It¡¯s the most wonderful time of the year.
OK, one of the most, but the start of any baseball season is great for so many reasons. Spring Training is fun and all, but games that count are so much better. Thursday¡¯s official MLB Opening Day followed by Triple-A kicking off on Friday is almost too good to be true.
And with action getting going, the questions were plentiful. So let¡¯s get to them, including a first peak into Draft talk!
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What prospects yet to be called up could win the AL or NL ROY? ¨C @mjavv.bsky.social
As Paul Skenes, the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Award winner will attest, you don¡¯t need to be on an Opening Day roster to win rookie hardware. The Pirates¡¯ ace made his debut on May 11 and ended up being the clear winner of the Award. And there are several players who will begin the year in the Minors this year who could follow a similar path.
We just did a story on top prospects for each organization that are starting the year in Triple-A and that¡¯s obviously a good pool to draw from. Here¡¯s a top 5 from that 30 that I think have the best chance to compete for a Rookie of the Year in 2025, using a combination of talent and potential opportunity at the big league level:
Bubba Chandler, RHP, Pirates: If Skenes could do it ... seriously, though, Chandler is ready to get big league hitters out. And with Jared Jones on the shelf, Chandler should be the first one to get called up should one of the other starters in Pittsburgh falter.
Nick Kurtz, 1B, A¡¯s: Granted, he hasn¡¯t played a ton, with a hamstring issue cutting short his pro debut after the A¡¯s took him No. 4 overall last year. But he hit well in the Arizona Fall League and this spring, and it¡¯s telling they sent him to Triple-A (Kurtz in Vegas might be scary!) to start his first full season.
Cole Young, 2B/SS, Mariners: I¡¯m a Pittsburgh guy, so I was hoping this Pittsburgh kid would break camp at second base. But he hasn¡¯t played above Double-A, and while he has a super-advanced approach at the plate, he hasn¡¯t put up big numbers. He¡¯s ready to jump in at either middle-infield position in Seattle should the need arise.
Jac Caglianone, 1B, Royals: He¡¯s starting the year in Double-A, but that doesn¡¯t matter. This guy is going to hit his way to Kansas City in a hurry. The minute you start seeing LF next to his name in a box score, start the countdown.
Chase Dollander, RHP, Rockies: Colorado's first-rounder in 2023 got a nice long look this spring, and while some of his outings were uneven, he showed enough to impress the big league staff. He¡¯ll be in Albuquerque waiting for that phone to ring. Whether he can put up the kind of numbers in Coors to compete for ROY is the question.
Which prospects do you think have the best shot at hitting 40 home runs in the Majors? ¨C @NeilBMills
About a month ago, we did a story on the top power hitting prospects for each team and I think there are a number of them who could reach that plateau. I¡¯ll start with two of the first baseman listed above: Both Nick Kurtz of the A¡¯s and Jac Caglianone of the Royals have that kind of potential. Cags is one of five players we gave 70 grades to for his power (Kurtz got a 65).
The others all have the potential to get to 40 homers, assuming health: Orioles infielder Coby Mayo, the Rockies¡¯ Charlie Condon, Giants first baseman Bryce Eldridge and the Rays¡¯ Xavier Isaac. I could see fellow 65-grade pop guys like Lazaro Montes of the Mariners or the Rangers¡¯ Sebastian Walcott maybe getting there, too.
Most underrated pitcher that may be off the radar? I feel like this could be Jackson Ferris. ¨C @chatty_charlie_
I¡¯m not totally sure I¡¯d count Ferris as being off the radar, given that he¡¯s No. 70 on our Top 100 and No. 5 on our Top 10 LHP prospects list currently, but I see what you¡¯re getting at. He¡¯s not mentioned with Andrew Painter or Bubba Chandler or Noah Schultz among the elite arms. He could get there with a big year this year, and who wants to bet against the Dodgers¡¯ ability to develop pitching?
If you want to keep looking at guys at the bottom of the Top 100 who could make a big jump up, or be better in the big leagues than expected, I¡¯d offer up the Pirates¡¯ Thomas Harrington or one of the 2024 first-round picks in Blue Jays right-hander Trey Yesavage or Braves lefty Cam Caminiti.
Harrington is one of those guys whose feel for pitching gets more attention than his stuff, but the stuff is plenty good and he could be a workhorse soon. Yesavage is a college guy who has yet to throw an official pitch as a pro and Caminiti is a prepster who could have a huge ceiling. And Jacob Misiorowski, stuff-wise, belongs as high on the list as you want him. If he can throw strikes, the sky is the limit.
Three non-Top 100 guys for you: Rockies¡¯ Brody Brecht, who has ridiculous stuff and is just learning how to harness it; the Reds¡¯ Chase Petty, who should help the big league club this year and has evolved from thrower to pitcher and the Athletics' Luis Morales, who we¡¯ve been waiting on to put it all together and I think this could be the year.
Can you catch us up on the Liam Doyle phenomenon? -- @blahbla92342524.bsky.social?
I¡¯ll be honest here: We¡¯re just digging into Draft stuff now that we¡¯ve put Spring Training behind us, with a new Draft Top 150 coming out at the end of April. So we¡¯ll use this question as an amuse-bouche, if you will. We¡¯ve definitely noticed what Doyle has done so far this year for the reigning College World Series champion Tennessee Volunteers. It¡¯s his third team in three years, after starting at Coastal Carolina in 2023 and Mississippi a year ago. So far the left-hander has a 2.03 ERA, .144 BAA and an absurd 18 K/9 rate over 31 innings. He¡¯s probably helped himself more than anyone in the class, at least among the college crop.
I talked briefly with a scouting director who saw Doyle work recently and he thought he¡¯s likely a first-rounder, but not yet a top-of-the-round type. He¡¯s a lefty who has been one of the best performers in college baseball, and that¡¯s not nothing. He was up to 98 mph with his fastball, sitting 93-96. The breaking ball was inconsistent and he has some feel for a changeup that wasn¡¯t called often. The scout I talked to loved the way Doyle competed, but also thought there was some reliever risk. Of course, if he keeps pitching like this for a program like that, he¡¯ll keep moving up.