IBC

38. Kyle Karros, 3B

Drafted: 5th Round, 2023 from UCLA (COL)
Age 22.4 Height 6′ 5″ Weight 220 Bat / Thr R / R FV 35+

Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Hit Raw Power Game Power Run Fielding Throw
30/40 40/50 30/50 30/30 35/60 60

One of Eric’s two sons in pro ball (Jared pitches in the Dodgers system), Kyle hit .276/.342/.407 at UCLA and signed for just over $430,000 in 2023. He hit .311/.390/.485 in his first full season, another of the Rockies’ recent college draftees who put up monster numbers at hitter-friendly Spokane in 2024. Karros is very likely not that good a hitter. He’s a stiff-legged athlete whose upright manner of swinging leaves him very vulnerable to secondary stuff at the bottom of the zone. Karros’ carrying tool is his third base defense. He’s not explosive or rangy, but he’s incredibly smooth and capable of making great throws from all kinds of odd platforms. It’s important for Karros to add strength to his 6-foot-5 frame, as he needs to develop power to counter a below-average contact projection. That and the introduction of other corner positions on defense are key developmental variables to watch as Karros treks toward a four corners bench role.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/colorado-ro ... prospects/

24. Dominic Keegan, C, 24, Tampa Bay Rays, 6’0”/210, AA

Keegan put together a very quiet but successful season in 2024 in Double-A. The 2022 fourth-rounder out of Vanderbilt has progressively improved at the plate and slashed .285/.371/.435 with nine home runs and 35 extra-base hits in 2024. He played his entire season in the pitcher-friendly Southern League environment and put up a 138 wRC+.

Despite throwing out just 14 percent of base stealers this year, Keegan has made decent strides at the catcher position. The bat will always be the carrying tool, though. Posting exit velocities up to 115 mph, Keegan has plenty of raw power. He lifts the ball and uses the whole field well.

Keegan’s contact rates have improved significantly, and his approach is sound. He walked at a clip north of 11 percent while showing low chase rates and made contact on 78 percent of his swings, which is a solid mark.

To his point, Keegan’s worst stop in the minors saw him put up a 126 wRC+. The bat is powerful here. If he does move off the catcher position, there will be a lot more pressure on the bat, but Keegan is a sneaky source of power that should put up much higher home run totals in 2025 in Triple-A.

https://www.thedynastydugout.com/p/catc ... dium=email

4. Jacob Melton, OF

Born: 2000-09-07
B: Left T: Left
H: 6′ 2″ W: 208 lbs.

History: Drafted in the second round of the 2022 draft, Oregon State University; signed for $1,000,000.
Previous Rank: #5 (org)
Major League ETA: 2025

Year Team Level Age PA R 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ BABIP
2022 F-ASB ROK 21 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 0 .000 .000 .000 – –
2022 FAY Lo-A 21 86 11 6 0 4 13 11 20 4 2 .324 .424 .577 115 .396
2023 ASH Hi-A 22 394 73 16 1 18 42 48 83 41 7 .244 .338 .453 103 .272
2023 CC AA 22 56 10 1 0 5 13 4 16 5 0 .250 .304 .558 110 .258
2024 CC AA 23 251 32 10 2 10 34 18 56 19 4 .248 .306 .442 108 .284
2024 SUG AAA 23 192 27 10 0 5 20 13 48 11 0 .260 .314 .405 85 .331

The Report: Melton continues to be a polarizing prospect, and his low .700s OPS in the upper minors didn’t make the strongest case for his boosters. The swing remains the main point of departure, as Melton drops his hands low and pushes from his back hip, driving a pretty flat swing plane through the zone. He does hit the ball very hard, running a 90th-percentile exit velocity around 107, and a max well over 110. The swing isn’t gonna win any aesthetic awards, but Melton makes hard contact to all fields, and could rack up some 20/20 seasons while playing mostly in center field. He did finally see a dip in his offensive production in 2024, however, and he doesn’t have the above-average contact rates or swing decisions to buoy his offensive line if he’s not consistently hitting the ball hard against major-league pitching.

OFP: 55 / Above-average center fielder
Variance: Medium. There’s a pretty clear fourth-outfielder floor here, as Melton can play all three spots and has some platoon leverage. There’s also some plus regular upside if he’s able to corral his longer swing into more of a pull-and-lift approach like the prospect bats ranked ahead of him.

