LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 03: A general view of Dodger Stadium with confetti on the field during the Los Angeles Dodgers World Series Championship celebration on Monday, November 3, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jessie Alcheh/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
I saw the movie ‘Redux Redux’ last night, an action movie about a woman who travels to parallel universes to punish someone who did her wrong, over and over and over again.
Weirdly enough, that got me to thinking about a Dodgers question for today. This doesn’t even need to be in the realm of the film’s tagline — “revenge on repeat” — but can be anything. For instance, I might try to prevent the St. Louis Cardinals from trading Willie McGee to an American League team in August 1990, which might or might notlead to Eddie Murray winning a batting title. You know, the real important stuff.
Today’s question what is one Dodgers-related action you would try to change in another universe? A game, a transaction, a specific action? Let us now in the comments below.
CLEARWATER, FL - FEBRUARY 22: Trea Turner #7 of the Philadelphia Phillies slides in to third base against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the third inning of a spring training baseball game at BayCare Ballpark on February 22, 2026 in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Oh, they can deny it all they want and claim it’s a “rebuild that’s not a rebuild” like a certain team we know did, but this is full-out tanking.
It’s not surprising, given that they have a new executive in charge in Chaim Bloom, their new President of Baseball Operations who formerly held that role with the Red Sox. And, in fact, Bloom made a couple of key trades with his former team, sending Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to Boston. (That means that Cubs fans won’t see Willson at Wrigley this year, and in fact the Cubs won’t see him at all until the final three games of the 2026 regular season.)
What’s left is… a bunch of guys. Their No. 1 starter is (checks notes) probably Dustin May, who they got in one of those Boston deals. May’s biggest claim to “fame” is that he’s been injured in almost all of his six MLB seasons. He was once a Top 20 prospect in all of baseball. But, you know, prospects bust.
The rest of their rotation is guys who have either failed elsewhere or are wannabes: Michael McGreevy, Andre Pallante, Matthew Liberatore… you get the idea. The bullpen, same thing, mostly.
Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson are probably the Cardinals’ two best hitters and both have been said to be potential trade targets before the season begins. I wouldn’t be surprised. They don’t have a single player on their roster who hit even 20 home runs in 2025.
Rebuilds can work. Just ask Theo Epstein, for example. But the Cardinals are likely going to have to hit rock bottom before they come back. Okay by me.
A bit of history to look out for: The Cardinals lost 91 games in 2023. The last time they had lost that many before then was 1990 (92 losses), and before that 93 in 1978. However, no Cardinals team has lost more than 93 games since 1913 (!), when they lost 99, and no Cardinals team has lost 100 since 1908 (105). Both of the last two numbers could be threatened this year. Seems Oli Marmol likely won’t last past this year as manager.
And by the time the Cubs see the Cardinals, they could be buried in last place in the NL Central. The first Cubs/Cardinals game is Game 58 of the Cubs season. Then they’ll play 10 times in a 37-game stretch from early July to mid-August, and not after that. Thanks, schedule-makers.
Key departures: Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Miles Mikolas, Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, Andre Granillo
Key arrivals: Scott Blewett, Dustin May, Hunter Dobbins, Justin Bruihl, Ryne Stanek, Zack Thompson, Nelson Velázquez, George Soriano, Jared Shuster
TORONTO, ONTARIO - OCTOBER 05: Ben Rice #22 of the New York Yankees hits a two run double during the seventh inning in game two of the American League Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on October 05, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The list of position players to make the majors in the Yankees’ organization since Aaron Judge’s 2017 rookie campaign that have made such a great impact right out the gate is small.
Miguel Andujar was fantastic in 2018, but that fizzled out when he tried to play through a labrum tear in 2019. Gleyber Torres wasn’t yet 23 years old by the time he became a two-time All-Star in 2019. Despite not overwhelmingly great offensive numbers, Austin Wells was a Rookie of the Year finalist in 2024, and Jasson Domínguez had a memorable first 10 days in pinstripes before undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2023.
Ben Rice is older than all of these guys, turning 27 earlier in February. The former 12th-round pick was a very late bloomer who fell under the radar due to COVID-19 wiping out two entire seasons when he was at Dartmouth, and made his way to the majors in June 2024 after forcing the action with tremendous hitting in the minor leagues. After a rough cup of coffee that barely exhausted his rookie eligibility, Rice put on some muscle and clobbered the ball in 2025, forcing his way into the heart of the order as one of the team’s key bats. And despite the tremendous season he had, this might’ve been just the beginning.
There are 13 batting categories on Baseball Savant’s percentile rankings. Rice was the only qualified player in MLB who was better than the 60th percentile in all 13 categories:
To achieve this, you need to master several different aspects of hitting. You need to be patient, hit for power, display tremendous bat control, make good contact, and make good swing decisions. Rice does all of that, and even if you take off some of the less-important percentiles, he’s still part of a very, very elite class. The fascinating part is that a Savant page that looks this red almost always belongs to an MVP-caliber hitter, not a guy who lost out on a Silver Slugger to Zach McKinstry. That’s why it’s hard to contain excitement over what Rice can become as he enters his athletic prime: he was one of the unluckiest hitters in baseball last season.
Rice’s expected and actual stats slowly moved closer together as the season wound down, but he still underperformed his xwOBA by 36 points, making him the eighth-unluckiest hitter out of 251 qualified bats. For some of these hitters, the gap is between mediocre and average, or average to good. For Rice, the gap is between being great and being an All-MLB caliber hitter.
Why is he so unlucky? Well, he had a 25.2 pulled fly ball percentage, one of the highest in baseball. That, combined with his overall high rate of pulling the ball, does make it slightly easier to defend him due to defensive positioning. Defenses shade to the right side over 72 percent of the time against Rice, one of the league’s highest rates.
But using that as a reason for why Rice is “predictable” and will never be able to close that gap is lazy. Opposing defenses are also extremely sharp when he happens to be in the batter’s box.
Compare that with two Yankees on the opposite level of the spectrum, Aaron Judge (-7 OAA) and Trent Grisham (-9 OAA). Both hit the ball scorching hard, which limits a defender’s margin for error, and thus, yield higher BABIPs, especially in the case of Judge, whose BABIP in 2025 was historically high. Grisham pulls the ball just like Rice and also underperformed his peripherals, but didn’t get this level of defense.
The sky is the limit for Rice at the plate if he replicates that batted ball data. Can we really expect that a player who had a .439 xwOBA, 70.3 HardHit%, and 11.5 Whiff% against four-seam fastballs to only generate a +1 run value again?
The bigger question for Rice is his role and his playing time. The Yankees’ plan is for Rice to be the team’s primary first baseman, who’s also capable of filling in behind the plate. Rice isn’t the strongest framer or blocker (especially compared to Austin Wells and JC Escarra), and has an arm that will be exploited, but he’s far from the worst option to occasionally catch with his offensive tools. There’s a chance Escarra starts the season in Triple-A, and if he does, that’ll mean more reps behind the plate for Rice.
