Pipeline preview: Benintendi starting to heat up

Here’s a look at top prospects to watch in today’s Minor League action:

Hitter to watch: Andrew Benintendi (Red Sox’s No. 3)

Benintendi, No. 21 on the Top 100, had a remarkable professional debut last summer and then continued to rake at Class A-Advanced Salem to begin 2016, hitting .341/.413/.563 with 21 extra-base hits and 32 RBIs in his first 34 games. But the 2015 No. 7 overall Draft pick’s dangerous bat cooled off with a promotion to Double-A Portland in mid-May, as he’s hit just .214 (12-for-56) with two extra-base knocks in his first 14 games for the Sea Dogs. The 21-year-old has shown signs of heating up of late, though, collecting multiple hits in three of his past six games, and he’ll look to keep it going when Portland squares off against Hartford at 6:05 p.m. ET.

Pitcher to watch: Jameson Taillon (Pirates’ No. 4)

After he missed all of the 2014 and ’15 seasons, Taillon has been one of the better pitchers in the Minors this year. The No. 49 overall prospect leads the Triple-A International League in WHIP (0.80) and ranks fifth in ERA (1.79), and he’s held opposing hitters to a .194 average while posting a 54:5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 55 1/3 innings. More so, the 24-year-old right-hander has completed at least six innings in eight of his nine starts and has yet to allow more than three earned runs in any outing. Taillon will look to improve upon those numbers when he takes the mound for Indianapolis against Toledo at 7:05 p.m. ET on MiLB.TV.

Duel of the day: Francis Martes (Astros’ No. 3) vs. Matt Strahm (Royals’ No. 10), Corpus Christi at Northwest Arkansas (8:05 p.m. ET on MiLB.TV)

Martes, 20, got off to a slow start in his return to Double-A Corpus Christi, …

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