Appearing two levels higher than ever before, Jonatan Bernal showed out against the AA affiliate of his former employer. Plus, Trey Mancini and Tristin English paced the offense for Reno in El Paso
The Week That Was
First halves of the season came to an end on Thursday for A-ball, with Hillsboro flopping their way out of the first place they had held much of the year to finish four games back. Everett won the first half on a tiebreaker over Vancouver. Hillsboro lost all six games on the week to already build a three game deficit in the second half. Visalia had already been eliminated, and split their series with Fresno.
Sunday marked a more logical split of the season in the Texas and Pacific Coast Leagues. Amarillo finished well behind Midland and San Antonio, who tied atop the division, Midland winning via the tiebreaker. But Amarillo did win their final five games of the week to take the series in Northwest Arkansas. Reno similarly finished well behind Las Vegas, but won their final three games in El Paso to take the series 4-2. Both the Aces and the Soddies will hope for a more successful second half.
The Pygmy Rattlers of Salt River turned in a 2-2 week. The DSL Black squad went 3-2, while the Red squad went 4-1, marking a successful week for each. The littlest rattlers are 9.5 games back in the ACL, meaning they are likely out of any return to the postseason this year. Both DSL sides are hovering around .500.
All in all, that’s a 19-15 week down on the farm. Across the system, batters slashed .260/.347/.412 with 28 home runs. Pitchers threw 317.2 innings and posted an ERA of 4.51, striking out 315 against 162 walks.
For some interesting performances that didn’t get the players in question awarded as pitcher or hitter of the week but still need some mention, Roman Angelo made two starts and struck out 13 without walking anyone. He gave up eight runs in his 12 innings, though. Keivan Vazquez pitched four scoreless innings and struck out nine without walking anyone. In Visalia, Abdias De La Cruz went 10-for-20, but with no walks and one hit for extra bases he didn’t approach either honoree in terms of production.
Batter of the Week, under 20 plate appearances
Andy Weber, Reno (15 PA, 6 H, 5 2B, 1 3B)
Weber doesn’t play every day, which makes it difficult for him to ever be considered for batter of the week. But in 15 plate appearances over the week, he picked up 15 true total bases (total bases plus walks and times hit by pitch). All six of his hits were of the extra-base variety, including a game with four doubles. He took advantage of his limited playing time.
Batters of the Week, over 20 plate appearances
Tristin English, Reno (31 PA, 11 H, 5 2B, 3 HR)
Trey Mancini, Reno (26 PA, 9 H, 2B, 3 HR)
Reno Aces
If one wishes to poke a hole in English’s week, it’s that he didn’t draw any walks. His 11 hits led the system, as did his nine runs scored. English and Mancini tied for the lead in home runs. Since returning from a brief stint on the IL English has slashed .380/.418/.670. Mancini has hit the ball hard 47.6% of the time, trailing only Blaze Alexander among Reno players, and has a barrel in 13.8% of his batted balls, trailing only Aramis Garcia. His batted ball numbers are comparable to Jordan Lawlar’s. If the decision is made to trade Josh Naylor, having a veteran like Mancini able to come up and get some of those plate appearances will be a key part of the decision.
For his efforts, English was named PCL Player of the Week.
Starting Pitcher of the Week
Jonatan Bernal, Amarillo (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K)
On April 9, 2025, the Royals released Jonatan Bernal. He’d been in their system since July of 2022, when he was traded from the Blue Jays to the Royals. He’d never appeared above A ball.
Facing pitching injuries throughout the system, the Diamondbacks signed Bernal out of the Mexican League on May 15. He made seven appearances in Visalia, with none of them being starts, although he did work bulk innings in relief. The results were good; 13 strikeouts against two walks, and just seven runs allowed in his 19 innings.
Pitching injuries kept happening, and with the ranks thinning, Amarillo needed an arm to start on Saturday. Bernal got called from Visalia to Springdale, Arkansas, where he would face the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, the AA affiliate of the very Royals franchise that cut him loose just over nine weeks earlier. While he took an unusual route to the home of Wal Mart, he got there sooner than all but three of his teammates with the Columbia Fireflies last year.
To recap: Bernal was appearing two levels higher than he’d ever pitched in his career. He was making his first start in affiliated ball since September 7th of last year. And he was doing it against the organization that gave up on him. He pitched five scoreless innings, which had to be the highest hope the Diamondbacks had, as his 67 pitches was his most since signing. Ironically, his last three starts (two in Columbia last year and this one) have all been scoreless.
Bernal is not a prospect, which is why he was put in that situation to begin with. But turning in his best outing of the year under those circumstances has to be a highlight of his career so far.
Relief Pitcher of the Week
Victor Morales, Hillsboro (3 G, 4.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K)
Morales has just been in Hillsboro for two weeks, but during that time he’s appeared in five games, pitched nine innings with a 1.111 WHIP, and not allowed a run. He struggled a bit in his middle outing of the week, but was efficient, throwing just 21 pitches in two innings on Tuesday and 26 pitches in 2.1 innings yesterday.