Jesse Roche’s Fantasy Rundown:

Top-500 Dynasty Prospects: 103
Potential Earnings: $5-10
Fantasy Overview: Melton does a lot of things very well; he hits the ball hard, he makes a lot of contact, and he steals bases in droves. Yet, he is an aggressive hitter and struggles to lift the ball to the pull side. Melton likely will make some noise in 2025 and potentially offer impact power and speed.
Reckless Fantasy Comp: Lane Thomas

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

14. Kyle Karros, 3B (High-A Spokane)

A swing adjustment for the 6-foot-5, 225 Karros could not have had a much more resonant endorsement than going .311/.390/.485 for a 131 DRC+ with quite pleasing strikeout and walk rates in the Northwest League at age 21. With a shortened, simplified swing, the son of former Dodgers standout Eric is now accessing his power more consistently by, at least to the eye, focusing slightly more on contact over bat speed. While this is counterintuitive to some degree, for a player like Karros whose raw power is prodigious thanks to his physicality, a max-effort swing is not essential. That’s not to say Karros cannot whip his bat through the zone, however by shortening his path to the ball, his other skills have shone through. His leggy, loping gait looks at times like a giraffe testing its legs for the second or third time, however it is effective. Karros’ strong arm and athletic movements helped him put together an extremely impressive defensive showcase at the hot corner. —John Trupin

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

Shane Smith, RHP, 24, Chicago White Sox, 6’4”/235, AAA (ADP: 744)

Smith was an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest who has been highly impressive as a pro pitcher in the Brewers organization. After thriving in a bullpen role in 2023, Smith made 16 starts and pitched in 27 games in 2024, totaling 94.1 innings, where he posted a 3.05 ERA with 113 strikeouts and 29 walks.

Pounding the zone, Smith threw strikes at a rate north of 65 percent this season. He missed bats and rarely allowed hard contact, keeping the ball on the ground at a high clip.

Smith’s fastball sits at around 94 mph but can reach up to 98 mph. The pitch plays up due to nearly seven feet of extension. Smith also throws a cutter in the low-90s which is his second most used pitch. The curveball dials it all the way back to 80 mph, as the pitch has 12 inches of sweeping action with negative 14 inches of IVB.

Whether Smith is a starter or reliever long term is the question. Just six of his 27 appearances in 2024 saw him pitch at least five innings, and only 11 were more than three innings. Regardless, Smith is a talented arm and has proven he can be a big-league arm in some capacity, even if it is in the bullpen.

Verdict: Smith was the first pick in the Rule 5 draft and a near lock to stick on the White Sox roster. While he has pitched in multiple roles and while his role is still up in the air, just go look at the White Sox bullpen. Smith could nab plenty of saves.

https://www.thedynastydugout.com/p/pros ... dium=email

Jacob Melton, OF, Astros

Melton’s profile is driven by the kind of power-speed combination front offices covet. He was one of just 18 minor leaguers with 15 or more home runs and 30 or more stolen bases, and one of just 11 who spent their entire year at the upper levels. Only his speed grades as a potentially plus tool, but improvements to his batted-ball profile could amplify his power to those levels. His defense is enough to stick in center field but would be a notch better on either corner.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... 5-top-100/

18. Brooks Baldwin, IF (Chicago White Sox)

Just having Baldwin debut in the big leagues counts as a nice story and a developmental win for the organization. Selected in the 12th round out of UNC Wilmington in 2022, Baldwin struggled in his pro debut but rose through the system briskly in 2023, improving his performance each level up on the ladder before running into a brick following his big league debut. The contact quality data is not eye-popping, so the 24-year-old will be trying to carve out a career by pairing his robust defensive versatility with decent contact ability and a knack for getting the ball in the air. —Ben Spanier

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

24. William Bergolla, SS (High-A Winston-Salem)

Bergolla placed in the top 10 of last offseason’s Phillies list, primarily because of elite contact and swing decision rates, and secondarily because he can handle shortstop defensively. The OFP was factoring in a slight power bump, however, as the Venezuelan had historically struggled immensely to impact the ball. He proceeded in 2024 to hit one home in 357 High-A plate appearances between Jersey Shore and Winston-Salem, the latter stint coming after he was traded for lefty reliever Tanner Banks in late July. Bergolla will still be just 20 in 2025, but his limited physicality makes it difficult to project significant power growth. He may make the bigs on his contact and speed alone, but one has to squint a bit to see a starter. —Ben Spanier

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

Persons of Interest

Mason Adams, RHP (Triple-A Charlotte)

Adams has been quietly dominant for most of his minor league career following a 13th-round selection out of Jacksonville University back in 2022, a run that culminated last season in a 2.44 ERA and roughly one strikeout per inning over 103 ⅓ frames at Double-A Birmingham. His five starts at Triple-A were less convincing, and it remains to be seen if and how his stuff package will play at the highest level. He’s mostly sinker/sweeper (lower-90s and mid-80s, respectively), with the latter being the money whiff pitch in the low and mid minors. He finishes the arsenal with a four-seamer, curve, and change. While this may not be enough to maintain a big league rotation spot, a streamlined version of this arsenal could play in middle relief. —Ben Spanier

Juan Carela, RHP (Double-A Birmingham)

Acquired from the Yankees for Keynan Middleton in July 2023, Carela dabbles with a full suite of pitches and has performed well enough as a starter in the minors—a 3.77 ERA in 74 innings at High-A and a 3.58 ERA in 32 ⅔ innings at Double-A last season, with more than a strikeout per at both—but his sinker/sweeper heavy combo and persistently moderate command issues hint heavily at a relief profile. There is a stuff foundation here but it will need to play up to succeed at the highest level—the sweeper is sharp and provides great velo and shape separation from the fastball, but the latter topping out around 93 would limit the ceiling here. —Ben Spanier

