RHP Dylan Ray: The Diamondbacks took a calculated risk last summer when they drafted Ray in the fourth round. So far, it’s working out in their favor. Ray had missed significant developmental time in recent years because of injuries, including Tommy John surgery that limited him to 31 innings last season. Those lost repetitions haven’t prevented him from posting a 34.2% strikeout-minus-walk percentage through his first four starts in High-A. Ray has the arsenal (led by a low-to-mid-90s fastball with carry), so it’s up to his ever-pesky ligaments to hold up their part of the bargain.
SS Ignacio Alvarez: Alvarez has begun his first full professional season by posting a 2.56 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 96 trips to the plate. That’s particularly impressive considering that he’s a 20-year-old left-side infielder doing it in High-A, where his opponents are on average two-plus years his senior. Alvarez’s ability to stick at shortstop and hit for power will dictate his prospect status heading forward. For now, he’s putting himself on the map after being selected in the fifth round last summer.
RHP Ben Brown: The Cubs nabbed Brown, a tall right-hander with good stuff, in a swap with the Phillies last deadline that sent veteran reliever David Robertson packing. The deal was understandable on the Phillies’ end — they were attempting to make the postseason, and they did, advancing all the way to the World Series — but it has the potential to be a big winner for the Cubs. Brown bullied Double-A batters in four starts, compiling an eye-catching 0.45 ERA and a 13.5 strikeout per nine rate before being promoted to Iowa. He’s a heartbeat away from making his big-league debut.
LHP Andrew Abbott: Abbott spent most of his collegiate career at Virginia pitching out of the bullpen. He received an opportunity to start in his draft year, and he showed enough to convince the Reds to select him that summer at No. 53. Now, he’s closing in on the majors — and quickly. Abbott has split this season between Double- and Triple-A, striking out an absurd 54% of the batters he’s faced in his first 25 innings. He primarily attacks batters with a low-90s fastball and a breaking ball. Abbott’s fastball is more effective than the raw velocity suggests because he gets further down the mound than his 6-foot frame would suggest is likely. That, in turn, creates a deeper, flatter release point that allows his heater’s natural rise to play up. All of this to say: keep an eye on Abbott and his fastball when he gets the call this summer.
3B/OF Sterlin Thompson: The Rockies selected Thompson with the 31st pick last summer on the basis of his approach and feel for contact. He’s thus far lived up to the advertisement to begin his first full professional season, batting .463 with more walks than strikeouts (as well as one of the lowest whiff rates in the organization) in 18 games at High-A. The most interesting aspect of Thompson’s season has been his position. He split his days between the infield and outfield at the University of Florida, with most evaluators forecasting a full-time move to the grass after he was drafted. The Rockies, as they are wont to do, have veered the other way, with Thompson so far exclusively playing third base this season. We’ll see if he can somehow make it work.
RHP Emmet Sheehan: Sheehan had a career 4.80 ERA at Boston College despite featuring a promising fastball-changeup combination. He’s since spent nearly two years in the Dodgers system after arriving as a sixth-round pick, which means that you shouldn’t be surprised to read the following sentence: he’s struck out 35 of the 78 Double-A batters he’s faced this season, a rate that translates to 16.3 strikeouts per nine innings. Yowza. Clearly Sheehan has good stuff; the question facing him now, and heading forward, is whether his purposeful operation will allow him to throw enough strikes to maximize its potency.
OF Peyton Burdick: Burdick, 26, is one of the older players referenced in this piece. He deserves the spotlight (or whatever this mention can be described as) because he’s smoking the ball when he makes contact. To wit, nearly 64% of his batted balls this season have had exit velocities of 95 mph or better. The reason he only just joined Miami’s big-league roster is because of Chekhov’s caveat: “when he makes contact.” Burdick punched out in 35 of his 102 trips to the plate in the majors last season, and he’s sporting an uncool 39% strikeout rate so far this year in Triple-A. That’s not going to work, even if he does have an appreciable skill for hitting the ball hard.
RHP J.B. Bukauskas: Another relative dinosaur. Bukauskas, 26, was a first-round pick in 2017, the same year as Royce Lewis, Hunter Greene, Kyle Wright, and so on. He’s since bounced around a bit, including joining the Brewers off waivers last month. Although he’s technically no longer a rookie (despite logging just 18 big-league innings), we’re including him anyway because that’s the kind of creative liberty we’re willing to take with these things. Bukauskas has a 64.5% whiff rate on his slider this season on the minor-league side of things. We suspect that the Brewers see some potential here, and that he’ll end up getting a look-see in the majors in due time.
3B Mark Vientos: Vientos has the misfortune of being the second-best young third baseman in the Mets system behind Brett Baty. That’s too bad for him, because he’s having a brilliant start to the season. He entered Wednesday having socked more than 58% of his batted balls 95 mph or harder. What’s more is that he’s sliced into his strikeout rate. Whereas last season he struck out in nearly 29% of his trips to the plate in Triple-A, so far this year he’s sporting a K rate of only 22%. Vientos will find himself a big-league job somewhere if he keeps hitting like he’s hitting, just maybe not in Queens.
RHP McKinley Moore: Moore, part of the return on Adam Haseley in a largely forgotten spring 2022 trade, has already appeared in the majors this season. He gets this spot anyway because he’s allowed just an 82.5 mph average exit velocity against Triple-A hitters in his first five outings. That’s the lowest mark on the Lehigh Valley roster, minimum 20 batters faced. Moore has a big arm — his fastball averages 97 mph — but he’s had problems with his command throughout his career. If he can improve upon his sloppy geography, he could become a bullpen fixture in Philly.
C Henry Davis: The pieces are clicking into place for Davis, the No. 1 selection in the 2021 draft, to make his big-league debut this summer. For one, you have the Pirates off to a surprisingly good start — should that maintain until deeper into the summer, perhaps they start seriously contemplating making a shocking run at a postseason berth. For another, you have Davis sporting a red-hot .485 wOBA in his first 17 games this season at the Double-A level. That’s thanks in large measure to him homering six times already — he homered a combined 10 times in 59 games last season. Davis possesses big power, and while he’s unlikely to serve as Pittsburgh’s Adley Rutschman, he doesn’t need to in order represent an offensive upgrade at catcher.
LHP Jackson Wolf: Wolf has a gnarly 5.60 ERA through his first five starts in Double-A (in part because he’s surrendering 1.5 home runs per nine innings), but we’re giving him the nod due to his 38% strikeout percentage. You may see that number and think he’s a high-octane arm. He’s not. Wolf’s game is based on … well, let’s just reprint his own words: “[Getting] outs isn’t going to come from blowing fastballs by guys. It’s going to come from using my movement, and from using my weird motion and leverage — kind of my deception — to get hitters uncomfortable and off-balance.” In our book, that makes Wolf worth watching, even if he’s likely a future reliever.
RHP Carson Ragsdale: Acquired from the Phillies in exchange for Sam Coonrod, Ragsdale is a tall right-hander with an arsenal built for verticality: a rising fastball and a curveball delivered from a high release point. He’s off to a phenomenal start in five outings this season, posting a 3.48 ERA and — more importantly — a 10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Considering that Coonrod finished his Phillies career with an 85 ERA+ after 54 appearances, we think the Giants have a chance to win this deal.
OF Victor Scott II: You’re not going to find Scott on most prospect lists a year after being selected in the fifth round, but here’s what you need to know: he can really run, and he leverages that ability in the outfield and on the basepaths. To wit, he’s 17-for-18 on stolen-base attempts to date. That shouldn’t come as a surprise; at West Virginia, he 62 bases on 72 tries, resulting in a career 86.1% success rate.