Manny Pena: Hottest Hitter in the Minor Leagues

Nobody was talking about Manuel Pena in April. That has changed fast.

The 22-year-old was signed by Arizona out of the Dominican Republic back in 2021 at 17 years old. He worked his way up the system quietly, posting decent but unspectacular numbers. Last year he hit 14 home runs in 106 games at Double-A. Solid, not special.

This year is a different story.

Pena just became the first Minor Leaguer to hit 20 home runs in 2026, reaching that number in his 49th game. He is slashing .288/.329/.629 with a .958 OPS, and that OPS compared to last years .758 it significantly improved. More power, better plate discipline. That combination does not come around often.

He changed his approach at the plate, raising his hands and focusing on lifting the ball, particularly to his pull side. His nine home runs in April set a franchise record for any Sod Poodles hitter in a single calendar month. He also became the first player in Amarillo history to homer in five consecutive games.

He is doing all of it as a utility man, making starts at first, second, third, and left field. Arizona is not letting this bat sit.

Triple-A Reno is the next stop. It is just a matter of when.

The Rising Star

Parks Harber, 3B, Richmond Flying Squirrels (Double-A, Giants)

Parks Harber just cracked MLB Pipeline's Top 10 third base prospects list, and the numbers explain why. The Giants corner bat is slashing .315/.380/.551 with a .931 OPS and six home runs in 31 games at Double-A Richmond -- the kind of line that does not sneak up on anyone for long. He is hitting for average, hitting for power, and doing it at the right level. San Francisco's pipeline has been thin for years. Harber is changing that conversation.

Under the Radar

Arjun Nimmala, SS, New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Double-A, Blue Jays)

Nimmala got off to a slow start at High-A this year, slashing just .132/.298/.289 in his first 47 plate appearances, and people wrote him off. But, since April 18th he hit three home runs and six doubles for a .327/.414/.633 slash line before earning his Double-A promotion, and in May at New Hampshire he hit .306 with 10 runs scored and four stolen bases. The 20-year-old has been here before, he struggled badly in his first pro season and used it as fuel. He is doing the same thing again.

Worth Watching

Mike Sirota, OF, Tulsa Drillers (Double-A, Dodgers)

MLB's No. 41 prospect just earned his first Double-A promotion after slashing .325/.478/.602 with High-A Great Lakes, and he has not slowed down -- he hit in the three-hole in each of his first games with Tulsa and is already extending an on-base streak to 41 games. His granduncle is Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, but Sirota is building his own name. The Dodgers' system is loaded with outfield talent and he is near the top of that list.

Liam Doyle, LHP | Springfield Cardinals to Triple-A Memphis (Cardinals)

Liam Doyle led all of Division I baseball in strikeout rate in 2025 at Tennessee before the Cardinals made him the fifth overall pick in last year's draft. The stuff was never in question. The adjustment to pro ball was.

April was ugly. He posted a 9.26 ERA over his first four starts and hitters were teeing off on his heater because he was throwing it too often. Then something clicked. He started mixing in his slider, splitter, and cutter instead of living on the fastball, and the results flipped immediately. In 13.2 innings in May he has 20 strikeouts and just three walks, and opposing hitters have dropped from .360 against him in April to .216.

This is what prospect development actually looks like. A 21-year-old in his first full pro season hitting a wall, making adjustments, and coming out the other side better for it. His ERA over his two May starts sits at 2.89. Triple-A Memphis is the next stop. The timeline is sooner than people think.

Current Texas League Standings Take Aways

Tulsa is 32-19 and running away with the North. That is what happens when the Los Angeles Dodgers (the best prospect-developing organization in baseball) stack a Double-A roster with multiple top-30 prospects including their top two outfielders in Josue De Paula and Zyhir Hope. A plus-60 run differential and a six-game winning streak heading into June tells you this is not a fluke. This is a system functioning at full capacity.

Arkansas sits 1.5 games back at 30-20 with a plus-72 run differential -- actually the best in the division. The Mariners are quiet about everything they do and their farm system is no different.

Meanwhile San Antonio is 20-31 with a minus-69 run differential at the bottom of the South. The Padres stripped their system down for big league wins. The Texas League standings are showing you exactly what that cost.

Standings tell the story of a farm system. Always pay attention to them.

Double Dip is a Below the Show publication. Published every Tuesday. Forward this to a friend who follows prospects closely.