Which Hillsboro Hops Have Been Making a Name for Themselves this Season?

These seven players have been performing excellently of late and putting themselves further on the prospect map for the Diamondbacks

Diamondbacks prospect Tommy Troy practices at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale on July 28, 2023. / Olivia Gyapong/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Hillsboro Hops might be just the High-A team for the Arizona Diamondbacks and have a record of 24-26, but that doesn't mean they don't have plenty of players performing excellently right now.

The Hops have had plenty of top Diamondbacks prospects, and even talent come through such as Merrill Kelly who made a rehab start.

Some top prospects on the Hops roster include Landon Sims, Tommy Troy, Gino Groover, Roman Angelo, Jack Hurley, Jacob Steinmetz, and Gavin Conticello. Coincidentally enough, those seven players have been on fire of late and showcased their immense potential.

Let's start with the hitters first. Tommy Troy is consistently rated as a top-three prospect of the D-backs. While he is hitting just .209 on the season, he's been doing vastly better in August. Over 17 games, he's hitting .270 and is finally showing off his power with a slug of .508.

His OPS is a strong .846 and he's doing this despite a lackluster Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) of .304. He has 17 hits, four doubles, a triple, three homers, five RBI, and six walks. The only negative has been that he has 15 strikeouts, but otherwise, he is doing quite well at the plate right now.

Top-10 prospect Gino Groover not only has one of the best names in baseball but he's been doing quite well at the plate lately. Since July 25th, he's been unlucky at the plate but is still putting up good numbers despite a BABIP of .270.

Over those 23 games and 100 plate appearances, he's hit .271/.360/.435/.795. Groover has 23 hits in that span and five doubles with three home runs to go with nine RBI. He's been incredibly patient at the plate, working 11 walks against just 10 strikeouts. Groover is healthy finally and performing.

Gavin Conticello has been one of the best Hops all year and has raised his prospect stock considerably. The 21-year-old infielder/outfielder recently just set a record for the Hops for most hits in a single season with 118, and the season still has a few weeks left.

He's forcing prospect evaluators to start scouting him closely and see if he keeps this up. Since July 30th, over 20 games, Conticello is hitting .300 with an OPS of .835. He has 24 hits in that span with seven runs, seven doubles, a homer, a triple, and six RBI.

He's been very patient at the plate with 10 walks to go against 10 strikeouts indicating he's a tough out at the plate right now. Plus, he has even stolen three bases showing that he has some speed as well.

Gavin Conticello, the Hillsboro Hit King 👑

The @Dbacks prospect sets a @HillsboroHops single-season hit record with his 117th knock: pic.twitter.com/cro5TEzGd2

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) August 22, 2024

The left-handed hitting outfielder in Jack Hurley has opened up plenty of eyes this season and established himself as a top-20 prospect. He's been ablaze since July 14th, a span of 29 games. Over that span, he's hit .296/.347/.487/.834.

He's racked up 20 runs, nine doubles, two triples, three home runs, and 17 RBI. That includes an eye-popping 34 hits and he's showcased his speed with four stolen bases. He's even walked 10 times. If there is a concern, it's a large amount of strikeouts with 33 in this span, but that is just a slightly above-average rate of 25%.

Onto the pitchers. This player has MLB closer written all over him and it's right-handed pitcher Landon Sims. Since June 13th, a span of 28 innings, Sims has been dominant to the tune of a 2.57 ERA over 20 games.

He's allowed just 27 hits, eight earned runs, and 12 walks, and has struck out a swath of 38 batters showcasing his elite pitch movement and control. He's a top-30 prospect, which is rare for a reliever to be ranked that high speaking to his top talent. Opponents have just a .660 OPS against him.

This pitcher hasn't been with Hillsboro all that long, but it seems like he's adjusted lately as he's been nearly perfect in his last five starts. Jacob Steinmetz, the right-handed starter, has pitched 27 innings over his last five starts and has an ERA of 2.33 over that span.

He has allowed 28 hits but let just seven runners score. Steinmetz has showcased strong control of his pitches with just eight walks against 28 strikeouts. Opponents have an OPS of just .656 against him and Steinmetz has induced four double plays. This pitcher has quite a bit of potential that he's showcasing right now.

The last pitcher is one who just tied a Hillsboro Hops record. This right-handed starter was just the second ever to throw seven hitless innings. He did that last night. His name is Roman Angelo.

Roman Angelo becomes the second Hops pitcher EVER to pitch seven innings of no-hit ball 🔥 #AllHoppedUp pic.twitter.com/O5SQbBOTG1

— Hillsboro Hops (@HillsboroHops) August 22, 2024

Angelo has come on strong of late over his last six starts and 35.1 innings. He's pitched six or more innings five times and seven or more innings three times. Over that span, he's allowed just 25 hits, 13 earned runs, 10 walks, and has struck out an eye-popping 44 hitters.

This has led his ERA to be a strong 3.31, while opponents are hitting just .194 against him, Their OPS is a lackluster .615, showing just how strong Angelo has been pitching. It certainly seems that he's adjusting well to Hillsboro.

Only time will tell if any of these Hillsboro Hops players can keep performing this well and when they will get a well-deserved promotion up to Double-A Amarillo, but if they stay on their current track, each of these seven players will be up there before long.