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

9. Mason Adams, RHP

Height: 6-0 | Weight: 200 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 25

Adams is just 90-92, but he can really flat-out pitch, working with two- and four-seamers, good spin, and 60 command. He walked just 5.6 percent of batters he faced as a starter in Double A, working with five pitches, nothing really better than average, just changing speeds constantly and throwing strikes to try to elicit weak contact. Even in Triple A, where he didn’t miss anywhere near enough bats (nine strikeouts in 17 innings), he still only allowed a 27 percent hard-hit rate in a small sample. It’s a fine line to walk with such marginal stuff, and it’s possible he’ll just get too homer-prone in the majors to make it work. He is one of the best prospects of this style, a pitcher working with command, feel and poise to try to make up for the lack of velocity or a wipeout pitch.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/610410 ... Id=1080693

Mason Adams

Assuming the back issue that tied up Adams in his Triple-A debut in early August was an isolated occurrence, then his injury might be the least costly of the bunch. He missed a chance to put a bow on an otherwise stellar 2024, sure, but he was able to get back to the mound and make shortened weekly starts over the final month of the season, which allowed him to set a new professional high with 120⅓ innings. He had a similar pedestrian showing at Birmingham at the end of the 2023 season, the kind of Double-A debut that lent doubt about whether his arsenal had enough power or crispness to subdue upper-level hitters, and then he went out and posted a 2.44 ERA over 103 innings, establishing himself as the most reliable member of a stacked Barons rotation. He’ll come back with a clean slate and considerably more prospect heat, and if his five-pitch-in-any-sequence attack proves nearly as effective in the International League, he should have some MLB starts coming his way.

https://soxmachine.com/2025/02/wranglin ... nterfered/

19. Shane Smith, RHP

Height: 6-4 | Weight: 235 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 25

Selected in the Rule 5 draft out of the Brewers’ system this past December, Smith was 93-96 last year as a starter with a curve and a slider. He has a reverse platoon split that doesn’t look sustainable given his lack of a real changeup (and a huge BABIP split too). It’s a starter look beyond the lack of pitch for lefties, and he was fine even after the Brewers moved him to the rotation in May, with his strikeout rate dropping but his walks staying steady and just a small uptick in hard contact the second time through the order. I’d probably use him in long relief for now, since he only has a few innings in Triple A under his belt, but with an eye toward developing a fourth pitch for lefties so that he could take some starts in the second half.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/610410 ... Id=1080693

20. William Bergolla, 2B/SS

Height: 5-9 | Weight: 165 | Bats: L | Throws: R | Age: 20

Bergolla is all sizzle, no steak — or something. He can hit but it’s 30 power, and he isn’t going to stick at short. He hit .300/.359/.385 in High A last year at 19, showing he could handle more advanced pitching, but you can see in the stat line that the battery in your Apple Watch has more juice than Bergolla does. He was the return in a minor deadline deal that sent Tanner Banks to the Phillies. I think Bergolla gets to the majors, but he has to show he can maintain that batting average despite the lack of juice or even high walk rates to be more than an up/down guy.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/610410 ... Id=1080693

30. William Bergolla, 2B/SS

Ht: 5'11" | Wt: 165 | B-T: L-R

Age: null
BA Grade/Risk: 45/High.

Track Record: The White Sox acquired Bergolla from Philadelphia in a 2024 trade deadline deal for big league reliever Tanner Banks. He hit for a combined .300/.359/.385 at both organizations’ High-A affiliates and finished his first White Sox season playing in bridge league games. His father is William Bergolla, who was a middle infielder who appeared in 17 games for the 2005 Reds.

Scouting Report: Bergolla has plus-plus bat-to-ball skills and rarely misses. His 12.5% miss rate was among the lowest of all minor league hitters. He uses a compact, technically-sound swing, but comes with very little power. An above-average defender at shortstop with an above-average arm, Bergolla should be able to stay in the middle of the infield. He’s a plus runner and improved his baserunning skills in 2024, stealing 27 bases in 33 attempts after a success rate under 50% in his first two seasons. Bergolla also has plus makeup on and off the field, and he’s credited with having an elite baseball IQ.

The Future: Perhaps with additional strength, Bergolla could invite comparisons to hitters like Luis Arraez, but he isn’t there yet. Bergolla will head to Double-A Birmingham in 2025. His ceiling is likely a second-division regular or a utility man.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 30 | Run: 60 | Field: 55 | Arm: 55.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2 ... =preseason

5. Walker Janek, C

Ht: 6'0" | Wt: 190 | B-T: R-R

Age: null
BA Grade/Risk: 50/High.

