Here are Saturday's top prospect performances from the Minors

Minor League teams love to play night games on Saturdays so that fans can watch the sky be lit up with fireworks afterwards, weather permitting. But there were plenty of proverbial fireworks during game action as well on this Saturday. Nine members of the Top 100 Prospects list combined for 11 homers total. A handful of potential future aces also flashed potent stuff on the mound. All in all, it was a spectacular Saturday night, so let's dig in:

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Lazaro Montes, OF, Arkansas (SEA No. 3/MLB No. 29)
When Montes’ swing is going right, the home runs can come in bunches. The 20-year-old mashed a pair of three-run roundtrippers to help pace the Double-A Arkansas bats, with both homers coming off left-handed pitchers. His 6-RBI performance marks a career best as the left-handed-hitting outfielder exceeded his August total through the first 13 contests in one night. In total, Montes is up to 28 long balls on the year, tying him for third most in Minor League Baseball. Across two levels, the Cuba native has posted a .903 OPS and is seeing better than four pitches per plate appearance, a career best. Gameday

Kevin McGonigle, SS, Erie (DET No. 1/MLB No. 2/Max Clark, OF, Erie (DET No. 2/MLB No. 9)
Talk about having a week. McGonigle hammered his fourth homer in the past four games, while Clark poked an opposite-field shot for his second roundtripper of the series for Double-A Erie. After going deep just twice in his first 23 games, McGonigle has gotten his proverbial sea legs under him during the summer -- he’s slashing .286/.404/.738 in August alone. Of his 12 hits this month, seven have gone for extra bases, with 26 RBIs in his past 21 contests. Clark, who is already traditionally an on-base dynamo, has ramped it up to the tune of reaching safely 15 times in his past eight outings. The duo rank first (McGonigle, 193) and fourth (Clark, 153) in wRC+ among all Tigers Minor Leaguers. Gameday

Thomas White, LHP, Pensacola (MIA No. 1/MLB No. 21)
No matter the uniform, White has been slinging the ball in 2025. That trend continued in his latest outing for Double-A Pensacola (donning one-of-a-kind Pok-Ta-Pok jerseys), as he whiffed nine batters across five dominant frames. After plunking the leadoff batter, White went on a strikeout flurry, finishing with 19 swings-and-misses. Miami kept White’s pitch count largely in check through the first three months of the season, but the 20-year-old has now thrown at least 86 pitches in four straight starts, hitting the triple-digit plateau twice. Batters have been rendered below-average against MLB’s No. 2 left-handed pitching prospect this year, hitting just .184 with a combined .530 OPS. Gameday

Payton Tolle, LHP, Worcester (BOS No. 2/MLB No. 28)/Jhostynxon Garcia, OF, Worcester (BOS No. 3/MLB No. 78)
The WooSox garnered sizable attention during the summer with now-graduated top prospects Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer mashing everything in sight. But the second wave has arrived. After an uneven Triple-A debut last week, Tolle was nails in his second act. Consistently ramping his heater up above the mid 90s, he spun five scoreless frames with five strikeouts, including four coming on his four-seam fastball. The 6-foot-6, 250-pounder is up to 124 punchouts across 86 2/3 frames this year, tops among all Red Sox Minor Leaguers. Tolle was able to secure the win due in large part to the offensive contributions from Garcia, who delivered a season-high four-hit performance. “The Password” -- who is slashing .368/.410/.737 this month -- also added four RBIs, giving him 55 in 64 games since his promotion to the Minors’ highest level. Gameday

Jonah Tong, RHP, Syracuse (NYM No. 4/MLB No. 44)
Like a hydra that replenishes a lost limb with an equally proficient one, such has been the week for Triple-A Syracuse. With Nolan McLean getting the call to make a hugely successful MLB debut in Queens, in steps Tong, the Minors’ strikeout leader. That lead only increased in his first S-Mets (soon-to-be renamed!) start, as he logged nine punchouts across 5 2/3 scoreless frames. The 2022 eighth-rounder retired the first eight batters he faced, not allowing a hit until the fourth. His fastball was clocked as high as 98 mph and he notched 18 swings-and-misses, including eight (on 13 swings) with his devastating changeup. Up to 171 punchouts this year (30 more than anyone else), the 22-year-old is also thoroughly flummoxing hitters by holding them to a .143 average across 21 starts. Gameday

Ryan Waldschmidt, OF, Amarillo (AZ No. 2/MLB No. 69)
As Double-A Amarillo broadcaster Zach Goodman aptly exclaimed after Waldschmidt’s second homer of the night, “Stay away from him, you’ll get burnt!” It’s been quite the heater for the 22-year-old outfielder, who delivered his second multihomer performance in the past three games with five long balls in total. The breakout upon promotion felt a long time coming for Waldschmidt, whose line-drive rate (27.4 percent) has actually increased despite his overall production taking a dip. Across two levels, the 31st overall pick from the 2024 Draft has posted a .410 on-base percentage and is the lone member of the D-backs' system to have 15+ homers and 20+ steals this season. Gameday

Mick Abel, RHP, St. Paul (MIN No. 6)
While Abel’s first two starts as a member of the Twins organization were a virtual seesaw of one another, his third marked one of the best pitching performances in Triple-A St. Paul history. The 23-year-old set both a personal and franchise record with 11 strikeouts, doing so over six largely dominant frames. Abel allowed just two hits -- one to rehabbing Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone, the other to KC's No. 2 prospect Carter Jensen -- and didn’t walk a batter. One of the headliners of the Jhoan Duran Trade Deadline deal notched 20 swings-and-misses, including recording a 52.9 percent whiff rate against his curveball. In 16 Minor League starts between two organizations this year, Abel has posted a 2.22 ERA and held opposing batters to a .191 average. Gameday

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Ethan Petry, OF/1B, Fredericksburg (WSH No. 8)
Baseball players work their whole life to get to the professional stage. Sure, the primary goal is the big leagues, but the Minors still feature guys all getting paid to play the game. So firsts matter! And Petry will always remember his first professional homer, which he slugged to center in the first -- even if it did come while wearing a full Harry Potter-inspired uniform. By the time the contest was over, the Nationals’ 2025 second-round pick out of South Carolina had added a pair of doubles and another RBI; through his first five games at Single-A, the 21-year-old is 7-for-18 with a 1.167 OPS. Gameday

Luis De León, LHP, Aberdeen (BAL No. 21)
No-hitters have sort of become High-A Aberdeen’s thing. De León was at the forefront of the club’s third in the past four seasons, working with the front 5 2/3 frames while striking out nine batters. The 22-year-old native of the Dominican Republic has been on a spectacular run during August, with no runs allowed across 16 2/3 innings with a 27/3 K/BB ratio. Working with a mid-90s sinking fastball, batters have found him tremendously difficult to square up -- of the 286 batters De León has faced this year, none have homered. His 54.3 ground-ball rate is tops among Orioles Minor Leaguers with at least 45 IP this year. Gameday