Initially, it seemed that Rice would get significantly more reps against left-handed pitching this year, but the Yankees decided to re-unite with the lefty-killing Paul Goldschmidt, who will certainly eat into Rice’s playing time against tough lefties. This could ultimately be a good idea, but Rice was passable against lefties last season and doesn’t have the level of drastic platoons that Ryan McMahon and Jazz Chisholm Jr. have.
Another potential benefit to bringing back the 38-year-old Goldschmidt is that Rice is still relatively new to first base, and there are worse things in the world than a four-time Gold Glover being a defensive mentor for Rice, who was mediocre defensively at the position last season. He’ll probably be sitting in the dugout late in close games for Goldy, but that shouldn’t cost him too many at-bats.
If he played two weeks less when filling in for an injured Anthony Rizzo in 2024 and Nick Kurtz didn’t exist, there’s a real chance that Rice would’ve been Rookie of the Year in 2025. There are a lot of similarities in the profiles of the Big Amish and Rice, who could both be among the AL’s best first basemen for the next decade. There’s a lot to be excited about with Ben Arroz, and 2026 could be just another step towards superstardom.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MARCH 19: Bobby Witt Jr. #15 of Team USA fields a ball in the sixth inning against Team Cuba during the World Baseball Classic Semifinals at loanDepot park on March 19, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) | Getty Images
When you speak of the World Baseball Classic to Royals fans, their most vivid memories will be how two of their most important players heading into the 2023 season – Bobby Witt Jr. and Brady Singer – were participants on Team USA. Bobby and Brady were going to be vital to whatever success the Royals could have in 2023, but things didn’t go well.
Bobby managed only three plate appearances, but he did take a walk and smacked an RBI double. Brady Singer pitched two innings in a single game and allowed four runs. Considering the time they were away from Royals’ camp, it felt like they weren’t getting nearly enough work, and when the season began, they both got off to incredibly slow starts that helped bury the team in its 7-22 start, which snuffed the dim playoff hopes some fans might have had prior to the beginning of the year.
Over that span, Bobby slashed .253/.297/.453, good for a 100 wRC+, but not at all what Royals fans had hoped for his sophomore season. Singer made six starts, posting an 8.49 ERA. Both players improved significantly as the season went on, but by that point, it didn’t matter for 2023. It wasn’t disastrous because the 2023 Royals were, generally, not a good team, and even if they’d been better, things might not have turned out any happier. But the slow starts of those two players in particular were laid at the feet of their lack of playing time in the WBC.
Those two weren’t the only ones to play in that WBC from the Royals, however.
Vinnie Pasquantino was the starting first baseman for Team Italy. As such, he got 22 plate appearances. Pasquantino has developed a reputation for slow starts, but in 2023, he started out the year .279/.375/.500. He was one of the best hitters in baseball for that first month. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long after that when he reinjured his shoulder and had to have season-ending surgery.
So while some fans worry about Jac Caglianone playing in the 2026 WBC, I’m excited about the opportunity in front of him. With Vinnie still on Team Italy, Caglianone will likely be their starting right fielder. That means he’s going to get competitive-speed action for a handful of games weeks before many of his peers. If that can’t help jump-start his 2026, I don’t know what will.
And don’t worry about Bobby, Salvy, or Maikel Garcia, either. They’re all almost certainly starters on their teams, too.
What about the pitchers?
Seth Lugo will be pitching for Puerto Rico, while Michael Wacha will pitch for Team USA. But there are far fewer reasons to be concerned about them than there ever were about Brady Singer. First of all, they’re veteran pitchers who have had long careers and a lot of success. They know how to take care of business, and a couple of extra weeks of pitching in the WBC isn’t going to cause them to delay their preparation for the season as it appeared to with Brady Singer, who was entering his fourth season.
But the next reason is perhaps just as important. Brian Sweeney and his staff appear to be infinitely better at preparing their pitchers for success than Cal Eldred and his staff were in 2022. It is easy to forget now, but the Royals’ coaching staff was the butt of many MLB jokes in 2022. Sure, Brian Sweeney was technically the pitching coach for Kansas City by the time the WBC came around in 2022, but Singer likely spent much of that offseason operating under instructions from Eldred or another coach who ultimately wasn’t retained to lead the staff. Lugo and Wacha have had the ability to know who their pitching coach is all offseason and have an exceptionally solid plan in place for how to handle their WBC duties in addition to getting ready for the season.
Regardless, the WBC is important
Honestly, even as a Royals fan, I’d support all of these guys going to participate in the WBC, even if I had real concerns about how they’d perform once they got back. Life is, at its core, a series of experiences. And if you get a chance to experience something like the WBC, you have to do it – even if, as a professional baseball player, you already get to experience things most of us only dream about. We only get one life, and it would be cruel to ask them to throw away a chance like this just because it might make it infinitesimally less likely that we’ll get to watch our team hoist a World Series trophy at the end of the year.
That’s more true than ever this year, as the 2023 WBC was such a classic that this iteration has generated more buzz than any I can remember. With all the nonsense about player insurance and teams telling their players they aren’t allowed to participate for one reason or another, there’s no telling how much longer this event could continue to go on. They’ve got to take advantage of it while they can.
And, to be clear, the WBC should go on. It might be awful to lose a key player to injury before the season even begins because he was participating in the tournament, but if baseball is going to continue to thrive as we push into the second quarter of the 21st century, it’s going to need to gain global appeal. It has a head start over a league like the NFL because baseball is already incredibly popular in many Latin American and Asian countries, but that’s all the more reason to not let that advantage lapse while the NFL continues to expand its own global footprint. MLB needs the WBC almost as badly as the WBC needs it, and I’m excited so many Royals will be participating this time.
Feb 21, 2026; Port St. Lucie, Florida, USA; New York Mets right fielder MJ Melendez (1) returns to the dugout against the Miami Marlins during the fifth inning at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
MJ Melendez, once upon a time, was a top prospect in the game of baseball.
The now 27 year old was a 2017 second round pick (52nd overall) by the Kansas City Royals out of high school, and ascended through the minor leagues rather quickly. Originally a catcher, Melendez reached High-A ball in 2019 before losing a year of his minor league career due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He did not miss a beat in 2021 despite the lost year, hitting .288/.386/.625 (1.011 OPS), which validated his top prospect rankings by Baseball Prospectus (35th), Baseball America (42nd) and MLB Pipeline (51st) prior to the 2022 season.
