8 Young Players on the Verge of Becoming MLB Superstars

Major League Baseball isn't hurting for young superstars. There's that one guy named Trout. And the guy named Harper. And Machado. And Betts. And Syndergaard. And so on.

But you know what? It never hurts to have more young superstars. And it so happens that MLB isn't hurting for young players who are ready to join the ranks.

Let's look at eight young players on the verge of hitting it big. For this, we'll focus on players who will be 25 or younger in 2017 and who have yet to win any major awards or appear in an All-Star Game.

Some are prospects who have already tasted major league success and are now poised for star-making rookie seasons. Others are established players who are ready to tap into their remaining upside.

We'll start with the guy who is furthest away from superstardom and end with the guy who can just about touch it.

Alex Reyes, SP, St. Louis Cardinals

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Alex Reyes doesn't have a major league job lined up for 2017. All St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny has promised is a chance to compete for a rotation slot this spring.

It's not for lack of talent that Reyes doesn't yet have a job. He's rated as the top right-handed pitching prospect in baseball by MLB.com and may be the top pitching prospect of them all, period.

Far be it from me to disagree after watching him in the majors last season. In 12 appearances, Reyes posted a 1.57 ERA with 52 strikeouts in 46 innings. He also didn't suffer hard contact kindly, permitting an MLB-low 84.9 mph in average exit velocity.

Reyes teased the potential for four plus pitches, including a fastball that touches triple digits and a true hammer of a curveball. He also has a sturdy build that helps him make throwing the ball look effortless. Thanks to that, his command and control should eventually be on par with his stuff.

Even if the 22-year-old doesn't break camp with the Cardinals, they're not going to be able to hold him back for long. He could be this year's Michael Fulmer, showing up late but pitching well enough to rise to the front of the Rookie of the Year race.

Dansby Swanson, SS, Atlanta Braves

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If Reyes is indeed a late entry to the National League Rookie of the Year race, it's likely he'll find himself chasing Dansby Swanson.

Swanson goes into 2017 not just as the Atlanta Braves' starting shortstop but as MLB.com's second-ranked shortstop prospect. The only surprise is that he's somehow not the No. 1 shortstop prospect.

The Vanderbilt alum began his pro career as the No. 1 pick in the 2015 draft and found himself in the majors just over a year later when he joined the Braves in August.

What followed was a .302 average and .803 OPS in 38 games as Swanson displayed his legit hit tool. He begins with an advanced approach and utilizes an all-fields approach with a feel for the barrel. To wit, he hit 32.7 percent of his batted balls to the opposite field with a 34.7 overall hard-hit percentage.

Although Swanson lacks power, he offers speed and a good glove to go with his hit tool. For MLB.com's Jim Callis, it's all too appropriate to compare him to Derek Jeter.

All signs point toward Swanson's taking his place as the Braves' franchise cornerstone this season. Doing so at brand-spanking-new SunTrust Park will only help boost his signal.

Andrew Benintendi, LF, Boston Red Sox

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As Reyes and Swanson prepare to scrap for the National League Rookie of the Year, Andrew Benintendi could make it a one-man race for the American League honor.

Benintendi is slated to be in left field for the Boston Red Sox on Opening Day, and it's no wonder. Per MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo, league executives consider the 22-year-old the sport's top hitting prospect. That opinion is certainly supported by Benintendi's major league breakthrough.

Albeit in only 34 games, Benintendi debuted with a .295 average and an .835 OPS. With an advanced approach and a good feel for the barrel, his hit tool is just as legit as Swanson's.

It could soon come with good power as well. Benintendi is already considered to have above-average power potential and now has the bulk to tap into it. According to Ian Browne of MLB.com, Benintendi has gained 15 to 20 pounds this winter.

While Benintendi's bat is his main attraction, he also has enough athleticism to play center field. Left field should thus be no problem for him. Indeed, he's shown a flair for the spectacular out there.

The Red Sox already have three Killer B's in Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts. Benintendi will be their fourth.

Alex Bregman, 3B, Houston Astros

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Alex Bregman will not be participating in the AL Rookie of the Year race this season. Alas, his rookie eligibility was all used up last season.

No matter. This season should see Bregman take a step toward being a perennial MVP candidate instead.

The Houston Astros certainly had big things in mind when they chose Bregman out of LSU with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft. But even they may not have anticipated what he's become—or how quickly.

ESPN.com's Keith Law rated Bregman as the No. 1 prospect in baseball amid his ongoing dominance of minor league pitching. He eventually carried that dominance over to the majors, erasing a slow start with a .931 OPS and eight homers over his final 39 games.

