Minor League Baseball Weekend Recap (Week 4)

At the beginning of each week, I will provide a comprehensive breakdown of everything that happened across the landscape of Minor League Baseball. It might be a little overkill as I wrote far too much on the players that stood out on the weekend, but I hope it helps you better understand why a player performed as they did.

This report, each Monday, will feature the top 20 standouts beyond just the box score. I will dive into non-public pitch data and hitters’ statcast data as well. The goal is to help you find prospects that are breaking out early that you should be getting in on in your dynasty leagues.

Also, be sure to check out our live looks report from our Double-A Eastern League Evaluator Conor McGovern as he got some looks at Altoona(Pittsburgh) and Chesapeake(Baltimore):

My live looks report from last week will be out on Tuesday! New Prospect Rankings will also be out today, so be sure to subscribe!

Minor League Baseball Weekend Recap(Week 4)

Payton Tolle, LHP, Boston Red Sox, 22, A+

After making his first start of the season in Asheville and coughing up six earned runs in 1.2 innings with three walks, Tolle has looked like the arm we thought he could be since. After tossing four innings of one-run ball and having his start skipped due to scheduling, Tolle returned to the mound for the first time in two weeks on Sunday and shoved.

Pitching just four innings, Tolle faced just 15 batters, allowing one hit and a walk apiece while striking out nine. Tolle generated 12 whiffs but added 19 more called strikes and landed 70 percent of his pitches for strikes.

Standing at 6’6", Tolle has a hulking presence on the mound and gets extreme extension toward the plate as high as 7’7”. His fastball is up three ticks from 2024, sitting at 94.5 mph but topping out at 97 mph. It is unique, given his 5’5” release height and extremely flat VAA. The movement profile of 15-17 inches of IVB from his release point is a bit of an outlier, and the heavy extension allows the pitch to play up.

After throwing a slider and curve in college, Tolle is now throwing a slider and sweeper. The sweeper sits in the 82-84 mph range with a long horizontal break. The upper-80s slider plays more like a cutter with some depth to it. Both pitches flash as being above-average and play well.

While he has not used his changeup often, it sits at 88-90 mph and could use further refinement. If he further develops this pitch, it gives him four viable offerings. This start is what you wanted to see from Tolle. It’s legit stuff.

Jonah Tong, RHP, New York Mets, 21, AA

Tong posted his best start of the 2025 season on Sunday, striking out ten batters over four scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and one walk, both season bests, while landing 66 percent of his pitches for strikes. Tong generated an impressive 19 whiffs and added 11 more called strikes.

The fastball has ticked up two straight seasons, and he is now working in the 94-96 range after sitting 92-93 mph last year. Tong regularly touches 20 inches of IVB from a sub-six-foot release height. He has now gotten up to 98 mph with highly impressive traits on the fastball.

Tong utilizes a mid-to-upper 80s cutter with above-average horizontal movement for a cutter. The curveball is a hammer, with a shape near 12-6 and an over negative 18 inches of IVB. For those who are unsure, that is an absurd 67 inches of vertical drop. The pitch sits in the upper-70s with high spin rates. Tong struck out 6 of 10 batters yesterday on that pitch.

The changeup rounds out the arsenal, sitting around 85 mph with good carry and horizontal movement. The pitch lags but has the potential to be a solid offering.

Tong’s delivery gives me some worries, and there is inconsistent command at times, but his starts like Sunday are why I have him in my top 100.

Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Pittsburgh Pirates, 19, A

I’ve seen enough of Griffin, both live this spring and on tape, to feel comfortable making a big move on him in my prospect update that’s dropping today. He will be in my top 10 for dynasty fantasy baseball. That bat is special, and it showed this weekend as he collected seven hits with three doubles and two home runs.

Six of his ten batted balls over the weekend were hit over 100 mph, with three above 106.5 mph. Reminder, Griffin just turned 19 years old four days ago. This is what they look like. Griffin has a well-filled out, broad shoulder, 6’4” frame, and still has plus foot speed.

Currently, Griffin is running an 85 percent in-zone contact rate with a 90th percentile exit velocity of 108 mph. The chase rate has gotten a little high at 31 percent, but we can live with it, given how hard he is hitting the ball.

This is a star in the making who could ascend his way to being the top prospect in baseball.

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