MLB's Hidden-Gem Prospects Who Could Make Big Waves This Year
By now, maybe you're sick of hearing about what Ronald Acuna Jr. and other brand-name prospects are going to do once they get called up to The Show in 2018.
If so, well, here's some good news: There are plenty of lesser-known prospects who are worth knowing.
Our goal is to look at eight in particular who have the potential to go from relative obscurity in the minor leagues to the spotlight in Major League Baseball. You won't find these guys in all the big top-100 lists, nor have any of them already debuted in the majors. But they're close to being MLB-ready, and they pack tools that can be immediate difference-makers.
We'll start with three pitchers and end with five hitters.
Josh Staumont, RHP, Kansas City Royals
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There isn't much to be excited about in the Kansas City Royals' farm system. It's arguably the worst there is.
There is Josh Staumont, however.
The 24-year-old right-hander has been in the organization since he was taken in the second round of the 2015 draft. His main attraction has always been an electric fastball that touches triple digits, although his pretty 12-to-6 curveball (seen at the 0:10 mark here) is also deserving of special commendation.
But like a lot of million-dollar arms in the minors, Staumont's comes with 10-cent control. He's walked 7.3 batters per nine innings in his minor league career. For anyone with designs to be a starter in the majors, a number like that is a deal-breaker.
That brings us to what makes Staumont interesting in 2018: He isn't a starter anymore.
He spent spring training pitching out of the stretch, and now he's working as a relief pitcher at Triple-A Omaha. This is the ideal role for him, as it requires less of an emphasis on hitting his spots and more of an emphasis on letting it fly and overwhelming batters with his stuff.
Even if his control doesn't improve, Staumont could be fast-tracked to the majors and thrust into a role in Kansas City's bullpen. Once there, he could immediately establish himself as a guy nobody wants to face.
Eric Lauer, LHP, San Diego Padres
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The San Diego Padres liked Eric Lauer enough to draft him at No. 25 overall in 2016, but he's faded out of the spotlight since then.
The most noticeable pitching prospects are the ones who light up radar guns and snap off filthy secondary pitches. Lauer does neither. The 22-year-old's fastball sits in the low 90s, and he lacks even one plus off-speed pitch.
And yet, it's not an accident that he's knocking on the door of the majors from Triple-A El Paso.
Lauer's record includes a 3.15 ERA and a rate of 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings, as well as just 2.7 walks per nine innings, at all levels. Although none is impressive on its own, his fastball, slider, changeup and curveball make for a solid four-pitch mix. And whether the topic is sequencing or locating, he knows how to do it.
Lauer is fresh off a strong showing in spring training, where he allowed just three runs with 10 strikeouts and two walks in 10.2 innings. At the time, he was on Padres manager Andy Green's radar alongside fellow prospects Cal Quantrill and Joey Lucchesi.
"Those are three guys that have every opportunity to impact us sooner rather than later," Green told AJ Cassavell of MLB.com.
Quantrill is too good for this list. Lucchesi is already in San Diego's rotation. Lauer should join him before long, and then he can settle in as a dependable starter.
Zac Gallen, RHP, Miami Marlins
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Imagine a right-handed version of Lauer, and you get something like Zac Gallen.
A third-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016, Gallen found himself in the Miami Marlins organization by way of the Marcell Ozuna trade in December. He wasn't the best prospect the Marlins got in that deal (hello, Lewis Brinson), but he's one who isn't far off from making a name for himself.
Last year was the 22-year-old's first full professional season, and he marked the occasion by starting at High-A and finishing at Triple-A. All told, he compiled a 2.93 ERA with a 7.4 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 147.2 innings.
Gallen's fastball velocity rarely escapes the low 90s, but it's part of a deep repertoire that also includes a cutter, curveball and changeup. None of these pitches is worse than average, and Gallen makes them play together by working the edges of the strike zone.
To be fair, Gallen flopped hard in spring training by serving up 18 runs in only 4.1 innings. But the Marlins started him off with Triple-A New Orleans anyway, and he got back on track with six shutout innings in his season debut Friday.
The Marlins have embarked on the kind of season that should provide plenty of opportunities for their prospects to show what they can do. Gallen has the goods to make the most of his when it comes.
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Cole Tucker, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates
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"His defense is ahead of his offense right now," read the MLB.com book on Cole Tucker when the Pittsburgh Pirates chose him at No. 24 overall in 2014, "but there is projection in his bat."
That prophecy is coming true.
Tucker, 21, had a hard time getting his bat going in his first three professional seasons, as he began with a .724 OPS at rookie ball and then declined to .699 in 2015 and to .639 in 2016. By then, he seemed to be well behind 2015 first-rounder Kevin Newman in the race to be the Pirates' shortstop of the future.
Then 2017 happened.
Tucker boosted his OPS to .766 on a journey that took him from High-A to Double-A. He improved his patience (10.8 BB%) and his power (.408 slugging percentage). The fact that he has a 6'3", 200-pound frame to fill out allows for optimism that he still has more power to tap into.