Track Record: A native of Portland, Texas, and a three-year starter for Sam Houston State, Janek is one of the most decorated defensive catchers in recent college history. In 2024, Janek won the Buster Posey Award as the top college catcher, was a first-team All-American and finished as a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award. After hitting .364/.476/.709 as a junior, Janek went 28th overall to the Astros and signed for $3,132,500. He debuted with High-A Asheville after the draft. In 25 games, Janek hit .175/.214/.289 with one home run, but he threw out 44% of 25 basestealers.

Scouting Report: Janek is a glove-first catcher who’s shown steady improvement with his bat over the last three seasons. Standing 6 feet, 190 pounds with average athleticism, he is close to physically maxed out, but he moves extremely well behind the plate and handles the rigors of the position. Janek shows average bat-to-ball skills with slightly aggressive swing decisions, leading to some out-of-zone whiff. In the zone, Janek made consistent contact and flashed average power as a college junior in 2024. He is likely to provide solid at-bats with the ability to hit 14 to 17 home runs in a full-time role. He’s a fringe-average runner underway but is unlikely to steal many bases. Behind the plate, Janek is plus, with strong receiving and blocking skills and a plus-plus arm that helps him consistently post pop times of under 1.9 seconds on throws to second base. Janek’s combination of elite catch-and-throw skills, an ability to handle a pitching staff and average offensive contributions makes him a well-rounded prospect.

The Future: Janek is an outstanding defensive catcher who can control the running game and hit just enough to carve out an everyday role.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 45 | Run: 45 | Field: 60 | Arm: 70.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2 ... =preseason

3. Walker Janek, C
Asheville Tourists, A+

AGE: 22 DOB: 09/24/2002
BATS: R THROWS: R
HT: 6' 0" WT: 190
DRAFTED: 2024, 1st (28) - HOU
ETA: 2027
TWITTER: @WalkerJanek1

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 40 | Arm: 60 | Field: 50 | Overall: 50

After drawing little interest from pro teams or major college programs as a Texas high schooler, Janek developed into the first catcher drafted in 2024 after three years at Sam Houston. His stock surged at the 2023 Karbach Classic, where he went 5-for-13 with a pair of doubles, squared up a 97-mph fastball from Louisiana State's Chase Shores and backpicked a runner. He continued to impress in the Cape Cod League last summer and won the Buster Posey Award as college baseball's top catcher this spring before signing with the Astros for $3,130,000 as the 28th overall selection.

With impressive bat speed and good strength, Janek creates plus raw power that translates into average game pop with most of his home runs driven to his pull side. While he's an aggressive right-handed hitter who looks to launch balls and frequently chases pitches out of the strike zone, he showed more patience and did a better job of using the entire field in 2024. Though he has below-average speed, he runs better than most catchers and will steal bases if opponents don't keep him honest.

Conference USA's 2024 defensive player of the year, Janek is agile behind the plate and does a nice job framing pitches. He can get lackadaisical with his receiving, which grades as merely average until he cleans it up. He controls the running game with his plus arm strength and quick release.

https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2024/astros/

9. Walker Janek, C/DH

Born: 2002-09-24
B: Right T: Right
H: 6′ 0″ W: 190 lbs.

History: Drafted 28th overall in the 2024 draft, Sam Houston State; signed for $3.13 million.
Previous Rank: NR
Major League ETA: 2027

Year Team Level Age PA R 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ BABIP
2024 ASH Hi-A 21 103 10 6 1 1 11 4 30 0 0 .175 .214 .289 74 .239

The Report: After a strong performance on the cape in 2023, Janek showed out in his draft season for Sam Houston State, jumping his OPS by over 250 points and improving his K:BB rate. He was the first off the board in a relatively deep college catching class, and while he lacks a standout tool other than his throwing arm, he projects for average hit and power now, glowing up his previous glove-first profile. Janek didn’t hit at all after the draft, which may be a warning sign or may just be a catcher tiring at the end of a long baseball season that started in earnest all the way back in February. But either way he has a pretty solid fallback profile as a backup, good-defensive catcher who can mash lefties.

OFP: 50 / Average catcher
Variance: Medium. Janek has a short track record of really belting baseballs and young catcher offensive stagnation syndrome always looms.

Jesse Roche’s Fantasy Rundown:

Top-500 Dynasty Prospects: 382
Potential Earnings: $0-5
Fantasy Overview: Janek had a disastrous first month in pro ball. His bat is not his calling card, but he still needs to hold his own at the plate. It is reasonable to question whether he will hit enough to be anything more than a glove-first catcher. Janek likely does not project for anything more than average offensive tools, and, as a catcher, he is simply not a player to target in fantasy outside of deep or two-catcher formats.
Reckless Fantasy Comp: John Buck

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/


39. Walker Janek, C, Houston Astros, 6’0”/205

Janek is one of the best catchers in the class, but has also shown nice versatility in his time at Sam Houston State, spending some time at second and third base and both corner outfield spots. Behind the dish, he shows elite pop times and threw out more than half the base runners that attempted to steal on him.

