Offense was up in the minors this week, with some key standouts. After two straight weeks, Carter Jensen was narrowly dethroned as the Naturals’ hitter of the week. After two weeks of hitting over .400, Jensen finally fell back to earth… and hit .368. An incredibly underrated arm continues to flash in High-A and may be the most intriguing arm in the system in 2025.
A few names make their debut on this segment, including a prospect who mainly provides depth in the organization. However, his contact profile is incredibly bizarre, and this week highlights his quirks. Quad Cities produced a back-to-back honoree for hitter of the week after last week’s required a sympathy vote. This is possibly the most diverse we’ve had amongst the names all season.
Omaha Storm Chasers
Record: 25-37
Hitter of the Week – Tyler Tolbert: .294/.381/.588, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 BB, 4 K, 5 RBI
After making his major league debut, Tolbert has continued playing the same as he did before. Nothing incredibly impressive, but this week changed. He flashed a rounded approach at the plate and utilized power to inflate his stats. On the season, his contact has been productive with a .343 BABIP. This has allowed his OBP to be .339 despite a 26.1% strikeout percentage. Tolbert has since been elevated back to the major league squad with Michael Massey hitting the IL. Continuing productive contact will be the recipe for a longer stay in Kansas City this time around.
Pitcher of the Week – Ryan Hendrix: 2 G, 4.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 9 K, 3 BB, 2 H, 1.25 WHIP
Ryan Hendricks topped the Omaha strikeout leader board this week despite coming on in relief over two games. He allowed a few too many baserunners, but nine strikeouts showcase an ideal out profile for a major league-ready relief pitcher. Hendrix hasn’t started great, but two seasons of relief experience in the MLB give him a leg up for promotion. There have been some other promotions this season, and a few have not panned out. If there’s room on the 40-man roster, Hendrix may be someone who gets a call on experience alone.
Northwest Arkansas Naturals
Record: 29-28
Hitter of the Week – Gavin Cross: 22 AB, .318/.318/.591, 2 HR, 5 K, 6 RBI
Cross has been disappointing this season, but this may be the drop that breaks the dam. His first six games of June have resulted in a .769 OPS, significantly better than his .480 OPS for May. Two home runs highlight and carry this week’s performance, with zero walks, elevating his numbers. The average and power combined for a look into what everyone had hoped for when he was drafted. Seven hits are the highlight here in my book. With Cross’s frame, contact will be the tool to develop, as power will come naturally. Seeing consistent contact such as this will be what we should seek from him in the coming weeks.
Pitcher of the Week – Christian Chamberlain: 2G, 2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 3 K, 1 BB, 0.50 WHIP
Chamberlain was the best-performing pitcher with the Naturals this week. This should tell us everything we need to know about pitching performances down in AA. Chamberlain only allowed one base runner and struck out 1.5 batters per inning. It’s little to be excited about but it was a great week for the pitcher. On the season, Chamberlain has pitched 12 innings, accumulated a 1.50 ERA, and owns an opponent average of .105. Holding him back is 16 walks to just 10 strikeouts, leading to a 1.67 WHIP. The lefty has to limit walks yet every other number is calling for promotion.
Quad Cities River Bandits
Record: 33-24
Hitter of the Week – Sam Kulasingam: 19 AB, .421/.522/.579, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 BB, 3 K, 2 RBI, 6 R
Kulasingam required a weak hitting offense to earn this honor last week. This week, it required little thought, and it was well earned. A full week’s worth of at-bats, more walks than strikeouts, and enough power to push the OPS above 1.000. The first month of the season saw Kulasingam struggle heavily to make contact with a .210 average. April brought some improvement with a .277 average and a .358 on-base percentage. Seven games in June have resulted in a .455 average and .591 slugging. This is the first big sample size of his career, and Kulasingam has slowly started to impress. This month has begun in the best way possible for the corner infielder.
Pitcher of the Week – Hunter Patteson: 1 GS, 5.0 IP, 1.80 ERA, 6 K, 2 BB, 6 H, 1.60 WHIP
Patteson is the most impressive young arm in the system so far. he has 11 games, 62 innings pitched, a 1.89 ERA, and a WHIP of 0.97. Strikeouts have come modestly, but this week showed Patteson perform well, even when he isn’t missing bats and utilizes average strikeout numbers to get some outs. Patteson is striking out 23% of batters and only walking 7.4%. Furthermore, he is allowing an opponent BABIP of .239 and stranding 79.9% of base runners. He’s efficient, covers his mistakes, and does it without overpowering opponents. The prototypical lefty has flashed in a big way in the early season. He will undoubtedly debut on the organization’s top 30 list once it’s updated midseason.
Columbia Fireflies
Record: 29-28
Hitter of the Week – Gabriel Silva: 9 AB, .333/.455/1.333, 3 HR, 1 BB, 5 K, 5 RBI
Silva is a depth catcher who has played in just nine games this season despite being healthy the whole time. He has struck out 12 times despite only 21 at-bats. This week, he managed to add three hits to his season total… bringing it to five. Of those five hits on the season, four have been for extra bases. His three hits this week were all home runs. It is a start to a small sample size that genuinely leaves no room for explanation.
It’s most likely an anomaly. Silva was the hitter of the week this week, solely because what else am I to do with this kind of performance? Congrats to Gabriel Silva for cracking the list with three home runs in just nine at-bats.
Pitcher of the Week – Henson Leal: 2 G, 4.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 5 K, 2 H, 0.46 WHIP
Henson Leal is undoubtedly making his first appearance on Farm to Fountains. Until someone proves that’s wrong anyway. Leal provided 4.1 innings of relief this week and allowed just two base runners while striking out five. Leal is taking his first steps out of rookie ball as an international prospect. His first seven games offered a 0.69 ERA and 0.85 WHIP. His next eight games brought a 7.32 ERA and 1.82 WHIP. It’s been up and down to start, but the early progress is intriguing. At just 21 years old, Leal is an arm to watch over the next couple of weeks to see how he bounces back.
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