That 2022 season saw him make his Major League debut, though involved a position change as well. With Salvador Perez ensconced behind the plate for the Royals, they opted to move Melendez to the corner outfield to put his bat in the lineup, which is how it went from 2022 to 2024. The results were, well, just alright. He hit okay enough; .217/.313/.393 (97 wRC+) in 2022, .235/.316/.398 (93 wRC+) in 2023, and .206/.273/.400 (86 wRC+) in 2024, but a whopping -16 Outs Above Average over those three seasons made him a below average starter overall.
2025 was nothing short of a disaster for Melendez. He played in just 23 Major League games, hit .083/.154/.167, and was demoted to Triple-A for the rest of the season before getting non-tendered in the early offseason, which brings us to his 2026.
Melendez signed a one year, $1.5m deal with the Mets in mid-February, which gave both him and the Mets a few options — literally and figuratively. The Mets have one bench spot rather open, and the right field position theoretically open (though, in my personal opinion, I would’ve thought Carson Benge had the fast track to the spot). Melendez will be in camp with the Mets to compete for that bench spot. However, with the signing and subsequent comments by Mike Tauchman, it sounds like the Mets signed Tauchman with the idea that he will have the first crack at the bench spot. So, where does that leave Melendez?
Melendez, despite never really taking off at the Major League level, still has a minor league option to his name. In all likelihood, the Mets signed Melendez with the idea of trying to fix some things about his game to get him back to the play that made him a top prospect five years ago, and doing so in Triple-A, with no impact on the Major League team and with as little eyeballs as humanly possible on you, would likely be the best path for both sides.
Melendez, even if he can revert back to his 2022 and 2023 play, can be a useful bench player. He can stand in both outfield spots, first base, be an emergency catcher in a more functional way than nearly every other ball club, and also contribute some power, as he hit 18, 16 and 17 home runs in his three years as a starter. Now, of course, there is work to be done there, but a revamped Mets hitting apparatus could be the key to getting Melendez back on track after a derailing 2025.
PEORIA, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 20: J.P. Crawford #3 of the Seattle Mariners swings during the game against the San Diego Padres at Peoria Stadium on February 20, 2026 in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Howdy everyone!
The Mariners certainly uh….played a spring training game yesterday, tying the Royals 8-8. It’s still that period of Cactus League play where almost literally nothing that happens matters and only like 30% (don’t quote me on that) of at-bats taken or pitches thrown are by people who will meaningfully contribute to the MLB team in 2026. However, my intrigue for Brennen Davis continues to grow with each passing day.
Davis, in case you’ve forgotten, was a top prospect for the Cubs who never quite broke through — though he’s young enough that he still could. That’s got me thinking: what Mariners prospect of the last 20 years do you really wish had panned out the way they were supposed to, if you could only pick one?
In Mariners news…
J.P. Crawford is sitting out of spring games while he recovers from a shoulder issue. The team does not expect him to miss significant time with the injury at this juncture.
Crawford was asked to officiate teammate Ryan Bliss’ wedding this offseason. Daniel Kramer spoke to the pair about their close friendship and why Bliss’ wife felt Crawford was the perfect person for the job.
Now entering the season as the team’s de facto ace, Bryan Woo is working hard to embrace his role as a leader in the clubhouse.
Josh Naylor spoke up about the importance of respecting trailblazers like umpire Jen Pawol, to whom he displayed public support during the Mariners’ game against the White Sox.
Jesús Cano at Baseball America spoke to Mariners bullpen hopeful Robinson Ortiz about his journey to the big leagues and why 2026 might be the year it all comes together for him. ($)
Barrett Snyder at ABCA spoke to Mariners mental skills coach Kellen Lee to get his perspective on the importance of mental health for professional athletes and how he helps Seattle’s youngsters thrive on and off the field.
Around the league…
The Yankees are retiring the jersey No. 52 in honor of ace left-hander CC Sabathia on September 26. He will be the 24th player to have his number retired by the Bombers.
After Angels owner Arte Moreno said that the team’s fans don’t view winning as a high priority, Ray Ratto at Defector took him to the cleaners for being out of touch with reality.
Angels right-hander Alek Manoah spoke to Fangraphs’ David Laurila about his longshot comeback attempt. Do you believe he can reclaim his former glory?
Houston Astros prospect Bryce Boettcher — who hasn’t played in a game for the organization after being drafted by them in 2024 — is taking a leave of absence to pursue a career in the NFL.
It’s been a rocky career for Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos. Patrick Dubuque at Baseball Prospectus wonders if the former ace has another gear left as he enters his 30s. ($)
Anders’ picks…
Many Pokémon fans have likely already heard the news that versions FireRed and LeafGreen are coming to the Switch 2 on Friday. I think I’m going to take this opportunity to finally try my hand at a Nuzlocke run. Does anyone have any advice for a first-timer?
ATLANTA, GA - JULY 12: Charlie Condon #24 of the Colorado Rockies bats during the 2025 MLB All-Star Futures Game at Truist Park on Saturday, July 12, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Condon’s 2024 professional debut was a bit of a dud, but his first full season as a professional saw the 22-year-old righty slugger hit his way to Double-A. Condon received a MLB record-tying $9.25 million bonus as the third-overall pick in the 2024 draft (about $180k over slot) because of his huge offensive ceiling. He can translate his immense power into games, he hits for average, and has rare defensive ability for his size.
Condon was a one-man wrecking crew in 2024 for Georgia, as the 6’6”, 216-pound hitter smashed 37 homers — a record in the NCAA’s “BBCOR” bats era — and won the prestigious Golden Spikes award as the top amateur baseball player in the country. Given that success, it’s hard to believe that Condon (who played first, third, and all three outfield positions for Georgia) not only went undrafted as a high schooler but also was a walk-on who redshirted in 2022.
Mid-season 2025 Rank: 2
High Ballot: 1 (12)
Mode Ballot: 1
Future Value: 55, above average corner bat
Contract Status: 2024 First Round, University of Georgia, Rule 5 Eligible After 2027, three options remaining
MLB ETA: 2026
In 2023, Condon stepped into the Dawgs’ lineup and was an immediate success, swatting 25 homers in 56 games en route to a video game line of .386/.484/.800 in 254 plate appearances. That certainly got him on draft radars, and the aforementioned 2024 power explosion rocketed him up to, for many, the very top of the draft. In 304 plate appearances over 60 games for Georgia in 2024, Condon not only hit 37 homers, he also added 20 doubles and a triple while walking 16 more times than he struck out. In all, Condon hit a massive .433/.556/1.009 in 2024!
The Rockies assigned Condon straight to High-A Spokane, as befits a player many tabbed to move very quickly through the system. Unfortunately, Condon was downright bad for Spokane, hitting an anemic .180/.248/.270 (48 wRC+) with 34 strikeouts compared with four walks in 109 plate appearances while dealing with a bruised thumb. Condon did have six extra-base hits, including a homer, and four stolen bases (which is more than his entire collegiate total in two years at Georgia). That performance certainly soured many on Condon, but he still entered 2025 on many top 100 lists.