He is no slouch at the plate either. Hitting over .300 in all three seasons of his collegiate career, Janek slashed .364/.476/.709 this year with 17 home runs and 13 stolen bases. He is rather athletic as well, and he shows good plate discipline. Janek struck out in just over 16 percent of plate appearances while walking nearly 15 percent of the time.

Janek showed a good feel for contact, with a 77 percent overall contact rate that jumped to 88 percent in-zone. The chase rate is a manageable 25 percent. While it is easy to look at a player like Janek at Sam Houston State and assume the performance came from dominating lesser competition, we have seen players like Colton Cowser come from there and succeed.

Showing a solid feel for power, Janek posted a 93 mph average exit velocity with a 105 mph 90th percentile. He limits ground balls and lifts the ball with ease, spraying line drives to all fields. The hard-hit rate of 57 percent is encouraging, and it jumps even higher when looking at batted balls to the pull-side.

While not a flashy fantasy profile, it is a solid one that should stick at catcher.

https://www.thedynastydugout.com/p/fant ... kings-2024

Rikuu Nishida, @B

5´6´´ 150 pounds
Age: 23

2024 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking 86
2024 High Level Birmingham (AA)
Age relative to high level -0.7 years

SSS rank among all second basemen in the system 2
Overall 2024 stats: 127 games 1 HR 44 RBI .304/.418/.362 86 BB 64 K 49-of-61 (80.3%) SB .996 FLD%

Simply put, whether you prefer the longball or K-rate topping 12, there’s one thing we can all agree on after the 2024 season: Rikuu Nishida is the most exciting player in the White Sox system.

Does that mean he’s the best prospect? Of course not. Destined to make the majors, and soon? Nope. But Nishida managed to go from curio to weapon in one summer, skipping from Low-A Kanny to High-A Winston-Salem to Double-A Birmingham, and was a factor in team successes at all three stops.

A big part of the excitement surrounding Nishida is not just that he’s an unorthodox player: Tiny strike zone, contact at all costs, pesky baserunner. But the REAL excitement should instead (or also) come from the fact that Nishida made a pro debut in 2023 that was utterly underwhelming — for those of us rooting for the guy, a bit gutting — and then came out gangbusters in 2024 to force his way onto the radar.

True, that gangbusters play was aided by playing at A-ball levels with competition younger than him. But by the time Nishida reached Birmingham, a merit promotion that would also help with the coming playoff series, he held his own. The Double-A numbers, small sample size and all, rang up as .333/.400/.333, 15 total bases, no Ks in 11 games. In his four postseason contests, Nishida bagged four hits and four walks, for a .409 OBP.

And in another example of zagging against the league’s zigging, Nishida kept his feet moving all season, swiping 49-of-61 bags for a stellar 80.3% success rate — and doing so in incredibly disruptive and pesky fashion.

A year ago, we would have told you to temper expectation for this novelty player. This year, we say the majors is no longer a hope, but an expectation.

Nishida’s Baseball Cube player ratings:

Contact 98 (same as last season)
Runs 88 (-2)
Speed 86 (-4)
Durability 71 (+13)
Hitting 69 (+12)
RBIs 22 (-3)
XBH 17 (-4)
Power 16 (-4)
Average 58.38 (+1.13)

Normally we would not speak of Nishida and the major leagues in the same breath, and with the White Sox in lose-now mode the chance of a Duke Ellis call-up to take advantage of Rikuu’s speed/peskiness to eke out some wins is nil. But several players made the jump straight from Double-A in 2024, so given Nishida could soon be in Charlotte, we could see the speedster on the South Side this summer.

https://www.southsidesox.com/2025/2/9/2 ... -white-sox

Especially in a spring camp that has 70 invitees at this point, most players get talked about in terms of their potential — to reclaim their old performance level during a brief spell in a White Sox uniform on a minor league deal, or because they’ll soon be headed to Double-A Birmingham and the like.

Davis Martin is in a different category. The organization is largely looking out toward what future years have to offer, but 2025 is supposed to hold Martin’s breakout.

“I’m expecting a lot from Davis,” said pitching coach Ethan Katz. “Especially now being removed from Tommy John and some of the stuff that guys battle with, the fatigue and all that stuff, hopefully all that is now behind him, having a normal offseason.”

Martin left his last start of 2022 with bicep soreness after an ERA-wrecking season finale outing, and was still very much in the throes of rehabbing from Tommy John surgery this time last season. So training without restrictions at the PitchingWRX facility in his native Oklahoma over the offseason was a lot more normal, and a lot more active. The approach there involves a lot more mound work, rooted in the belief that all adjustments to the throwing motion should be made with the idea of pitching off a slope in mind, so Martin threw off a mound roughly twice as often as a normal offseason, ahead of a 2025 season where the Sox want him to blow away his career total of 113 major league innings.