The 22-year-old's swing is built for power. With just a 28.9 ground-ball percentage, he was one of the best at keeping the ball off the ground last season. It helps that Bregman chooses his swings carefully. He went fishing outside the strike zone with only 27.2 percent of his swings last season.

Despite being a natural shortstop, Bregman also showed well at third base with five defensive runs saved. He's ready to settle into a role as a sweet-swinging, slick-fielding third baseman.

Gary Sanchez, C, New York Yankees

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It wasn't long ago that Gary Sanchez was in prospect purgatory. After being rated as a top-100 prospect between 2011 and 2014, he appeared on none of the big lists in 2015.

Now look at him.

Sanchez rescued his stock with a vengeance in the minors last year and then made himself the talk of New York in his 53 games with the Yankees. He OPS'd 1.032 with 20 home runs, tying Wally Berger as the fastest to ever reach 20 homers.

The power behind those numbers is for real. Sanchez is a big dude at 6'2" and 230 pounds, and he channeled his big-dudeness into 94.1 mph in average exit velocity. That placed him just behind David Ortiz among the elites.

Just don't call the 24-year-old a bat-only player. Sanchez also nabbed 41 percent of would-be base stealers last season. In so doing, MLB.com's Mike Petriello pointed out that Sanchez exhibited elite throwing strength.

It says a lot that Sanchez finished second in Rookie of the Year voting despite playing in so few games. As an encore, he should be one of baseball's top two-way catchers in 2017.

Trea Turner, SS, Washington Nationals

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Trea Turner also finished second in Rookie of the Year voting despite playing in a small number of games. He may have had even more "Wow!" moments than Sanchez in the process.

Turner did it all in the 73 games he played for the Washington Nationals. He hit .342 with a .937 OPS. He also clubbed 13 homers. And stole 33 bases.

Those stolen bases came from real speed. Turner, 23, was regarded as a plus-plus runner in the minor leagues and now represents strong competition for Billy Hamilton as the fastest man in MLB.

He's not the typical speedster at the plate, however. He goes up looking to drive the ball, not to slap it in between defenders and let his speed do the rest.

"That's not how you become a good hitter," Turner told Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. "Sure I may get more hits here and there, but I want to be like Daniel Murphy. I want to be like Bryce Harper. I want to be like any of the best hitters."

A natural shortstop, Turner was out of place in center field last year. But now he's moving back to his old position, setting him up to join baseball's growing cast of star shortstops.

Jon Gray, SP, Colorado Rockies

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On the surface, it looks like the Colorado Rockies used a No. 3 pick on Jon Gray in 2013 only to watch him become a typical Rockies pitcher. Now 25, he has a 4.79 ERA in 38 major league starts.

But did you know Gray was quietly elite last year? By FanGraphs WAR, the only under-25 starters more valuable than him were Noah Syndergaard, Jose Fernandez (RIP) and Aaron Sanchez.

Among the things in focus for WAR are strikeouts. Gray provided quite a few of those in whiffing 9.9 batters per nine innings in his 29 starts. Even better, he trended upward with a 10.2 K/9 in the second half.

It helped that Gray works off a fastball that averaged 95.1 mph last year. He also has an elite swing-and-miss slider and was mixing in a lethal curveball by the end of 2016.

"I could tell that guys were not hacking away at my fastball like they had been," Gray told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post last September. "The curve has become a big weapon for me. Being able to control it as a two-strike pitch was a big step."

Of course, Gray must still contend with Coors Field. But if Ubaldo Jimenez could use a power arsenal to emerge as an All-Star and Cy Young candidate in Colorado, so can Gray.

Christian Yelich, CF, Miami Marlins

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Christian Yelich hasn't been completely overlooked in his four major league seasons. He won a Gold Glove in 2014 and a Silver Slugger in 2016.

But he still hasn't really broken out. That's his task for 2017.

The Miami Marlins have always known Yelich can hit. He was a .311 hitter in the minors and is a .293 hitter in the majors. His hit tool is guided by an outstanding eye for the zone and uncanny bat control.

What Yelich lacked in the past was power. That changed in 2016.

After hitting 20 homers in his first three seasons combined, Yelich hit 21 dingers and enjoyed a huge power spike last season. He took raw pop that had always been there and tapped into it more consistently.

"The stance and the mechanics are the same. I've kept the same approach. It was more of a thought process that helped," he told Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald last August.

It all added up to the biggest step up in Yelich's ongoing rise as an offensive force. With his age-25 season on deck, he's at a perfect age to take his quiet stardom and turn it into something more.

Data courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus and Baseball Savant.