The 2025 season didn’t get off to a good start for Condon, who suffered a non-displaced left wrist fracture in his very first minor league spring training game. The injury kept Condon out until mid-May (after a nine-game rehab stint with the complex league team) when the Rockies sent Condon back to Spokane. Condon was much more successful in his return engagement, hitting .312/.431/.420 in 167 plate appearances across 35 games with three homers and six doubles (134 wRC+). The Rockies promoted Condon to Double-A Hartford on July 1st, where he was 1.5 years younger than league average — and not long after, Condon was selected to the prestigious MLB Futures Game (he started at first base and went 0-for-3).
In 237 plate appearances with Hartford, Condon had a .235/.342/.465 batting line with 11 homers among his 21 extra-base hits, which equated to an impressive 132 wRC+. There were still warts on the profile — Condon has struck out in 28% of his plate appearances in Double-A (walking in 11%) and he seemingly slid down the defensive spectrum from a third baseman/outfielder to primarily a first baseman (one error in 74 games there) who occasionally played left field and third base (two errors in five games there). Fans expecting the monstrous power Condon showed at Georgia no doubt expect more too, but at the end of the day a 132 wRC+ in Condon’s initial exposure to Double-A is pretty encouraging.
Condon finished the season in the Arizona Fall League to replace some of the at-bats he lost with his delayed start to the year. Against a less polished set of pitchers, Condon feasted with a .337/.439/.434 line in 98 plate appearances, including a homer, two triples, and a double. He was also named as a Fall Star.
Condon’s first full pro season got off to a miserable start, as he broke his wrist making a diving catch in spring training, missing seven weeks before he got back to High A. He hit fairly well there, with his power diminished likely as a result of the injury, posting a .312/.431/.420 line with a modest chase rate of 20 percent. He then moved to Double A and hit .235/.342/.465 as he had real difficulty picking up off-speed stuff. Condon has electric bat speed and hammers fastballs, showing at least 70 power in college, but he moved his hands back up in 2025 after dropping them in his draft year, and I think that’s one of the reasons he’s not reacting to breaking pitches or changeups that well. (There are, unfortunately, rumors that while he was at Georgia, the Dogs were stealing signs, so their hitters might have known what was coming.) He did bounce back a little in the AFL, reaching 111.6 mph and showing better swing decisions, although the pitching out there was not close to what he saw nightly in Double A.
Condon is a good enough athlete to handle an outfield corner, though the Rockies played him primarily at first base last year, as it’s a position of real need for them and he has experience on the dirt at third base. He has 30-plus homer upside, easily, and the patience and zone awareness to be a valuable hitter even if he hits .240-.250. The new regime in Denver should have a clear plan for helping him get back to the hitter he was in 2024 when he was the No. 3 pick in the draft.
With two hand injuries in the rear-view mirror, it’s time for Condon to prove he can tap into the plus-plus power that made him such a coveted amateur prospect.
Condon put up cartoonish numbers at Georgia, homering 62 times in two seasons, including 37 times in 2024 alone, when he hit .433/.446/1.009 in a Golden Spikes-winning campaign. He was considered by many the top prospect in that year’s draft, and when he fell to the third overall pick, Colorado seemed a perfect match of offensive upside and future park.
It may still prove to be. Eric was (and remains) skeptical of Condon even while he was riding roughshod over the SEC, and his first year-and-a-half of pro at-bats have only validated pre-draft concerns about a grooved bat path and trouble recognizing spin. You can wave away a rough pro debut, as post-draft cameos are kind of awkward, and he was battling through a bone spur in his finger at the time anyway. But even as a wrist fracture last spring complicates the evaluation of his 2025 performance, it’s becoming fair to wonder how much pop Condon will bring into games.
There’s little doubt about his raw impact. Condon is a big guy with plus bat speed and a powerful swing that produces data commensurate with the visual evaluation. His 90th-percentile exit velocity was nearly 106 mph and his max was over 112, both of which are plus. He also had a 44% hard-hit rate and a 13 degree average launch angle that looks, well, like a match for a guy who bashed 60 homers in college. Still, he only homered 14 times in 99 games while running a 131 wRC+ across High- and Double-A, which are both fine in the aggregate but underwhelming for a player with this skill set. This coincided with a move to first base — perhaps just to protect the wrist, perhaps not. We’ll see what Colorado’s new regime decides to do here, because Condon has played elsewhere and looked like a perfectly fine corner outfielder as a pro.
Ultimately, the power potential here is too great to ignore despite everything else. There’s enough noise and hand injuries lurking to think that there’s some small chance of a big breakout coming, but even if there’s not, Condon projects as a 2-3 WAR player with 35-plus homer potential, even if he’s flawed elsewhere.
The 6-foot-6 right-handed hitter still uses the largely upright stance, bent at the knees, lower hands and simple mechanics that brought him so much success at Georgia, but without the same impact. With the Bulldogs, he showed he could hit the ball out of the park to all fields with plenty of bat speed and leverage. While he’s continued to draw walks, his overall approach has suffered as a pro. The injuries clearly have played a part, especially in getting to his raw power, but he’s struggled against softer stuff, with a 40 percent miss rate against breaking and offspeed stuff at all stops in 2025. His approach was better in the AFL, albeit without impact.
In college, Condon played all over the outfield (where his arm plays well) and at third, but since joining the Rockies, it’s been almost all first base, with a little corner outfield mixed in. The corner-infield spot is his most likely home long-term, which puts more pressure on the power to show up. The Rockies, for their part, aren’t as concerned, thinking that his all-around hitting is coming around and the pop will follow.
Multiple scouts have drawn comparisons between Condon and Kris Bryant. While, of course, Bryant’s tough tenure with the Rockies (three more years!) have left a sour taste in the mind of fans, he deservedly won the Rookie of the Year and NL MVP awards in his first two years as a big leaguer and has been an All-Star four times. Condon has the kind of offensive potential and defensive utility that could make him a star in the league for several years (especially if he is able to get his power into games), so he deservedly ranks in this range in the PuRPs poll — he was number two on my list as a 55 FV player.
Condon’s 2025 results weren’t problem-free (strikeouts in particular) and I’m worried about his slide down the defensive spectrum (but am encouraged by him playing in the outfield this spring). Still, it was nice to see him doing some damage at Double-A. He should begin the year in Triple-A Albuquerque and could force his way into the lineup sometime this season, though the role and impact is still up in the air.
Perhaps he's simply trying to further ingratiate himself to Chicago Cubs fans, or draw the attention of boo birds when he heads back home.
