Five Top Prospects That Will Be MLB All-Stars in Three Years
Projecting prospects is as much a baseball pastime as hot dogs, brush-back heaters and PEDs.
Debates ensue, disappointment is ever present and the occasional can’t-miss gem actually doesn’t miss. So is the way of the prospect world, one filled with teenagers and young 20-somethings full of unpredictability in a game that relies heavily on seeing the future.
That is the gamble every team takes, and that is the fun of it. For every Alex Rodriguez or David Price, there is a Bryan Bullington or Matt Bush to shine a humbling light on the entire process. Yet we will always predict, always hope and always throw a little caution out the clubhouse doors.
Looking ahead at the crop of prospects closest to the majors, some of them expected to make their debuts as soon as April, there are a handful that will not only be good, they will be All-Stars. By their fourth season in the big leagues, assuming good health, expect these top prospects to excel into the MidSummer Classic by 2017.
SS Carlos Correa, Houston Astros
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Correa was the top pick in the 2012 draft, and he has not disappointed when healthy.
Correa’s first full minor league season came in 2013 with the Class A Quad Cities. He demolished Midwest League pitching over 519 plate appearances, hitting .320/.405/.467 with an .872 OPS at the age of 18.
Last season he continued his Class A crushing, this time with Lancaster of the California League. In 293 plate appearances, Correa hit .325/.416/.510 with a .926 OPS and 20 stolen bases in 62 games. Unfortunately his season was cut short in late June when he broke his right ankle and fractured his fibula sliding into third base.
That injury seems to be in the past, though, as Correa has been participating in baseball activities all winter in his native Puerto Rico, Jorge de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reported earlier in the week. Correa will be at big league spring training with the Astros.
“My leg is feeling great,” Correa told Ortiz. “I feel like I'm back 100 percent. I'll be able to go to spring training and show them I'm ready to play.”
Correa came out of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy in 2012, the same year in which Byron Buxton and Mark Appel were available. That the Astros took Correa over both of those players was a surprise—signing issues with Appel had already surfaced by the time of the draft—but he has proven worthy of the selection.
He is a solid defender and is likely to stick at shortstop for now despite being 6'4", which has obviously drawn plenty of comparisons to Alex Rodriguez. What has maybe impressed scouts most is Correa’s power even as his body still matures. Over 1,016 plate appearances, or a little less than two full seasons, he has hit 63 doubles, 11 triples and 18 home runs. The home run power will develop, but his gap-to-gap power as a teenager was an eye-opener.
Correa is 20 years old, but if he has another strong minor league season, he will be in the big leagues to start 2016 and ready to shine by July of 2017.
SP Archie Bradley, Arizona Diamondbacks
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Bradley was part of the D-backs’ big pitching grab in the 2011 draft. The team took Trevor Bauer out of UCLA with the third overall selection and then nabbed Bradley, a high-schooler, with the seventh. Bauer fell victim, in part, to the previous regime’s grit-over-talent philosophy and was traded away, leaving Bradley as Arizona’s big-time pitching prospect.
After an OK first full season in 2012, Bradley came on strong as a 20-year old at high Class A and AA, putting up a 1.84 ERA over 26 starts. He skyrocketed up the prospects rankings after that, cracking the top-10 lists for Baseball America, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus going into last season.
Bradley fought through nagging elbow injuries in 2014, however, and over 83 innings (18 starts) he managed an unimpressive 4.45 ERA. Five of those starts came with Class AAA Reno, where Bradley will start 2015.
“I would probably have him start the season back in the minor leagues and get more seasoning,” new Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart told MLB Network Radio in November.
Bradley’s fastball is a plus, reaching the upper 90s at times with superb downward tilt. The 6'4" right-hander also features an over-the-top curveball that can be an out pitch along with a decent changeup.
The Diamondbacks have plenty of pitching depth as things stand, and they are looking to add more as Stewart has made it known the team is in on James Shields. That means Bradley is a bit blocked in the rotation—for now. Bradley has top-of-the-rotation potential, and that kind of talent has a tendency to break down roadblocks.
