Notebook: Mayo, Kjerstad go deep for Norfolk Tides in Friday-night loss

Top Baltimore Orioles prospects Colby Mayo went deep twice, and Heston Kjerstad hit a solo shot, in a 6-4 Norfolk Tides loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday night.

Kjerstad, an outfielder, has seven homers in 53 at bats this season, with a .396/.484.868 slash line and 1.352 OPS.

Mayo, a third baseman, has five homers in 57 ABs, a .386/.444/.754 slash line, and 1.198 OPS.

Kjerstad may be the next Tide to get the call-up to the big club, with 2023 AL All-Star Austin Hays (2-for-32, .063 BA, three walks in 2024) struggling mightily at the plate.

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2022 Washington Nationals first-round pick Elijah Greene homered for the Single-A Fredericksburg Nationals in a 12-7 FredNats loss to the Lynchburg Hillcats on Friday.

Greene, the fifth pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, is slashing .273/.407.500 with a .907 OPS in 22 ABs in 2024.

The homer was his first of the 2024 season.

In Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader, #10-rated Nats prospect Jarlin Susana (0-0, 0.00 ERA) takes the hills for the FredNats.

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Shortstop Will Wilson hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning, and that was it in terms of offense for the Richmond Flying Squirrels in a 3-2 win over Akron on Friday night.

Wilson was a 2019 first-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels out of NC State. The San Francisco Giants, the Squirrels’ parent club, acquired Wilson, at the time the Angels’ #4-rated prospect, in a December 2019 trade.

Things haven’t worked out for Wilson, who slashed 339/.429/.665 with 16 homers as a junior at State in 2019, and signed for a $3.4 million bonus.

Wilson has had two call-ups to Triple-A Sacramento, but in 103 career games there, he’s slashed .229/.299/.392 for a .691 OPS, with 13 homers in 332 ABs.

In 144 games with Double-A Richmond, Wilson is slashing .204/.291/.365 with a .656 OPS, with 23 homers in 553 ABs.