Meanwhile, the 47 bases that Tucker stole in 2017 are evidence that his plus speed is doing just fine. He's also still regarded as a quality defensive shortstop.
Tucker thus has the look of a guy who could go directly from Double-A to the majors should a need arise. It may take an injury to Jordy Mercer for that to happen. But, hey, stranger things than a 31-year-old shortstop breaking down have happened.
Sean Murphy, C, Oakland A's
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Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin gets the pleasure of watching Matt Chapman make laser-guided throws from third base on a daily basis.
So when he says that young catcher Sean Murphy is "like Chapman behind the plate," per Jane Lee of MLB.com, it's best to listen.
Melvin isn't alone in being enamored with Murphy's throws, as the Baseball America book on him states that grades for his arm strength run as high as 80 on the 20-80 scouting scale. It's an asset that runners mostly didn't test in 2017. There were only 46 stolen-base attempts against Murphy all season.
Between his blocking, receiving and game-calling, the 23-year-old has the other goods he needs to make it as an elite defensive catcher in the major leagues.
And now his bat is coming around too. He cranked 13 home runs (including one titanic blast) in 98 games across High-A and Double-A in 2017. He already has one homer in his return to Double-A Midland this season.
Murphy is making it easy to toss around comparisons to Mike Zunino, whose power and defense more than make up for his lack of offensive consistency. With only Jonathan Lucroy and Bruce Maxwell standing in his way in Oakland, his chance to shine in the majors could come soon.
Mike Gerber, OF, Detroit Tigers
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Mike Gerber started his pro career as a 15th-round draft pick, and he's now generally considered to be a middle-of-the-road asset in the Detroit Tigers' steadily improving farm system.
All this is curious, given how much he's played like a hype-worthy prospect.
The 25-year-old started off strong in the lower levels of the minors in 2014, and all he's done since then is rack up a .292/.358/.481 slash line in a journey that's taken him to Triple-A Toledo. He's typically shown an advanced approach, and he boasts a line-drive stroke that he can apply to all fields.
While Gerber hasn't convinced many that he can handle center field on an everyday basis, he seems to have convinced one person who actually has a say in the matter.
"You watch him run the ball down in center, and he could be a center fielder straight up," Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said of Gerber after watching him in spring training, per Jason Beck of MLB.com.
As of now, the Tigers have veteran defensive wiz Leonys Martin holding it down in center. But he doesn't represent an insurmountable obstacle, and there may be reps to be had in left field as well.
Projecting Gerber as a future star may be going too far. But he looks at least like a young player who can handle himself in the majors. The Tigers need as many of those as they can get.
Justin Williams, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
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Justin Williams was a second-round draft pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013, and he went to the Tampa Bay Rays in a 2014 trade centered around Jeremy Hellickson.
He's been mostly mired in obscurity since then because of his struggles to keep up against tougher competition in the minors. That is, of course, until 2017.
Williams, 22, spent the entire season with Double-A Montgomery and authored an impressive .301/.364/.489 slash line with 38 extra-base hits in 96 games. He made serious strides with his approach, as he balanced a solid 16.9 K% against a much-improved 9.0 BB%.
To boot, Williams' power played to all fields. The lefty swinger hit five of his 14 homers to left field, and he collected his 21 doubles from line to line.
"He can impact a baseball like not too many in our entire organization," Rays farm director Mitch Lukevics said in March, per Bill Chastain of MLB.com. "It jumps off his bat, and it can go to left field, center field, right field. He has power to all fields."
With openings in Tampa Bay's outfield and at designated hitter, there are multiple avenues for Williams to make his way from Triple-A Durham to the majors in 2018. In any event, all he has to do is keep doing what he's been doing.
Steven Duggar, OF, San Francisco Giants
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Frankly, it's a surprise that Steven Duggar isn't already roaming center field for the San Francisco Giants.
They have struggled to find good defense in center field since 2014, as their total of minus-74 defensive runs saved at the position is the worst of any club. Duggar can fix that.
"A lot of things come natural for him in the outfield. His reads, his breaks, his ability to outrun the ball, is very impressive," Brian Sabean, the Giants' executive VP of baseball operations, said last fall on The Giants Insider Podcast.
It's typically been harder to get enthused about Duggar's bat, but he's also done enough to prove that it shouldn't be written off.
What stands out on his minor league track record is his .383 career on-base percentage. He's walked in 12.7 percent of his plate appearances, which highlights the patience at the core of an above-average hit tool.
Meanwhile, he's figuring out how to hit for power. He clubbed three homers in the Arizona Fall League last year, and he added four more in a 22-game stint with the Giants in spring training.
As Duggar begins the season at Triple-A Sacramento, only Austin Jackson, Gregor Blanco and Gorkys Hernandez are standing in his way of everyday action with San Francisco. There are tougher nuts to crack than this one.
Spring stats courtesy of MLB.com. Other stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and MLBFarm.com.
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