Demeritte, Riley among top prospect performers Friday

Baseballs were flying out of the park across the Minor Leagues on Friday, as five different Top 30 prospects hit a pair of home runs for their respective teams.

Headlining the group was Blue Jays’ No. 7 prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr., whose two solo home runs helped power Rookie-level Bluefield in an 18-5 rout of Pulaski. He finished 3-for-4 at the plate, also scoring thrice and swiping a bag in the contest. The 17-year-old third baseman and son of nine-time All-Star Vladimir Guerrero has gone deep four times in his last seven contests and has seven homers in 45 games for Bluefield to begin his professional career.

Travis Demeritte (Braves’ No. 9) went deep in his first two plate appearances on Friday and reached base three more times via walks, though the performance wasn’t enough to keep Class A Advanced Carolina from falling to Myrtle Beach, 7-5. The home runs were his first as a member of the Braves after being acquired from the Rangers days before the August 1 Trade Deadline. Overall, the 21-year-old second baseman has homered 27 times in 102 games between the California and Carolina Leagues.

Demerrite wasn’t the only Braves prospect to homer twice Friday, as Austin Riley (No. 13) also accomplished the feat in Class A Rome’s 3-2 win against Hickory. The 19-year-old third baseman hit solo shots in the first and third innings — his 13th and 14th this season — and then walked in each of his next two trips to the plate before finally making an out in the top of the 10th inning, when he lined out to third base. Though he scuffled during the first half, Riley is hitting .273/.339/.558 with 11 home runs and a vastly improved strikeout rate in 45 games since the All-Star break.

In Florida State League action, Reds No. 21 prospect Aristides Aquino’s third two-homer game of the season helped Class A Advanced Daytona sink Tampa, 5-2. After he connected on a solo shot in his first at-bat to start the Tortugas’ scoring, the 22-year-old outfielder provided his club with two key insurance runs with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, finishing the game 2-for-4 with three RBIs. In addition to his .279/.332/.521 slash line through 103 games, Aquino’s 18 home runs (a new career high) rank second among active Florida State League hitters.

Last but certainly not least, catcher Raudy Read (Nationals’ No. 30) had his first two-homer performance since June 2012 and collected a career-best five hits for Class A Advanced Potomac, which ultimately fell to Frederick, 8-7, in 13 innings. By finishing 5-for-7 at the plate, Read — who also hit a double, scored two runs and plated three — improved his batting average to .259 from .249, and he’s now accrued seven homers as well as 25 doubles in 85 games for the P-Nats.

The rest of the best performances from top prospects Friday

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