The 8 top prospects of spring IN BLOOM
Amidthe relative silence of the pandemic-protected spring training camps in their bubbles, we at least still have this: The annual splash of particularly gifted freshfaced kids creating their own special buzz throughout the Grapefruit and Cactus League circuits.
Remember these names: Bobby Witt Jr., CJ Abrams, Garrett Crochet, Alejandro Kirk, Bobby Dalbec, Julio Rodriguez, Wander Franco ,J .B. Bukauskas. While some of them will not be opening the season on major league rosters, their abilities have out-shone most others in their respective camps. All eight have made it clear: They won’t be held back long.
Hear the buzz:
BOBBY WITT JR.
He may be only 20 with barely 17 games of Rookie League experience to his credit, but there’s a nary a scout who wouldn’t agree he was maybe already the best player in the Royals’ camp. On March 8, he created a stir heard round the Cactus League by crushing a mammoth 484-foot homer, and as of Friday he had three homers, 20 total bases and seven RBI in 14 games.
Though his age and inexperience would seem to dictate starting the season in the lower minors, the incumbent Royals second baseman Nicky Lopez hit an underwhelming .201 last year with 41 strikeouts and just 34 hits. Royals GM Dayton Moore has not entirely ruled out Witt making the team. “We’re going to keep challenging him, playing him against the best pitching possible,” Moore said. “I’m not going to make the decision now. We’ll let the player make the decision.”
GARRETT CROCHET
In a White Sox camp bursting with standout young talent everywhere, the 6-6, 21-year old lefthander has made the biggest impression on the scouts, frequently topping 100 MPH, as he did in his brief five-game cameo at the end of last season. Originally drafted as a projected top-of-the-rotation starter, he’ll eventually wind up there. But for this season Sox manager Tony La Russa plans to use his overpowering arsenal in late-inning relief. “The kid has downright scary stuff,” said one scout. “I know they eventually want him to start, but I could see him as a closer, maybe even this year if anything happens to (Liam) Hendriks.”
CJ ABRAMS
In any other organization he’d be the undisputed shortstop of the future. But even with Fernando Tatis Jr. installed as the Padres’ shortstop for the next 15 years, the multi-talented 20-year-old Abrams will start the season mostly playing shortstop at Triple A and soon re-surface with the Padres the moment any of their infielders go down with an injury.
The scouts all agree, he’s going to be a star — somewhere.
That’s why the Padres, despite the presence of Tatis Jr., went ahead and selected him with their first pick in the 2019 draft, not for his position, but because he was the best player available. Said Padres manager Jayce Tingler last week: “The things you want to see, he’s doing on the field.” He had two homers, 10 RBI, 19 total bases in 16 games as of Friday.)
ALEJANDRO KIRK
When the lumbering 5-foot-8, 265-pound, Mexico native showed up late last year to help out with the Blue Jays’ catching, scouts looked at him and said: “What the heck is this?” But despite never playing above High-A, Kirk quickly impressed with his bat (.375, 1 HR, 3 RBI in 9 games) and this spring, having shed some 20 pounds, he’s mounting a stiff challenge (.375, 2 HR as of Saturday ) to weak-hitting Danny Jansen as the Jays’ No. 1 receiver.
In the opinion of one scout who’s been following the Blue Jays all spring: “There’s no question Kirk can hit and he’s in much better shape this spring. But on this team, there’s offense at just about every position and they’re going to need good defense behind the plate because of their questionable pitching, which Jansen provides.”
But while there may be some concerns about the 22-year-old Kirk’s arm strength, he’s said to be very intelligent and works well with the pitchers.
BOBBY DALBEC
The Red Sox farm system was left pretty much barren by Dave Dombrowski, but the 23-year-old Dalbec may be a welcome exception. His hitting (.300, 5 HR, 12 RBI, 25 total bases in 13 games) has been the talk of the camp.
Everyone is agreed Dalbec, a converted third baseman who was also a dominant college pitcher at Arizona, has won the Red Sox first base job over incumbent Michael Chavis, and the Red Sox, with perhaps the weakest hitting outfield in baseball, are going to need his big power bat in the middle of their lineup. Fenway fans should be forewarned, however. He’s your classic modern day swing-and-miss guy. In his 22-game eight-homer audition last year, he struck out 39 times, as opposed to a combined 31 hits and walks. In 383 minor league games, Dalbec hit 79 homers, but he also struck out 480 times.
JULIO RODRIGUEZ
At the start of Mariner camp, all the focus was on Jarred Kelenic and whether he could force the team brass to abandon their service time restrictions by hitting his way onto the team — and then he got hurt, making it all moot.
But if Kelenic is the Mariners’ No. 1 prospect, his outfield mate Rodriguez is 1A, and from a power standpoint, the 20-year-old righty hit- ter may be No. 1.
Rodriguez’s one homer in his first 13 spring training games traveled 437 feet. He’s also impressed with five walks. In two minor league seasons, he hit .322 with 17 homers and 105 RBI in 143 games. “He’s still just learning,” said one scout. “But he’s been the most impressive player in the Mariners’ camp.” With Kelenic and Rodriguez flanking last year’s AL Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis in center field, the Mariners can look forward to soon fielding an outfield to be envied.
J.B. BUKAUSKAS
One of the great mysteries of this spring training is why Bukauskas was one of the first cuts by the Diamondbacks. The 24-year-old right-hander, who was a non-roster invitee, dominated in the Cactus League with a mid-90s fastball, retiring all 12 batters he faced, nine of them by strikeout, and seemed certain to land a spot on the D’back staff. D’backs manager Torey Lovullo used the nebulous excuse that Bukauskas need to fine tune “different things like controlling the running game, consistency of pitches” but the real truth probably rests in the rule that requires any player in camp after March 16 to receive major league pay and accrue a full year of service time if they were to get hurt and placed on the injured list. “He was the best pitcher I saw those first two weeks,” said one scout.
WANDER FRANCO
Nobody was at all surprised when the Rays shipped the 20-yearold shortstop out on the first wave of cuts before he could make an even stronger impression than he already has as the top-rated player in the minor leagues. There’s no way they want to get his service time clock running any sooner than they have to. Franco has barely 700 plate appearances in the minors, during which he hit .336 with 20 homers, 110 RBI and 22 stolen bases.
Scouts are all in agreement that Franco is already the Rays’ best player and that his only drawback is a lack of experience. We should not be surprised, however, if he’s in the big leagues sometime after the first 16 days of the season so the Rays will have control of him through the 2027 season instead of 2026. He’s just too good to be expected to spend another full year in the minors.