CF Joc Pederson, Los Angeles Dodgers
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Here is all you need to know about Pederson’s potential and how the Dodgers rate his talent: He is a huge part of the reason the team traded Matt Kemp to division rival San Diego last month.
That is high praise, but Pederson has earned every bit of it. In his first run at Class AAA as a 22-year old, he annihilated the Pacific Coast League. He hit .303/.435/.582 with a ridiculous 1.017 OPS while becoming the first PCL player in 80 years to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season.
While Pederson struggled through 38 plate appearances in his September call-up—he did still manage a .351 OBP—the Dodgers realize the small sample size. They expect Pederson to be their Opening Day center fielder for years to come.
Scouts still don’t see him as being elite in any one area but none would disagree that he has the overall game to be a five-tool player. He is already the organization’s best defensive outfielder and his athleticism plays at any level.
“With his patience power, speed and athleticism, Pederson has the skills to contribute in all phases of the game as an above-average everyday player,” Baseball America wrote in its 2014 Prospect Handbook.
Pederson may struggle adjusting to the majors in his first season, but by the middle of season No. 3, expect him to be one of the National League’s best outfielders.
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3B Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs
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All those wonderful young hitters you keep hearing about in the Cubs’ organization? Yeah, Bryant is leading the pack.
Entering the 2013 draft, Bryant was seen as one of the most major league-ready prospects on the board. And through 740 plate appearances between rookie ball and Class AAA Iowa, he has done nothing to quell the expectations. He’s hit 52 home runs, put up a .666 slugging percentage and a 1.095 OPS.
His list of accolades is already huge as he just turned 23 years old.
"“@smokiesbaseball: Happy 23rd birthday to 2014 Smokies 3B Kris Bryant (@KrisBryant_23)! Year 22 was alright. pic.twitter.com/Wwc4iMc4j7” wow
— Keefer Conery (@conery24) January 4, 2015"
“He’s exceeded our expectations at every level,” Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer told J.J. Cooper of Baseball America. “At three different junctures we felt we were pushing him into struggles.”
Because Bryant shined at every one of those junctures, several analysts agree that Bryant has nothing left to prove in the minors and should be the Cubs’ Opening Day third baseman come April. That idea falls directly in line with the Cubs’ desire to immediately contend in the National League Central.
For the Cubs to sign big-money players like Jon Lester and Jorge Soler and trade for a catcher like Miguel Montero but not call-up Bryant makes no sense. The Cubs are in it to win now, and Bryant is their best option at third base.
After a couple of seasons under his belt, if not before, Bryant will be among the game’s elite players at the hot corner.
SP, Noah Syndergaard, New York Mets
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It was Jacob deGrom that took off as the Mets’ pitching prospect in 2014, not Syndergaard as many expected of the game’s No. 11 prospect as rated by MLB.com—he has since moved up to the 10th spot on the list.
Syndergaard did not earn his call-up last season, posting a 4.60 ERA and 1.481 WHIP over 26 starts at Class AAA Las Vegas. His outings were bad enough that the Mets did not even call him up in September.
“I was a little disappointed in myself,” Syndergaard told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. “Quite frankly, I didn't think I deserved it.”
With the emergence of deGrom and the return of Matt Harvey to the rotation, Syndergaard is now blocked by what has shaped up to be a promising Mets rotation. He will still have the opportunity to win a spot during spring training, but cracking it is a long shot right now.
“I understand that,” Syndergaard told Rubin. “I know we have a very solid starting rotation. I can only do what's in my control.”
While Syndergaard, 22, might not make the Opening Day rotation this season, expect the Mets to test him in the majors at some point in 2015 and expect him to be in their top-five options come the start of the 2016 season. Soon after that, Syndergaard will be among the best young starting pitchers in the game and ripe for an All-Star selection.
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