Draft Combine Standouts (and others)
Allison Ullmann/Dallas County News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Taitn Gray was the biggest standout that I saw, and the Statcast data backed that up. He’s seventeen years old. He’s a switch-hitting catcher. He had the second-highest median exit velocity. Given that he hasn’t played the best opposition (he’s from Iowa) he may be best served to honor his Oregon commitment, but he’s certainly a standout. Ryan Weingartner was middle of the pack as far as his exit velocity was concerned, but he looks like an excellent future utility guy. Gustavo Melendez impressed defensively but had some of the lower metrics in batting practice. And Manny Ramirez Jr. had the second-lowest median exit velocity, while also looking a bit awkward in outfield drills.
Pitching-wise, the only two pitchers to average below 90 MPH with their fastballs were still immensely impressive. Pierce Coppola has obscene movement and looks like a nightmare to face as a left-handed hitter, and Reid Worley also showed tremendous movement and elite-spin rate on his breaking ball. As far as fastball stuff was concerned, Jayden Stroman stood out, averaging 95.9 MPH with a lot of carry. Worley’s breaking ball classification was split between slider and curveball as the break direction depends on how he holds his wrist, but otherwise the pitch is the same. Both averaged above 3000 RPM with tons of break; those classified as a curveball had more vertical break, but both had plenty of horizontal break. Mason Estrada’s slider also stood out for having a ton of horizontal break. Estrada also was one of the few pitchers to throw a pitch classified as a cutter, and had one of the best of the lot. Coppola’s changeup moved more than a foot both horizontally and vertically, on average.
Coming Soon to Prospect Lists Near You!
These guys haven’t yet appeared on prospect lists, but they’ve made statements this year that have them trending in that direction. As always, keep TINSTAAP in mind (there is no such thing as a pitching prospect) and don’t hold it against me if they do not pan out. (I was going to include Enyervert Perez on this list, but I’ve been beaten to the punch and he is already on prospect lists.)
Naimer Rosario, LHP, DSL Arizona Black
Rosario is small for a pitcher (just six feet tall, listed at 160 pounds) and signed at 17, but all he’s done in the DSL over the last year and a bit is get results. Pitchers in the DSL average about six walks per nine innings; Rosario was about average last year (5.6 per nine innings) as a 17-year-old, and has more than cut that in half this year. So far this year, he’s struck out 20 against five walks, for a strikeout to walk ratio almost three times better than the league average. Video is scarce, but he certainly has a breaking ball that he seems to command well. It’s rare for pitchers in the DSL to go six innings, but he did two weeks ago, and was on track to do so again before lightning suspended his start last week. The list of left-handed pitchers his size that have long, successful major league careers isn’t long, but it does include Tom Glavine.
Carlos Virahonda, C, ACL D’backs
To be fair, Virahonda did earn a shoutout from Baseball America prior to the 2024 season. But his offense was putrid (he slashed .156/.279/.231) and he fell off the radar. Now 19 years old and playing stateside, he’s slashing .296/.433/.394. That’s still not a ton of power, but it’s not unusual for players to not display much power in the complex. But the defensive numbers tell the story of a guy who might be one of the better defensive catchers in the system. In 2024, he caught 277 innings without committing and error (allowing just two passed balls) and threw out an astounding 47% of attempted base stealers. He does have three errors this year, but has still thrown out seven of 21 attempted base stealers.
Ben McLaughlin, 1B, Hillsboro Hops
McLaughlin had one year of starting in the SEC, and slashed .302/.447/.490 with 50 walks against 30 strikeouts. He was assigned to Visalia and demonstrated similar knowledge of the strike zone, although his batting average dropped 100 points. It’s bounced back this year, and he’s demonstrated more power, with five home runs. He hit just 11 in 357 plate appearances in college with metal bats, so five in 204 plate appearances in the Northwest League is perfectly respectable. He has been platooned with Jackson Feltner throughout his professional career, but has been respectable against left-handed pitching when he’s gotten the plate appearances. The fact that he is restricted to first base does hinder his ceiling, as he lacks prototypical first base power, but his knowledge of the strike zone and bat-to-ball skills could mean he’s the next Pavin Smith type player.
Bo Walker, OF, ACL D’backs
Walker was the 11th round pick last year out of Starr’s Mill High in Georgia. He’s been a multi-sport athlete, although not on the record-setting level of Tim Tawa or Jake McCarthy. He was a wide receiver, safety, and returned kicks on the football field. The Diamondbacks went well over the $150,000 price point to sign him, using what they saved on McLaughlin to offer him $500,000. That pulled him away from Georgia Tech. As with many Diamondbacks’ outfield draftees, he’s a power/speed threat, but he’s a much more prototypical size, at 6’3” and 180 pounds. He’s also right-handed. It’s been a bit of a slog thus far, but he’s played all three outfield positions, hit two home runs, and drawn 14 walks. He has yet to attempt a stolen base. Perfect Game had him as the 82nd ranked player in the high school class (JD Dix was 95th and Tytus Cissell 146th). His future is most likely in the outfield corner, but he has the frame to be able to bulk up and become a 30 HR threat. Do that, and he could become the next player the Diamondbacks signed away from a pretty solid commitment and saw him become a top prospect in two years.
Next Up
Reno kicks off the second half hosting Salt Lake, and Amarillo does so hosting the other team from Arkansas, the Little Rock-based Arkansas Travelers. Hillsboro will try to get back in the win column hosting Spokane, and Visalia travels to Inland Empire.
[The leading image has been changed due to the initial image not being Tristin English, even though USA Today identified it as Tristin English.]