10 Young Players on the Verge of Making 2016 MLB Impact
Youngsters making an impact in baseball is nothing new. They step into key roles on a yearly basis and make a significant impact for their respective teams and a name for themselves. But not all youngsters are created equal.
For every highly touted prospect, like Carlos Correa and Noah Syndergaard last year, there's a Randal Grichuk and Kyle Hendricks—less lauded young talent that takes the next step in development and solidifies a place on a team's roster.
And there's no reason to believe that 2016 will be any different.
What follows is a look at 10 players, all 26 years old or younger, who are on the verge of following in the footsteps of prospects like Trevor Story, Steven Matz and Corey Seager, who have all become integral parts of their respective club's core.
Some of these players have already gotten a taste of life in the big leagues, while others are drawing closer to making their major league debuts. None of them have made a major impact at the game's highest level—at least not yet—but their times are quickly approaching.
How quickly? It wouldn't be at all surprising to see many—if not all—of these players in the big leagues over the next few weeks.
SS Trea Turner, Washington Nationals
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If you read between the lines back in spring training, you could tell that Washington manager Dusty Baker wanted Trea Turner as his Opening Day shortstop.
“Right now, I’ve got to give [Danny] Espinosa a shot," he told MASNsports.com's Mark Zuckerman. "But who knows? ... He’s a dynamic player. I like what I see. Sometimes you may want somebody. And sometimes there may not be room at that point in time.”
That point in time is coming quickly, on or around June 1, when the Nationals will gain an extra season of club control.
Hitting .306 with an .803 OPS over 32 games for Triple-A Syracuse, he'd be a major upgrade over the combined .191 batting average, .582 OPS and 52 wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) Nationals' shortstops have provided so far.
Sure, the 22-year-old is far from a finished product, and he strikes out too much for a player who lacks significant power. Yet Turner gets on base consistently in spite of the strikeouts, and he's got the speed to cause havoc when he does, going a perfect 13-of-13 on stolen base attempts this year.
With Ben Revere slow to get going after missing all but two at-bats in April with an oblique strain, Turner can provide a spark atop the Nationals lineup and take pressure off Revere, who could hit behind Turner or at the bottom of the lineup, in the process.
While it's unfair to expect Turner to solve all of Washington's offensive woes, he can be a difference-maker for a team that has gone a maddeningly average 6-5 in one-run games.
RHP Chad Green, New York Yankees
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With Ivan Nova filling in for an injured CC Sabathia (groin), the next man up in New York—should another starter suffer an injury or Luis Severino's struggles continue—might be 24-year-old right-hander Chad Green.
Acquired from Detroit along with Luis Cessa in exchange for reliever Justin Wilson, Green sits at or near the top of the International League leaderboards in multiple categories, alongside more highly touted arms like Pittsburgh's Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon, as well as Tampa Bay's Blake Snell.
In seven starts spanning 37 innings with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Green has pitched to a 1.22 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, striking out three times as many batters as he walks (36 K, 12 BB). He's allowed one earned run over his last 18.2 innings of work, scattering 11 hits, walking two and striking out 20.
Green doesn't have overpowering stuff, but that hasn't stopped him from putting up solid numbers (3.29 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) over parts of four minor league seasons. He throws strikes, knows how to make batters swing and miss, and typically gives his team a chance to win more often than not.
That's all you can really ask for from a back-of-the-rotation arm.
1B Tommy Joseph, Philadelphia Phillies
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Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin has seen enough from the platoon of Ryan Howard and Darin Ruf at first base to know that it's not enough, especially if the Phillies hope to capitalize on their shockingly strong start to the regular season.
"We have to hope it gets better because it's not good," Mackanin told the Philadelphia Inquirer's Matt Gelb on Tuesday before the team's series opener against Atlanta. "My options are limited. It's only May 10. We're giving it more time. I'm not going to panic."
But with the pair hitting a combined .174 (27-for-155) with 11 extra-base hits (8 HR, all Howard's), 19 RBI and striking out roughly four times as often as they draw a walk (13 BB, 55 K), nobody would regard making a change at the position as a panic move.
