need to keep hitting well if he wants to get that call-up to Double-A. He has one or more hits in six of his last 10 games played and is on the right track.

Juan Martinez, SS – ACL Brewers (Rookie affiliate, Milwaukee Brewers)

The ACL Brewers this week took on the ACL Guardians, ACL Mariners, ACL Angels, and ACL Royals. They won three of those games, and during that stretch, Martinez shone at the plate.

The 19-year-old from Cumana, Venezuela, was 7-for-12, hitting .583/.667/1.333, with a 2.000 OPS. He was one of five players to hit 2.000 or above this week. Along with his stellar average on the week, he hit one double, one triple, and two home runs this week. He drove in five RBIs and four runs scored, stealing two bases this week as well.

Over the course of the season, the rookie, in his first season with ACL, is batting .384/.475/.605, with a 1.080 OPS, and a .400 BABIP. He has eight doubles, a triple, three home runs, 13 RBIs, and 15 runs scored. He has walked 14 times and stolen 19 bases. It’s been an impressive year for the 19-year-old shortstop, and if he continues to hit well, he could find himself in the ranks of Single-A soon.

Isaias Castillo, OF – DSL NYY (Rookie affiliate, Dominican Summer League – New York Yankees)

The DSL NYY this week took on the DSL Twins, DSL Rangers Red, and the DSL NYY Bombers. They took two of four, with one game result not yet logged.

The Yankees have a lot of depth in their farm system at the outfield position, and it goes all the way down into the DSL, with Castillo putting himself in the conversation just one year after being signed to a minor league contract as a free agent by New York last year.

In five games played this week, the 18-year-old outfielder from the Dominican Republic was 7-for-16, hitting .438/.571/1.250, with a 1.821 OPS. He hit four doubles and three home runs, driving in 10 RBIs and scoring 11 runs. His big game came on June 12 when he went 3-for-4, with two doubles, a home run, eight total bases, and two RBIs with three runs scored.

Over the course of the season, his first full season in the DSL, Castillo is batting .383/.463/1.00, with a 1.463 OPS. He has six doubles, one triple, seven home runs (in just 11 games), 18 RBIs, and 21 runs scored. He has a big .478 BABIP. He’s on course for his first call-up with numbers like this if he continues hitting this way.

MLB Pipeline Top-100 hitters of the week

While none of MLB Pipeline’s Top-100 cracked into the top hitters of the week, Charlie Condon, Eli Willits, Rainiel Rodriguez, Josue De Paula, and George Lombard Jr. had strong weeks at the plate.

Condon, the 23-year old outfielder and MLB Pipeline’s No. 75 prospect with the Albuquerque Isotopes (Colorado Rockies) was 8-for-22, hitting .364/.462/.90, with a 1.371 OPS. He hit four home runs, drove in 10 RBIs, and six runs scored.

Willits is MLB’s No. 4 prospect in all of baseball. He is currently with the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks. He 18-year old shortstop was 5-for-19, batting .263/.462/.895, with a 1.357 OPS. He had four home runs, eight RBIs, and five runs scored.

Rodriguez is a catcher with the Double-A Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals). In his first season with Double-A, last week he went 10-for-23, hitting .435/.480/.783, with a 1.263 OPS. He hit two home runs and drove in four RBIs, with seven runs.

De Paula is another top-10 prospect, sitting at No. 9 among all players. He is currently with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers (Los Angeles Dodgers), where last week he was 11-for-24, batting .458/.552/.708, with a 1.260 OPS. He hit one home run, with three RBIs and seven runs scored.

Lombard Jr. is a player who has quickly made a huge name for himself within not just the Yankees’ organization in the last year, but among all of MiLB as well. The son of George Lombard Sr. was the Yankees’ first round pick (pick No. 26 overall) in the 2023 MLB draft, and he has cruised through the minor leagues.

The shortstop this week was 8-for-24, hitting .333/.393/.792, with a 1.185 OPS. He hit two home runs, with three RBIs, and six runs scored.

Just a couple of weeks until the minor leagues hit their All-Star break.