“In 2022, I’m not in big league camp, kind of surprised to be in the big leagues,” Martin recalled. “In 2023, I know I’m the sixth guy with the rotation that we had that year. This year coming into it, knowing this is our turn to take the reins a little bit, it’s great. Just worked hard. I talked to [Jonathan] Cannon, I talked to [Sean] Burke, I talked to a lot of those guys all offseason, kind of checked in on each other to make sure we’re all doing what we need to be doing.”

What the White Sox pitching staff lacks in swing-and-miss stuff, they are hoping to make up for with quick, economical innings compiled in bulk by their starters. It’s not simply wildness that produces walks at the major league level, but pitchers who lack stuff nasty enough to avoid hard contact in the zone, and it’s a precious few starters who have it. To that end, the White Sox are also very intent upon improving the 28th-best pitch framing per Statcast, to make getting ahead of the count feel a bit less like threading a needle.

But Martin doesn’t scan like an exceptional candidate to be the White Sox workhorse, or potential Opening Day starter, or any of the ways he’s talked about at Camelback Ranch upon first glimpse. He can flash 97 mph, but generally offers league-average velocity. The post-TJ version of his fastball has a generic level of ride, such that hitters are more likely to see a cutter or slider as Martin jabs around the zone with a blend of offerings that are not singularly overwhelming. But in a 28-year-old with a 4.61 ERA, the White Sox see someone who has held their own through command, guile and the ability to wield enough different breaking ball shapes to stay off hitters’ barrels, and someone adaptable enough to embrace a nudge forward.

“The professionalism and how mature and advanced he is; he feels like he’s an established guy already,” said Will Venable.

“I’m just a fan of his at the moment,” said Brian Bannister. “Whenever you have a brand new, young pitcher who’s breaking into the league, went through some injury stuff, to be able to just handle it and not be rattled out there and give himself a chance to keep getting better and put up league average or better production, is really a nice first step in year one or two. He’s done a great job and he’s open to anything.”

And in Bannister’s view, Martin’s rapid-fire adoption of a kick changeup answered the central question in his profile: a weapon that moves to his arm side and immediately became a central focus of opposing teams’ attack plans against Martin. The right-hander expects both it and his curveball to be more consistent after a full offseason of working on each, but he also looks at the 50 innings he pitched in 2024 and sees a much more obvious route for his performance taking a leap.

“If there was something to really be picky on, it was walks,” said Martin, who interrupted a long string of single-digit walk rates through the minors by giving free passes to 10.5 percent of hitters last year. “That wasn’t who I was in ’22, that wasn’t who I was in 2023.”

Pitchers have a tendency to talk about walks as if they are a sign of moral decay, and Martin is no exception, but his offseason work in Oklahoma City focused on a more mechanical root cause.

“We learned that I was getting a little pushy on my big toe in my foot position, so sometimes I would spray left or right,” Martin said. “Guys talking about pushing off their back foot and it’s heel to their whole foot. The way I felt, I was only at heel to mid-foot, pushing to this direction and then as soon as I would get to extension off the back leg, the only thing that’s left is my big toe. I would almost push out and that would take me to the right side of my delivery.”

Martin was kind enough to clarify that no, this is not something he could feel while in the middle of trying to escape a bases-loaded jam. But it’s the sort of tangible work item that’s more satisfying than a blanket explanation that command is the last thing to return after TJ. And that Martin isn’t satisfied with his inefficiencies, or being cast as a back-end starter, is kind of the big thing the White Sox like about him.

“He puts in a lot of work behind the scenes,” Bannister said. “He’s just built a really nice floor for himself.”

https://soxmachine.com/2025/02/davis-ma ... -rotation/

Kyle Karros, 3B, Colorado Rockies

Height: 6-5 | Weight: 220 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 22

Karros, the son of longtime Dodger Eric Karros, was the Rockies’ fifth-round pick in 2023 out of UCLA, and spent all of his first full season in High A, hitting .311/.390/.485 and earning praise all around for his defense at third. That is a better triple-slash line than he ever had at college, even though he got to use the pretend bats for the Bruins and faced much worse competition.

His average, OBP, and slugging for Spokane in 2024 were all better than any single-season result he had at UCLA. Part of the change is that he started driving the ball the other way more often, going with the pitch rather than trying to pull pitches on the outer half or third. He also became more aggressive as a hitter, swinging more often, trading more whiffs for more extra-base hits; he hit eight doubles in 44 games as a college junior, then hit 33 doubles in 123 games last year in Spokane.

He led the Northwest League in all three triple-slash stats, and could have gone to Double-A Hartford by midsummer, although the Rockies wanted him to stick with Spokane as they pushed for the league title. He’s a plus defender at third with great instincts on both sides of the ball. His OBP does mask some of his pitch recognition issues — he doesn’t chase a ton, but when he does, he almost never connects, especially with offspeed stuff, and getting him to understand what pitches he can and can’t reach with his long arms is going to be his main developmental challenge. He could be an above-average regular if he does, given the defense and the potential for 40-50 doubles with double-digit homers.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/608719 ... ssed-2025/

23. Will Johnston, LHP

Ht: 6'3" | Wt: 215 | B-T: L-L

Age: null
BA Grade/Risk: 45/High.

