Major League Baseball (MLB)
LaMonte Wade Jr., San Francisco Giants
LaMonte Wade Jr. continues to play the best baseball of his professional career. On Sunday against Colorado, Wade made one of the best defensive plays of his career. With his Giants leading 3-2 with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, he fired a throw from right field to home plate to gun down Elias Díaz who was trying to score the tying run from second base. This helped San Francisco record its 76th win of the season to remain atop MLB.
On August 10, Wade flashed the leather as well. In right field, he dove to snag a shallow line drive off the bat of Arizona's Nick Ahmed. Wade's defense has been sensational over the course of the season for the first-place Giants.
Additionally, his offense has been the best of his career too. He homered in back-to-back games, driving in a combined five runs, on August 11 and 12 against the Diamondbacks and Rockies.
Brandon Lowe, Tampa Bay Rays
Second baseman Brandon Lowe recorded his fourth multi-home run game of the season on Monday, when he blasted two long balls against the Orioles. Lowe finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs batted in and two runs scored. Lowe now has 28 home runs this season, which leads the Rays and ranks eighth in Major League Baseball.
In his last four games against Baltimore, Lowe is hitting .471 (8-for-17) at the plate with 10 runs batted in, six runs, two home runs and three multi-hit games.
Kevin Smith, Toronto Blue Jays
On Wednesday morning, shortstop Kevin Smith was called up to MLB by the Toronto Blue Jays from Triple-A Buffalo. Smith will join the Blue Jays in Washington for their series against the Nationals.
On Sunday, he became the first Buffalo Bisons player to record at least 16 stolen bases and 16 home runs in the same season since Ben Fransisco (25 SB, 17 HR) in 2006. Smith currently had 16 stolen bags and 19 long balls. He has proved pretty much every asset to his game this spring in Triple-A and his speed and power blended together has shined.
In that same game, he went 4-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, four runs batted in and two runs scored.
Smith's numbers offensively have him ranked in the top five in nearly every statistical category.
Minor League Baseball (MiLB)
Adam Kolarek, Oakland Athletics
Left-handed pitcher Adam Kolarek, who was optioned to Triple-A at the end of May, pitched 2.0 innings for the Las Vegas Aviators this past week. He allowed just one combined hit in the two scoreless outings and recorded two strikeouts.
Andrew Bechtold, Minnesota Twins
Third baseman Andrew Bechtold of the Wichita Wind Surge, the Double-A affiliate of the Twins, is in the midst of a four-game hitting streak. He has four total hits in that span, with three singles and a home run. He now has 14 home runs this season.
Randy Bednar, Seattle Mariners
Outfielder Randy Bednar hit his first professional home run on Friday, playing for the Seattle Mariners Rookie League team in the Arizona Complex League. He homered again on Monday and is now hitting .333 (9-for-27), with three doubles, a triple and two homers in 11 games at this level after going undrafted. He also has a .525 on-base percentage.
Sean Burke, Chicago White Sox
Right hander Sean Burke made his professional debut in the Arizona Complex League on Saturday. The third-round draft pick started on the mound for the Chicago White Sox Rookie League team and pitched one scoreless inning, giving up just one hit and recording one strikeout.
Marty Costes, Houston Astros
Outfielder Marty Costes was promoted from the Corpus Christi Hooks (Double-A) to the Sugar Land Skeeters (Triple-A) by the Houston Astros on August 2 and has been phenomenal in his two weeks at this level. He hit his first career Triple-A home run on August 10, which was 458 feet, and is currently in the midst of a four-game hitting streak. Over that span he has six total hits, including two doubles and a triple. He turned the triple into a little league home run. UPDATE AFTER TUESDAY
Benjamin Cowles, New York Yankees
Shortstop Benjamin Cowles belted his first career professional home run on Saturday. He has seven total hits for the Tampa Tarpons (Low-A), with two doubles and a home run. The 10th-round draft pick has scored five runs in the last four games, including the game-winning walk-off run on Sunday in extra innings.
Jose Cuas, Kansas City Royals
Relief pitcher Jose Cuas is 3-0 at the Minor League level in 2021 for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, the Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Cuas last pitched on August 11 and went 2.1 innings out of the bullpen, while giving up two hits and striking out three batters against the Frisco RoughRiders.
Nick Dunn, St. Louis Cardinals
Second baseman Nick Dunn picked up a single on Sunday against the Arkansas Travelers, which snapped a stretch of three straight games for Dunn without a base knock. He reached base twice on Tuesday with two walks.
Hunter Parsons, New York Mets
Right-hander Hunter Parsons pitched two innings out of the bullpen on August 10, giving up a hit, a walk, a hit batsmen and two earned runs. On Sunday, Parsons struggled, giving up five runs on three hits and two walks while failing to record an out in his outing out of the bullpen for the Brooklyn Cyclones.
AJ Lee, Houston Astros
Shortstop AJ Lee has spent time in Low-A with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers, High-A with the Asheville Tourists, Double-A with the Corpus Christi Hooks and Triple-A with the Sugar Land Skeeters within the 2021 calendar year. He most recently played for Corpus Christi at the end of July.
Mike Shawaryn, Kansas City Royals
After pitching for the Boston Red Sox in 2019, reliever Mike Shawaryn started the year with the Omaha Storm Chasers before being released. Shawaryn had a 4.63 ERA over 11.2 innings pitched with his one decision coming in a win. He has not been picked up by another team, yet.