But Pete Crow-Armstrong – an L.A. dude to his core, the son of actors and the product of one of SoCal's preeminent baseball factories – went well out of his way to bash Los Angeles Dodgers fans this week.
Crow-Armstrong, an All-Star center fielder at 23 last season, initially defiled fans of the two-time defending World Series champions in the proverbial "wide-ranging interview" with Chicago magazine, saying that Cubs fans "give a (expletive). They aren't just baseball fans who go to the game like Dodgers fans to take pictures and whatever. They're paying attention. They care."
Given a window to blunt the edges of those remarks Wednesday, Feb. 25, Crow-Armstrong instead doubled down in an appearance on Foul Territory, apparently referencing the tragic beating of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow and mildly castigating the vibes of a place that drew an MLB-high 4 million fans last season, though perhaps too many that aren't PCA's type.
"I grew up going to Dodgers games when they weren’t always good," he told the popular vodcast. "When they had Mannywood pop up. But it’s like they go in phases. I remember … putting the Giants fan in the coma. That stuck with me as a kid. Just little things. Sitting in the stands, just nasty stuff goes on. I didn’t always experience that at other ballparks."
The Mannywood-Stow era of 2008-2010 would certainly dovetail with Crow-Armstrong's boyish fandom era - he was roughly 6 to 9 years old then. Though perhaps the "go in phases" bit was lost on him – the Dodgers franchise was shortly thereafter plundered by former owner Frank McCourt, who was forced to sell the team by Major League Baseball amid a messy divorce.
Yeah, the fans didn't like that. And perhaps the finer points of sports business were lost on a young PCA, as the Dodgers returned to the limelight only after a sale to Guggenheim investments; the team essentially hasn't missed the playoffs since while re-setting the game's upper salary structure.
A structure Crow-Armstrong will eventually benefit from once he, too, is a free agent. So perhaps the bad memories of traffic jams on the way from Harvard-Westlake School – where tuition now retails for $55,000 – to Chavez Ravine stuck with him. (Was it the 134, the 101 or Sunset that was the culprit?) Maybe the music's too loud.
Or perhaps he wants to generate a faux rivalry between the Cubs and Dodgers. Either way, the Dodger lifestyle PCA seems to deride might look a little better come 2030 – when he's eligible for free agency.
There is no doubt that New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton will be depended on if the Bronx Bombers want to win their first World Series since 2019.
Stanton has been plagued by injuries in recent years, and his elbow issues limited him to just 77 games last season.
The now 36-year-old Stanton still hit .273 with 24 home runs and 66 RBI when he did play but, even after an offseason of rest, was asked during spring training this week if his elbows would heal.
“That’ll never be the case,” Stanton said (via NJ.com). “Not while I’m in this line of work. “You have your good days and bad days, just like your mood and everything.”
The five-time All-Star then made a stunning admission on how useful his elbows are.
“I can’t open a bottle,” he said. “I can’t open a bag of chips … a bag of anything. That’s the way it is.”
Stanton said he wants to play a full season, though he hasn't played 140 games or more in a campaign since 2021. He will mostly be a designated hitter in 2026, but plans to get some outfield reps as his health allows.
“That’s not going to be fixed in surgery, and I don’t care what any doctor says because they don’t know what’s going on,” Stanton said. “What’s written (about my elbows) is what me and the Yankees give you.”
Stanton is the active MLB home run leader, with 453. He has two more seasons on a 13-year, $325 million contract he signed as a member of the Miami Marlins in 2014, before a 2028 club option — which contains a $10 million buyout — has to be decided.
We continue our trip throughout the diamond with a stop at the hot corner. Officially, the Astros are likely to have three players on the final 26 man roster that can play third base. However, we profiled Isaac Paredes at first base since he is likely to get more time there and Nick Allen will be profiled at shortstop. That leaves Carlos Correa as the primary third baseman, but we will also profile Shay Whitcomb since he is likely to be one of the first guys up in case of injury.
In this series, we are looking at some internal numbers that experts typically look at when they are trying to predict what a hitter might do. Obviously, teams have their own internal numbers and we will likely never have a chance to see those, but Fangraphs.com provides terrific information on each player that can keep us sustained for days or even weeks.
I have selected five such metrics to look at in order to predict what likely might happen in each players’ case. In particular, each number has its league norms as I will profile below, but I like to use three year intervals because it demonstrates a trend in each metric. Those trends are often more important than the league average itself. In Shay Whitcomb’s case we will be looking at his minor league numbers since he has not had enough big league exposure.
Chase rate: This is the percentage of balls a player swings at outside of the zone. The league average normally lives around 30 percent, but we will be looking at three year intervals and we should notice trends more than where a player is in relationship to the league average.
Hard hit percentage: This is simply the percentage of balls that a player hits hard. Hard hit balls become hits and extra base hits more often than softer contact. Typically 35 percent is around the league average in this category.
BABIP: This is batting average on balls in play. Home runs are obviously excluded since they are not in play. The league average tends to hover around .300 but it will largely depend on hard hit percentages and breakdowns between groundballs, flyballs, and line drives.
Contact percentage: This is the percentage of swings that turn into contact. Typically 75 percent is around league average.
HR/FB percentage: This is the percentage of flyballs that result in home runs. Ten percent is typically around the league average.
Carlos Correa
Chase
Hardhit
BABIP
Contact
HR/FB
2023
26.7
45.9
.272
77.3
13.7
2024
24.0
44.5
.343
81.4
14.7
2025
26.9
45.9
.328
79.9
10.6
Aggregate
25.9
45.4
.314
79.5
13.0
At this point in Correa’s career it is fair to expect to start seeing some rot. What we can see is that most of the numbers have remained constant except for the pure power numbers. It is fair to ask whether that is a predictor of things to come or whether that was a blip on the radar. Correa has always seemed like a guy that should hit more home runs than he does and when you look at the hard hit rate that partially explains it. He hits the ball hard routinely. He is not in the very top in the league in that category, but he is easily in the top 20 percent.
When you hit the ball hard you will typically have a good BABIP. This is particularly true if you are hitting more ground balls and line drives than flyballs. Correa is what happens when a player is decidedly above average at every single skill. That has a way of compounding and making a player sneakily good. Believe it or not, seeing a player that does each of the four skills (recognize strikes, hit the ball hard, make consistent contact, and hit for power) at an above average rate. Most players have a hole somewhere.
If we are hoping for growth from Correa then it would come in the power department. It will be interesting to see what happens now that he is in Daikan Park for a full season. Minnesota is not the easiest park in the league for home runs and obviously that short porch in left field might give Correa a boost. He’s not likely to go nuts, but maybe 15 to 20 home runs is in the offing.