Tommy Joseph probably isn't the next coming of Paul Goldschmidt (or Howard in his prime), but the 24-year-old converted catcher is crushing Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .352/.375/.626 triple-slash line with 13 extra-base hits (six home runs) and 17 RBI over 26 games.
That Ruf has minor league options remaining makes it even easier for Mackanin and the Phillies to give Joseph a shot. If he struggles, they can send him back down and recall Ruf, who hopefully would have regained some confidence at the plate down on the farm.
The last thing the Phillies want to do is be left wondering "what if" at the end of the season. The time has come to find out what they have in Joseph and go from there.
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LHP Julio Urias, Los Angeles Dodgers
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With a bullpen that, aside from closer Kenley Jansen, can't consistently shut down the opposition, the Los Angeles Dodgers are thinking about calling upon prized 19-year-old pitching prospect Julio Urias for help.
“I think that Julio can do a lot of things whether it be out of the pen or as a starter,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told the Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett. “It’s kind of a necessity-based thing as far as when he’s ready—and things are showing he’s getting to that point—and what we need here at the major league level.
“What he can do and how dynamic he is, he can do a lot of things to help a major league club.”
Dynamic is right. The Pacific Coast League's youngest player has decimated Triple-A batters to the tune of a 1.50 ERA and 0.80 WHIP with 33 strikeouts over 30 innings. He's riding a 16-inning scoreless streak that dates back to April 22.
Adding Urias to the bullpen would accomplish a number of things for the Dodgers.
Not only would he improve the team's relief corps (it's hard to envision a scenario in which he's worse than the club's current options outside of Jansen), but a move the pen would allow Urias to ease his way into the big leagues, working short stints, which will help limit his innings.
SS Dansby Swanson, Atlanta Braves
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Few prospects have been as talked about this season as Dansby Swanson, due in part to both his rapid rise through Atlanta's farm system and to Shelby Miller's struggles in Arizona. With each passing day, the trade that sent Miller to the desert looks more lopsided in Atlanta's favor.
Swanson, the top overall pick in last year's draft, has already reached Double-A—he was promoted at the end of April. And he's done exactly what he's done at every stop he's made: produce.
In 11 games for the Mississippi Braves, Swanson has hit .293 (12-for-41) with five extra-base hits (1 HR), seven RBI, an .884 OPS and as many walks (five) as strikeouts.
MLB.com's Mark Bowman believes the team would prefer to wait until after the All-Star break in mid-July to promote Swanson, which has everything to do with getting Swanson more experience against advanced pitching and nothing to do with service time.
But with the major league club struggling, a possible managerial change and an increasingly disillusioned fanbase, Swanson could get the call well before the Midsummer Classic so long as he continues to swing a hot bat.
While some will have unrealistic expectations of the 22-year-old, most Braves fans would view Swanson's arrival not only as a welcome distraction, but as proof that, yes, help is indeed on the way, and there's reason to be optimistic about the future.
As for his future double-play partner, Ozzie Albies, who was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett on the same day Swanson made his way to Mississippi, the 19-year-old needs more time. In 12 games at the highest level of the minors, Albies has hit only .191 (9-for-47) with 10 strikeouts.
RHP Tyler Glasnow, Pittsburgh Pirates
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With Jeff Locke walking nearly as many batters (19) as he's struck out (22) and Jon Niese serving up home runs like the International House of Pancakes serves breakfast, Pittsburgh's rotation could use some reinforcements.
Enter 22-year-old righty Tyler Glasnow, who rebounded from a five-walk start to toss seven scoreless innings of four-hit ball with one walk and 11 strikeouts Saturday against Louisville, the Cincinnati Reds' Triple-A affiliate.
In six starts for Indianapolis, Glasnow has pitched to a 1.64 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, scattering 21 hits over 33 innings while walking 13 and striking out 48. For a team that's allowed almost as many runs (155) as it has scored (163), Glasnow's ability to shut down the opposition would make a huge difference.
*Note: A similar case could be made for another highly touted Pirates' pitching prospect, Jameson Taillon, who, like Glasnow, is laying waste to Triple-A batters. But after he missed the past two years due to injury, the Pirates are wise to keep him down on the farm to continue building up arm strength and stamina.
