Lambert among top prospect performers Wednesday

Wednesday’s slate of Minor League action saw four Top 30 prospects connect on a pair of home runs on a day where the ball seemed to be flying out of the yard across all levels.

Orioles No. 24 prospect Alex Murphy became the first of the group to accomplish the feat by going 2-for-4 with two solo shots in Class A Delmarva’s afternoon loss to Greensboro. The 21-year-old catcher has already set a new career-high with five home runs this season and owns a solid .283/.358/.440 batting line in 42 games for the Shorebirds. Next up was … 

Giants No. 20 prospect Austin Slater, who, entering the day, had hit eight home runs in 178 pro games. Needless to say, he improved upon that total, going deep twice in his first career multi-homer game to power Double-A Richmond past Binghamton. The second-baseman-turned-outfielder owns an even .400 average with 12 RBIs over his past 10 contests and is hitting .323 with a career-best five homers in 34 games on the season.

“I’ve been more selectively aggressive this year, as opposed to other years. I feel like I’ve been seeing more pitches for the most part,” Slater told MiLB.com. “Obviously today is an outlier, but I’ve been able to work more counts this year and been able to be more aggressive on the pitches that I want in hitters’ counts and that’s what I did. It just worked out that way.”

A’s No. 6 prospect Matt Chapman’s two homers and three RBIs proved to be the difference in Double-A Midland’s 5-2 win against Springfield. It was the second two-homer game of the season for the 2014 first-rounder, who now leads the Texas League with 13 long balls in 45 games. He also ranks second and fourth in total bases (96) and OPS (.936), respectively.

“I’ve just tried to stay consistent and keep the same mindset, not really change at all,” Chapman told MiLB.com. “I just happened to run into a good night. It makes it a lot more fun to go out there and have success and it makes it easier to get up the next day and try to keep something rolling. It makes it a lot more enjoyable, that’s for sure.”

Lastly, Royals No. 16 prospect Jorge Bonifacio joined the party with a pair of solo homers — including a leadoff blast in the bottom of the first — in Triple-A Omaha’s loss to Albuquerque. Still just 22, Bonifacio, after struggling in Double-A in each of the past two years, has made a surprisingly smooth transition at the Minors’ highest level, …

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