Shay Whitcomb
Chase
Hardhit
BABIP
Contact
HR/FB
2023
39.0
41.9
.287
70.1
23.6
2024
29.2
42.5
.320
74.5
21.2
2025
26.9
42.7
.316
72.8
23.1
Aggregate
31.7
42.4
.308
72.5
22.6
At some point, we will need to get Jimmy Price on the line for some of these guys, because I will be fascinated to hear the opinion of someone more connected to the scouting world. Whitcomb is another Astros farmhand that seems to be missing the contact tool. The chase rate in 2023 only includes his AAA at bats because Fangraphs does not track AA and below. So, it is likely that his actual rate was below that.
A reader asked a question about ballpark effects and he was talking mainly about minor league parks. That is the missing piece here. We see some pretty stark home run rates there at the end and that probably is not sustainable at the big league level. He might live between 10 and 15 percent even if he adjusts to big league pitching. That makes Whitcomb suddenly look a lot more normal.
All that being said, no one considers Whitcomb to be a huge prospect, so he is just a good guy for organizational depth. One could imagine the profile above actually working in a lesser MLB city where the stakes aren’t so high like the White Sox, Rockies, Marlins, Nationals, or Angels. Maybe one of those teams have a middling bullpen arm or lottery ticket further away from the big leagues. He could also be a throw in come July. What do you expect from the Correa and Whitcomb this season?
PEORIA, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 25: Michael King #34 of the San Diego Padres pitches during the first inning of a spring training game against the Los Angeles Angels at Peoria Stadium on February 25, 2026 in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images) | Michael King - Getty Images
San Diego Padres pitcher Michael King was dominant through the first two innings of his Spring Training debut. He made a mistake to start the top of the third inning, allowing a leadoff home run to Christian Moore, but he struck out two of the next three batters and finished 2.2 innings with one run allowed on two hits with four strikeouts. King is hoping the solid debut is a sign of good things to come, adding that he hopes to get back to the pitcher he was during the 2024 season. The Padres offense took some time to get going but after taking the lead with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, San Diego never looked back en route to a 7-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Padres News:
Walker Buehler signed a minor league deal with the Padres and seeing him in brown and gold still seems strange, but he is a big-league pitcher with postseason and World Series experience who could be a benefit to the rotation. Gaslamp Ball asked its readers if they would be rooting for Buehler to make the team. Results of the poll will be revealed later in the week.
According to a report from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Sung-Mun Song appears to be completely healed from an oblique injury he sustained earlier in the offseason. With that being the case, he has to get to work quickly to adjust to pitching velocity in MLB. Manager Craig Stammen and hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. have a plan to get him where he needs to be and they believe he will get there. In the same article Acee mentions the Padres are receiving calls on their relievers. They have an abundance of bullpen arms and limited roster space, which could mean a trade occurs sometime before the end of Spring Training.
Ethan Salas missed all but 10 games of the 2025 season due to a stress reaction in his lower back. Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune learned that although Salas could not learn through reps on the field last season, he learned by talking with a host of former catchers in the Padres system.
Baseball News:
Harrison Bader of the San Francisco Giants hit a home run that left a dent in a food truck. He did the only thing a player can do in that situation – he signed it.
New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor had the stitches removed from surgery on his left hand following surgery to repair a hamate injury and is on track to return by Opening Day.
Arizona Diamondbacks Opening Day starter Merrill Kelly is dealing with discomfort in his back and it has yet to be determined what the cause is. He may not be ready for opening day according to MLB Trade Rumors.
TAMPA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 25: Ben Rice #22 of the New York Yankees forces out Joey Wiemer #21 of the Washington Nationals at first base in the fifth inning during a Grapefruit League spring training game at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 25, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It had been a positive start to the spring for the Washington Nationals, but they got a reality check last night. They suffered their first defeat of the spring, losing 7-0 to the Yankees in a sloppy contest. The Nats were credited with three errors, but that is being generous. It really could have been five or six.
Last season, the Nats were one of the worst defensive teams in baseball. Even while the Nats were winning games early this spring, the defense looked suspect. Last night it ended up costing them. Blake Butera has already made defense an emphasis this spring, but clearly it needs to be an even bigger focus.
One thing Butera is going to really need to focus on is pitchers defense. It has been a consistent problem throughout camp, and it was on display again last night. Clayton Beeter and Andrew Alvarez both made throwing errors last night. In our piece yesterday, we mentioned pitcher defense as an area that had to improve.
The pitchers fielding has been horrific so far this spring
Yesterday the offense was very stagnant as well. The Nats only had one hit. However, offense is a secondary concern to me right now. It is still early in camp right now and guys are still finding their swings. As long as some of the big names on the team show life by the end of spring, it is not a big deal.
The Nats also faced some world class pitching last night. New Yankee Ryan Weathers looked absolutely electric in his spring debut with the team. He was pitching with a point to prove, showing a fastball that reached 100 MPH. Weathers’ stuff looked better than ever and he was hitting all of his spots. The Nats also saw some of the Yankees’ better relief pitchers such as David Bednar and Fernando Cruz.
I care much more about the fielding problems than any offensive concerns. Fundamentals should be the focus of Spring Training, and those have been lacking so far for the Nats. It is still February, but the Nats have a long way to go on the defensive side of the ball.
Keibert Ruiz also had a rough night behind the plate. He was not credited with any errors, but his blocking did not look good and he misplayed a ball hit to him. In an open competition, that is not a great look for Ruiz, who has struggled defensively for years. The Nats traded for Harry Ford this offseason, and he should have a chance to win the job out of camp.
Another player who has really struggled to start camp is Dylan Crews. Last night, he struck out twice and made an ugly error where he just dropped the ball. Crews has not lived up to his pre-draft hype so far, making 2026 a massive year for him. He has not been making the kind of statement you would like to see so far this spring.
There is still a long way to go, but I do not think Crews has done enough to be above starting the season at AAA. If Crews continues to struggle and one of the Nats many outfielders outperforms him badly, there should be a conversation. Crews never truly mastered the AAA level, so maybe going down there would not be the worst thing.
Of course, it would take Crews really struggling and someone else really stepping up for that to happen. However, I do believe that is a conversation worth having. Paul Toboni should be able to start with a clean slate. He was not the guy who drafted these players, so he should not feel any loyalty to them. The best man should win. There is still almost a month of Spring Training left, so Crews has plenty of time to redeem himself.
It is still very early in the spring, and the Nats are 4-1 so far. There were some concerning things on display last night, but I do not want this to be all doom and gloom. We should expect some ugly performances from time to time. This is a young team that is not built to win this year.
The Nats getting shelled or shut out every once in a while is not a big deal to me. However, I want them to control the things they can control. That means cleaning up the defensive mistakes and playing smart baseball. You do not need to be the most talented team in the league to play clean baseball. Hopefully we see defensive improvement as we approach the regular season.