RF Jorge Bonifacio, Kansas City Royals
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At some point, Kansas City is going to have to do something about the lack of production it's getting in right field, where Jarrod Dyson, Reymond Fuentes and Paulo Orlando have combined to hit only .246 with no home runs and a .564 OPS.
While the Royals could look to the trade market for an upgrade, they might have a long-term solution already in house—Jorge Bonifacio.
The younger brother of veteran utility man and former Royal Emilio Bonifacio, the 22-year-old has raised the level of his game in his first year with Triple-A Omaha, hitting .328 with 15 extra-base hits (6 HR), 25 RBI and a .937 OPS over 31 games.
He doesn't walk—Bonifacio has drawn only five free passes while striking out 30 times—and his defense isn't quite on the level the Royals have become accustomed to from their outfielders. But he's got a strong, accurate throwing arm and can always be replaced late in games by Dyson.
It's too early in the season, and the Royals are too talented, to say Chicago has jumped out to an insurmountable lead in the AL Central. But the defending world champions can't afford to let the White Sox (or any team for that matter) get too far ahead in the standings.
Bonifacio can help the Royals keep pace with the rest of the field.
LHP Harrison Musgrave, Colorado Rockies
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Back in February, before pitchers and catchers had reported to spring training, we talked about there finally being a reason for optimism when it came to Colorado's starting rotation. And if we're being honest, Harrison Musgrave wasn't part of that reason. He wasn't really on our radar.
With Kyle Freeland and Jeff Hoffman needing more innings against upper-level competition before making their big league debuts and both Eddie Butler and Jon Gray already in Colorado, it's the 24-year-old Musgrave who figures to be the next arm the Rockies call upon.
Undefeated in five starts for Double-A Hartford, Musgrave has allowed only five earned runs and 20 baserunners (14 hits, six walks) over 34.2 innings, striking out 24. Over parts of three minor league seasons, he's gone 20-9 with a 3.25 ERA and 1.14 WHIP, averaging 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
"He has ice in his veins," Rockies farm director Zach Wilson told the Denver Post's Nick Groke. "This is a guy who deserves more credit than he gets."
Not only does Musgrave deserve more credit, but he deserves a chance to prove he belongs at the back end of Colorado's rotation.
1B/3B Richie Shaffer, Tampa Bay Rays
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In a perfect world, Tampa Bay would promote both Richie Shaffer and Mikie Mahtook to replace perennial underachievers Logan Morrison and Desmond Jennings at first base and in left field, respectively. But with Mahtook working his way back from an oblique injury, the Rays will have to settle for only Shaffer right now.
The 25-year-old made his big league debut last year, hitting .189 with seven extra-base hits (4 HR), six RBI and a .699 OPS over 31 games for the Rays. Strikeouts were his biggest issue, as he went down swinging 32 times in 88 plate appearances—a 36.4 percent whiff rate.
While there will always be plenty of swing-and-miss in his game, Shaffer has adopted a more patient approach at the plate with Triple-A Durham this season, leading the International League in walks (21) and sitting among the league leaders in on-base percentage (.385).
Scoring runs has been a challenge for the Rays thus far, and continuing to play Morrison, who is hitting .127 with a pair of doubles, no RBI and a .350 OPS, isn't going to change that. Shaffer may struggle to hit for average, but his ability to produce runs would be a welcome change in Tampa Bay.
RHP Layne Somsen, Cincinnati Reds
10 of 10
It's no secret that Cincinnati's bullpen is a disaster—owners of baseball's worst ERA, WHIP—and, with the exception of Tony Cingrani and Blake Wood, has been more helpful to the opposition than the Reds on most nights.
Layne Somsen isn't a savior by any means, but the 26-year-old, who was called up to the majors Monday for the second time this season, can provide manager Bryan Price with another reliable arm to call upon.
He made eight relief appearances for Triple-A Louisville and pitched to a 1.29 ERA and 0.86 WHIP with 15 strikeouts in 14 innings of work. Over parts of four minor league seasons, he's put up a 2.47 ERA and 1.15 WHIP.
Unlike his first trip to the big leagues, when he never got a chance to pitch, Somsen is receive his shot—and to stick in the bullpen.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs and MiLB.com and are current through games of May 11.
Hit me up on Twitter to talk all things baseball: @RickWeinerBR.
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