Alec Burleson has been on a heater.
The former East Carolina outfielder and current St. Louis Cardinal smacked his ninth home run of the season on Sunday in a 5-1 win over Colorado.
Burleson now has a new career high in home runs, surpassing last season’s mark of eight that took him 107 games and 347 plate appearances to reach. This season, Burleson has nine homers in 57 games and is batting .273, about 30 points higher than last season.
He also has 24 RBIs and seven doubles.
“I had that confidence that at some point I could hit at this level, and I feel like I am proving it now,” Burleson told reporters after Sunday’s win. “If you look at the body of work I’ve put together since college, I just know that I can hit here. You have to really know who you are as a hitter to hit up here. But once you figure that out, you can just roll with it.”
Playing a mix of right field and designated hitter, the former Pirate (2018-20) is in his third season with the Cardinals.
Gavin Williams, Cleveland (Triple-A Columbus)
Williams, who pitched for ECU from 2018-21, made another rehab start with Triple-A Columbus on Monday.
Williams, who made his Major League debut last season, has been pitching in the minor leagues this season as he works back from an elbow injury suffered in spring training. In his most recent outing, Williams struck out three and allowed two earned runs and three hits with no walks over three-plus innings.
Williams threw 82 innings and made 16 starts for the big-league club last season. He should return to Cleveland at some point this season when he comes off the 60-day injured list.
Connor Norby, Baltimore
The infielder from 2019-21 was called up to The Show on June 3 and has spent about a week playing for the Baltimore Orioles.
Norby has played in four games and has made 14 plate appearances. His first Major League hit was a two-run home run that came in a 10-1 win over Toronto on June 4. Norby has a hit in three consecutive games and has scored two runs. He is batting .214 with three strikeouts.
He had been tearing up Triple-A at Norfolk for the past two seasons. Before his call-up this year, Norby was batting .286 with nine home runs and 36 RBIs. He put together a standout season in 2023 and hit .290 with 21 home runs and 92 RBIs.
Carson Whisenhunt, San Francisco (Triple-A Norfolk)
Currently playing at Triple-A Sacramento, the former ECU pitcher (2020-22) reached the highest level of the San Francisco Giants system in his career.
The left-hander owns a 5.47 ERA over 13 starts in the Pacific Coast League, He has struck out 70 batters over 51.0 innings with 29 walks. He’s allowed eight home runs and 51 hits.
Whisenhunt pitched at three levels last season and dominated them all with big strikeout numbers. He is a promising prospect who was selected to play in the Futures Game a year ago.
Zach Agnos, Colorado (High-A Spokane)
Agnos, a former ECU shortstop (2020-22) and current reliever in the Rockies’ system, was promoted to High-A Spokane this year. After leading the minor leagues in saves with 27 last season in low-A Fresno, Agnos has six on the 2024 season.
He owns a 4-1 record and a 1.02 ERA over 11 appearances. Agnos has struck out 23 batters over 17.2 innings, and he’s issued just two walks.
Bryson Worrell, Atlanta (High-A Rome)
The former ECU outfielder (2018-22) is batting .222 with four home runs and two doubles this year for the Rome Emperors (Ga.). He’s played in 26 games for Rome and two games for Triple-A Gwinnett, where he went 2-for-7 with a home run and a double in two games.
Most of his playing time has come in Single-A this season.
Josh Moylan, Yankees (High-A Hudson Valley)
The former ECU first baseman (2021-23) is in his second season of pro ball and first full year since joining the Yankees farm system after playing for ECU last season.
Moylan is batting .237 with six extra-base hits and 13 RBIs. He has 32 hits, scored 19 runs and has drawn 28 walks in 41 games.
Josh Grosz, Yankees (Single-A Tampa)
The former ECU right-hander (2021-23) is 1-4 with a 6.92 ERA over eight starts and nine appearances.
Grosz has struck out 53 batters over 39.0 innings while issuing 25 walks. He has lowered his walks per nine and upped his strikeouts per nine since college, while showing off good stuff in the minors despite a high ERA.
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