Nearly universally regarded as a Top 100 prospect in all of baseball — he was No. 78 on Joe Doyle’s preseason list — Future Stars Series alum Edwin Arroyo has turned his 2023 season with a torrid start to the month of June.
Arroyo is hitting .417 with three home runs and nine RBI in nine games thus far this month with High-A Dayton, where he’s teammates with fellow FSS alum, Wendell Marrero. He incredibly had a two-hit inning on Saturday, which he capped off with a two-run homer. Over the last month, he’s upped his average 89 points, and increased his OPS from .436 to .706.
The 19-year-old shortstop was the key piece heading the other way to the Cincinnati Reds in last year’s trade deadline deal that netted Seattle starting pitcher Luis Castillo. The Mariners had drafted Arroyo with No. 48 pick back in 2021.
Petey Halpin, OF — Akron (AA, Guardians)
Petey Halpin continues his consistent climb to the big leagues. The 21-year-old outfielder has performed well in his first year at the Double-A level, hitting .284 with two homers and 16 RBI in his first 39 games this season.
The 2019 International Week alum has progressed a level each year since going No. 95 overall to the Guardians back in 2020, and could be on track to make his MLB debut at some point late next season if he’s able to keep up this level of production. An above-average defender with impressive speed and bat-to-barrel skills, he could prove to be a versatile asset once he arrives, likely joining another alum, Bo Naylor, by the time he gets there.
Grayson Rodriguez, P — Norfolk (AAA, Baltimore)
Back in Triple-A after a lengthy stay in the majors with the Baltimore Orioles, “G-Rod” has gotten right back on track in two outings with Norfolk. After throwing six scoreless innings of one-hit ball on June 3, he followed that six days later with racking up ten strikeouts in six frames in Scranton, facing some of the Yankees best upper-level prospects.
Kenya Huggins, P — Daytona (A, Cincinnati
Huggins continues to see his ERA go down after a tough start to the year, now getting it down to 4.88 on the season after picking up the win with four scoreless innings on June 7, in which he struck out seven batters and walked just one. The No. 123 overall pick by the Reds last year, Huggins has issued just three free passes in his last 17 2/3 innings of work.