Track Record: Johnston mostly pitched out of the bullpen over three seasons at Texas AM before the Athletics drafted him in the 13th round in 2023 and signed him for just $150,000. They stretched him out over the offseason and deployed him as part of their bulk-inning tandem grouping at the lower levels to successful results in 2024. Johnston posted a 3.88 ERA and 137 strikeouts to 40 walks over 99.2 innings and reached Double-A Midland to end the year.

Scouting Report: The 6-foot-3 lefty deploys a deceptive north-south attack that keys off his outlier vertical arm slot. Johnston’s low-90s fastball is thrown with nearly 19 inches of induced vertical break from that over-the-top angle and is at its best staying above bats at the top of the zone. He pairs it with a 79-83 mph split-changeup that flashes above-average shape and tunnels well off the fastball. The A’s worked with him to throw it with more conviction against lefties. His third offering is a fringy low-80s slider with some vertical movement. Johnston has thrown enough strikes so far to suggest he could stay in a starting role.

The Future: Developing a better breaking ball—and perhaps adding a tick more velocity—would certainly help Johnston stay on a back-of-the-rotation track. He has a fallback as a funky multi-inning reliever.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2 ... =preseason

29. Will Johnston, LHP

Midland Rock Hounds, AA - Athletics

AGE: 24, DOB: 12/12/2000
BATS: L, THROWS: L
HT: 6' 3", WT: 215
DRAFTED: 2023, 13th (376) - OAK
ETA: 2026

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Slider: 45 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 40

The A’s had 21 selections in the 2023 Draft and used 11 of those on pitching. All but two of them were college arms and that included some low-risk selections on Day 3 like Johnston, a Texas A&M senior who signed for $150,000 in Round 13 after spending four years largely pitching out of the Aggies’ bullpen, where he missed a ton of bats but had inconsistent results. With low expectations, Johnston began his first full season of pro ball at age 23 with Single-A Stockton, but threw so well out of the gate he earned a quick promotion up to High-A Lansing at the end of April and finished the year with Double-A Midland.

A 6-foot-3 left-hander, Johnston has shown a better feel for his three-pitch arsenal than some expected, given his college numbers. He adds and subtracts from his fastball, throwing it typically in the 89-94 mph range, though he’s shown in the past the ability to reach back for a 95 or 96-mph heater on occasion. The pitch has played up a bit because he can pitch north and south with it. His best pitch is now his split-changeup, which flashes plus and can be a true out pitch at times. His low-80s breaking ball can be on the slurvy side, but it can be effective and he finished his first full year with an impressive 12.4 K/9 rate.

Johnston’s ceiling is somewhat limited, and his splits from his senior year with the Aggies point to him being more effective against right-handed hitters, so he doesn’t have the arsenal to be a lefty specialist out of the bullpen. His ability to continue to throw more strikes than he did in college (5.2 BB/9 with Texas A&M vs. 3.6/9 in 2024) could allow him to develop into a back-end starter type, especially if he can tighten up his breaking ball.

https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2024 ... ton-690658

Laurila: Is Brooks Baldwin a good comp for Chase Meidroth?

Janish: “You know who I compare Brooks to? He’s kind of a Ben Zobrist type of player. He has the ability to defend at multiple positions and is a switch-hitter. Chase is maybe like the Jamey Carroll, the Nick Punto, or maybe even a Jason Bartlett-type of player, Bartlett was more of a pure defender, but those are the kind of comps I would give. Brooks and Chase are both just really good baseball players. They see the field. They have very good awareness and are going to give you competitive at-bats. They’re maybe not sexy in terms of size, strength, speed, or power, but they play the game well.”

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/paul-janish ... -pipeline/

Jacob Melton (OF, AA/AAA)

Age: 24
Height/Weight: 6'2" / 210 lbs

2024 Performance: In 2024, Jacob Melton posted an overall slash line of .253/.310/.426, smacking 15 home runs across Double-A and Triple-A levels. He’ll need to improve his swing decisions as he progresses through the minors — his OBP of .310 suggests there’s room for improvement in plate discipline and swing decisions. Melton is a plus baserunner, finishing the 2024 campaign with 30 steals.

Summary: Melton’s offensive game is built on a power-speed combination that could see him potentially putting up a 20/20 season in the big leagues, but he’ll need to improve his approach to get on base more consistently. Defensively, Melton's speed and instincts have been assets in the outfield. He’s an above-average defender in center field and exhibits plus defensive skills when positioned in the corners. His arm strength is rated as average, but he compensates with quick and efficient transfer, effectively limiting opponents' ability to take extra bases.