(Original Caption) Ft. Lauderdale, Florida: John Blanchard of the Yankees during spring training.
The next player in our Birthday Series, covering every type of New York Yankee we possibly can, is one I hold in special regard. Several years ago, we did a series covering the best complementary players in Yankees history, and he was one of the nominees: former outfielder and catcher Johnny Blanchard.
John Edwin Blanchard Born: February 26, 1933 (Minneapolis, MN) Died: March 25, 2009 (Robbinsdale, MN) Yankees Tenure: 1955-65
While everyone is always looking for that secret formula, the truth is there are many reasons behind a dynasty, and that has always been the case — the Yankees would know more than any other in baseball history. Among the many important points, organizational depth is key, one properly illustrated by the likes of Johnny Blanchard — a player who was never a feature piece of a Yankee team in any given season, but did his part and then some in a couple of World Series-winning teams.
A native of the small town of Robbinsdale in Minneapolis, Blanchard was a standout athlete growing up, earning the attention of scouts in multiple sports. The Minneapolis Lakers tried to keep him in-state as a basketball player, but Blanchard took the rather tempting offer from the Yankees for $20k to sign out of high school. A product of Central High School, Blanchard was one of the two more notable major leaguers to come out of the school that closed its doors in 1982.
Signed as an outfielder, Blanchard was developing in the minors when he paused his career for a two-year period to serve in the US Army in the Korean War in 1953 and 1954. Struggling heavily in his first taste of pro ball, Blanchard had found himself in 1952 with an outstanding campaign, securing a .996 OPS for the Toplin Miners before his time with the Army.
Returning to the Yankees in 1955, Blanchard managed to get a cup of tea with the big league club, one that proved misleading concerning his proximity to the majors. From 1955 to 1958, Blanchard split his time between Double-A and Triple-A, struggling to gain space in the big league club and also working through a particularly difficult transition from the outfield to catching — one made even harder for a player whose natural talents didn’t particularly stand out that much, at least according to Blanchard himself.
Little could Blanchard have guessed that the transition to the catching position would earn him a better shot at playing time from 1960 onwards — the Yankee outfield became more crowded with the addition of Roger Maris via trade with the Royals, one that sparked the beginning of a particularly successful era of Yankee baseball.
Following two underwhelming seasons as a backup catcher in 1959 and 1960, Blanchard delivered one of the more memorable backup campaigns in the history of Yankee baseball — the backup catcher taking full advantage of that powerful left-handed swing to hit a whopping 21 homers in just 275 at-bats, and four of them even came in a row. Despite coming off the bench, one could argue that Blanchard was one of the more impactful players of that championship-winning team outside of the Mickey Mantle-Roger Maris duo.
Helping a Yankee team that beat the Reds four games to one in the World Series, Blanchard made his first of several productive Fall Classic appearances. Blanchard went 4-for-10 with a pair of home runs, the only Yankee hitter to go deep multiple times in the World Series. The first of those homers was a crucial one in the path of the whole series — after splitting the first two games at home, the Yankees trailed 2-1 in Cincinnati in Game 3, and Blanchard hit a game-tying shot, quickly followed by Roger Maris also going yard in a 3-2 Yankee victory.
From then on, the Yankees cruised through a couple of blowout wins to win the series in five.
Although he was never quite able to repeat those regular-season numbers of 1961, Blanchard went on to put up three solid campaigns off the bench for the Yankees. New York made the World Series every year between 1961 and 1964 but only won a couple, and Blanchard never featured as much as he did in that first one against Cincinnati. However, to hold Blanchard to the standard of that outrageous 1961 campaign is a tad harsh to say the least. Between 1962 and 1964, Blanchard had a 107 OPS+ in over 700 plate appearances, an outstanding effort for a reserve catcher, one that any team would gladly take. With Yogi Berra manning the position, there wasn’t room in the Yankees roster for a larger role — it’s hard not to wonder what Blanchard might have done at his best if given the opportunity to start full-time.
A player coming from Minnesota, Blanchard learned to love being a Yankee more than the usual relationship between player and organization. One of his most memorable stories as a Yankee is that of his reaction following a trade in 1965, crying copiously at the thought of no longer wearing pinstripes. After playing for the Kansas City Athletics and Milwaukee Braves in 1965, Blanchard retired as a 32-year-old, clearly struggling more than you’d expect for a player of his age. That was by far Blanchard’s worst season, finishing it with a .532 OPS.
Many players’ love of the game leads to them occupying other roles upon retiring, but other than a failed comeback attempt a few years into his retirement, Blanchard didn’t. The retired ballplayer went on to work as a salesman in several different areas and was also involved in real estate.
Blanchard died of a heart attack on March 25, 2009, in his hometown of Robbinsdale, Minnesota. He’ll always live on in lore of the Yankees’ dynasty years.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
Sep 24, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians left fielder Petey Halpin (0) scores in the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images
With seven teams in its minor league system, Cleveland has 165 players under contract heading into the 2026 season, so it’s a bit unfair to stop counting prospects at just the top 20.
Every year I pick some other non-top 20 prospects to keep an eye on and the track record has been pretty solid thus far. In last year’s article, I picked four players who made it to this year’s top 20 prospects and two more made it to the show (George Valera and Petey Halpin).
Here are some prospects who just missed the cut from Covering the Corner’s top 20 and deserve some recognition as well. Prospects are listed by their proximity to MLB.
Catchers
Jacob Cozart, 23, C
Drafted in the second round out of NC State in the 2024 MLB Draft, scouts said Jacob Cozart was strong defensively. After struggling in a small sample size the year he was drafted, Cozart blossomed in 2025. putting up above average wRC+ numbers at both High-A and then at Double-A. To top that off, I’ve seen multiple scouting reports that are claiming he’s not only the best defensive catcher in Cleveland’s system, but Cozart is one of the best defensive catchers in minor league baseball. He threw out 37 attempted base thieves last year in 84 games played at catcher.
Bennett Thompson, 23, C
Thompson also was drafted in 2024 — in the 13th round as a more offense-first catcher. The offense impressed in 2025 as he posted a 118 wRC+ at Single-A Lynchburg, even stealing eight bases while slashing .269/.372/.352 and earning a cup of coffee at High-A Lake County to close out the season. He also threw out 32 baserunners, which wasn’t half bad.
Infielders
Christian Knapczyk, 24, 2B/SS
Cleveland’s fifth round pick in 2023, Knapczyk is a high-contact speedster. He improved his power numbers in 2025, blasting seven home runs at High-A, where he played good enough to earn a late season promotion to Double-A. Knapczyk hasn’t been super flashy, but he’s been above average at all three levels he’s played thus far, including posting a 102 wRC+ in his 25-game stint at Akron last year, where he walked an impressive 14.4% of the time while dropping his strikeout rate.
Juan Benjamin, 22, 2B/3B
A 2019 international signing out of the Dominican Republic, Benjamin has been a slow mover in Cleveland’s system, stalling at Single-A for two and a half seasons. Despite a sub-par 2024, his first season of his career that was below 100 wRC+, Cleveland promoted him to High-A Lake County for 2025 and it paid off. Benjamin flourished there, slashing .276/.365/.385 in 88 games with 18 stolen bases, good for a 116 wRC+ and lining him up to debut at Double-A this year.
Dean Curley, 21, SS
Cleveland’s second round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, Dean Curley played just nine games with Lynchburg in the Carolina League last year, but he also played a part in the Hillcats’ run to a Carolina League championship in the playoffs. Before that, Curley slashed .315/.435/.531 with Tennessee while bashing 14 home runs. Curley likely will be the opening day shortstop for Lake County this year.
Luke Hill, 21, 3B
llege Cleveland’s fourth round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, Hill got off to an extremely hot start after getting placed at Single-A Lynchburg, slashing an elite /.357/.459/.510 over 15 games. Hill has an excellent eye at the plate, walking more than he struck out in his final two college seasons and he kept that skill at Lynchburg, walking 17.7% of the time. He’ll likely begin 2026 at High-A Lake County.
Riley Nelson, 22, 1B
Cleveland’s fifth round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, Nelson had a spectacular final season with Vanderbilt, slashing .344/.450/.526 and he carried that over to a 15-game run with Single-A Lynchburg, slashing .316/.381/.474, good for a 149 wRC+. Nelson also is expected to begin at High-A Lake County.
Dauri Fernandez, 18, 2B/3B/SS
Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2024, Fernandez hit the ground running with the Dominican Summer League at age 17 with a 112 wRC+. He blossomed in his stateside debut, slashing .333/.398/.558 over 43 games with an impressive six home runs, nine doubles and four triples, exploding his ISO to .224. He earned a seven-game cup of coffee at full-season Lynchburg. He was Cleveland’s most impressive hitter at the complex league. Keep an eye on this one.
Gabriel Rodriguez, 18, SS
Signed internationally in 2024, Rodriguez appears to have the chops to stick at shortstop and has shown an incredible ability to get on base. After posting a ridiculous .506 on base percentage in his debut season in the DSL, Rodriguez had his best hitting performance in the Arizona Complex League last year, hitting .294 while maintaining an elite .393 OBP. Unlike many of Cleveland’s undersized international prospects, Rodriguez stands 6-foot-1 and has room to grow.
Rodny Rosario, 18, SS
Signed out of Venezuela for $230,000 in 2025, Rosario had the best offensive season of any Guardians prospect between both of the organization’s Dominican Summer League teams, slashing .307/.452/.464 with an impressive six triples and a pair of home runs in his age-17 season. The switch hitter walked as much as he struck out and should move to Arizona this year.
Outfielders
Petey Halpin, 23, CF
A third round pick by Cleveland in 2020, Halpin has been slightly above average almost every season in the Guardians’ system. He hit a career-high 14 home runs in his Triple-A debut in 2025 and earned an opportunity at the MLB level in September, where he showcased above average defense, baserunning and an excellent ability to get on base in a small sample size.
Wuilfredo Antunez, 23, RF
A 2019 international signing out of Venezuela, Antunez has done nothing but hit at every level he’s ever played at, never posting a wRC+ below 120. He slashed .275/.354/.420 spending the entire 2023 season at Single-A Lynchburg and Cleveland repeated him there in 2024, where he again played well, putting up a 127 wRC+. Antunez saw a power spike in 2025, blasting a career-high 18 home runs split between High-A Lake County and Double-A Akron, posting a wRC+ of 135 and 147 at each.
Tommy Hawke, 22, LF
Hawke was Cleveland’s sixth round pick in 2023 and spent his entire 2024 campaign at Single-A Lynchburg. He posted an elite walk-rate of 15.1% while swiping 37 bases over 88 games, slashing .263/.379/.347 with a 121 wRC+. Hawke is a contact-focused hitter, hitting just one home run last year. He’ll likely start 2025 at High-A.
Nick Mitchell, 22, CF
Acquired by Cleveland in the Andres Gimenez trade, Mitchell was above average repeating at Single-A Lynchburg, but impressed significantly after he was promoted to High-A Lake County, where he slashed .267/.380/.422, good for a 128 wRC+. While he only hit two home runs, Mitchell stole 30 bases and walked more than he struck out on the season.
Ryan Cesarini, 23, OF
Cesarini was selected in the 14th round of the 2024 MLB Draft and he was above average at Single-A Lynchburg last year with 33 stolen bases. He earned a late season promotion to High-A and played even better while there, slashing .292/.373/.469, good for an elite 138 wRC+. On the season, he stole 40 bases and smacked five home runs while almost walking more than he struck out.
Esteban Gonzalez, 22, OF
Gonzalez was a 2019 international signing out of Venezuela and he’s performed at almost every level, only requiring a repeat stint at the complex league in 2023, where he flourished. He was a staple of Lake County’s lineup in 2025, playing 110 games where he slashed .272/.336/.430 while stealing 24 bases and shellacking nine home runs.
Aaron Walton, 21, OF
Selected as a competitive balance pick in the second round of the 2025 MLB Draft, Walton made a 16-game stint at Single-A Lynchburg, where he slashed .238/.324/.397 with a home run, five doubles and a triple while helping the Hillcats win the Carolina League championship. Before that, Walton was a standout junior prospect out of Arizona, where he showcased an impressive all-round game while putting up strong numbers with a .320/.437/.589 slash, 14 home runs and 19 stolen bases. He was hit by a whopping 24 pitches that season as well. He’ll likely begin the 2026 campaign at High-A.
Nolan Schubart, 21, OF
Cleveland’s third round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, Schubart presents a stark change from the typical Guardians model, as he is the most strikeout-prone college hitter the team has drafted in recent memory. He’s also one of the most powerful sluggers, bashing a combined 59 home runs in his three seasons at Oklahoma State. He had an elite 1.351 OPS his sophomore season, but a 24.59% strikeout rate in college scared scouts. He whiffed 36% of the time in a 15-game stint at Lynchburg as well.
Robert Arias, 18, OF
Cleveland’s top international signing in 2024 out of the Dominican Republic, Arias showed great plate discipline in his Dominican Summer League debut, walking almost twice as much as he struck out. This past season, he again walked more than striking out, leading the team with 29 stolen bases in 46 games and slashed a solid .287/.389/.402. I expect him to make his full-season debut at Single-A this year to begin the 2026 campaign.
Did I miss any of Cleveland’s minor league players that you felt deserved a shoutout? Feel free to comment or share your opinion on the “best of the rest” below.