2025 Outlook: Looking ahead to the 2025 season, Melton is expected to begin the year at Triple-A Sugar Land. With continued refinement of his offensive approach, particularly in improving his swing decisions and reducing strikeout rates, he could position himself for a major league debut later this season. The Astros organization envisions Melton as a potential everyday outfielder who can provide a combination of offensive production and defensive reliability. His plus speed not only enhances his defensive range but also makes him a threat on the basepaths. To realize his offensive potential, he’ll need to make adjustments that promote more consistent contact that leverage his raw power. Additionally, enhancing his ability to recognize and react to off-speed pitches will be crucial in as he moves to facing higher-level pitching.

https://downonthefarm.substack.com/p/fa ... dium=email

26. Blake Burke, 1B

Ht: 6'3" | Wt: 240 | B-T: L-L

Age: null
BA Grade/Risk: 45/High.

Track Record: Burke hit in the middle of the lineup for Tennessee when the Volunteers won the national championship in 2024. The Brewers drafted him in the supplemental first round (34th overall) that year and signed him for $2.1 million.

Scouting Report: Burke’s carrying tool is his power. He starts his swing with a barrel tip to the pitcher, then unleashes a stroke with high-end bat speed and leverage to produce plus-plus raw power with the ability to go deep to any part of the park. Burke didn’t whiff excessively in college—his strikeout rate was 14.9% in 2024—but he is an extremely aggressive hitter who expands the zone too often and will need to develop a more selective approach. That’s especially true for a player who is limited to first base. He’s a well-below-average runner whose defense and arm strength are both below-average.

The Future: Burke has the power to profile at first base, but he will need to show a more discerning approach against better pitching to prove he will get on base at a high enough clip to be a regular at the position.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 30 | Field: 40 | Arm: 40.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2 ... =preseason

17. Blake Burke, 1B

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, A+, Milwaukee Brewers

AGE: 21 DOB: 06/11/2003
BATS: L, THROWS: L
HT: 6' 3", W: 236
DRAFTED: 2024, CB-Ath (34) - MIL
ETA: 2027

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 30 | Arm: 40 | Field: 40 | Overall: 45

Burke tied Tennessee's freshman home run record with 14 in just 95 at-bats in 2022 but slumped a bit despite going deep 16 times last spring. He was a more polished hitter as a junior, leading NCAA Division I with 30 doubles and setting another Volunteers mark with a 31-game hitting streak. He won Southeastern Conference tournament MVP honors and helped Tennessee win its first College World Series championship before going to the Brewers with the 34th overall pick. He signed for slightly below slot at $2.1 million.

Burke has an impressive combination of bat speed, strength and leverage in his 6-foot-3, 236-pound frame, which generates plus-plus raw power and consistently high exit velocities. His left-handed pop plays to all parts of the ballpark, and he has grown to realize that he can hit home runs without swinging for the fences. After striking out in 31 percent of his plate appearances as a freshman, he increased his contact rates by becoming less pull-happy, though he's still prone to chasing pitches out of the strike zone.

While Burke has become more reliable at first base, he's still a below-average defender with limited range. With well-below-average speed and subpar arm strength, he has no other defensive options. Despite his lack of quickness, he's an opportunistic basestealer who will take advantage if opponents forget about him.

https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2024 ... rke-695501

9. Blake Burke, 1B

Born: 2003-06-11
B: Left, T: Left
H: 6′ 3″, W: 236 lbs.

History: Drafted 34th overall in the 2024 draft, University of Tennessee signed for $2.1 million.
Previous Rank: NR
Major League ETA: 2027

Year Team Level Age PA R 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG DRC+ BABIP
2024 WIS Hi-A 21 18 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 .250 .333 .250 96 .333

The Report: While he’s not as famous as the more vaunted power-hitting college bats that were picked at the top of the 2024 class, Burke has almost as much thump in his bat. He bounced back after a down sophomore season for the Volunteers, using his turn-and-burn approach to sock 20 homers and slug over .700 while cutting his K rate. There’s nothing fancy about any of this: Burke finds pitches he can damage and shoots for the inside of the right field foul pole. This has left him vulnerable to college spin—although his overall contact rates are fine—and he will need to maintain just about all of his bat-to-ball skills and power with wood given he’s first-base only going forward. It’s not hard to picture what the high-end offensive outcome for Burke could look like in a couple seasons (perhaps Matt Olson or Kyle Schwarber come to mind), but the road to the majors is littered with optimized corner bats that chased a little too much spin, or made a little bit less contact in the zone and ended up in the Quad-A zone. And while we can’t nitpick Burke’s post-draft performance like we can Charlie Condon or Jac Caglianone, that’s only because he didn’t play much at all after the draft.

OFP: 55 / Power-hitting first baseman
Variance: High. There is a thin line of contact and power optimization skills between everyday thumper and Rowdy Tellez, and we haven’t seen Burke have to adjust to pro pitching yet.

Jesse Roche’s Fantasy Rundown:

Top-500 Dynasty Prospects: 196
Potential Earnings: $0-5
Fantasy Overview: Burke is an aggressive hitter with plus or better power and solid contact skills that will need to really hit to be an impact MLB regular.
Reckless Fantasy Comp: C.J. Cron

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

Blake Burke was 49th on the Brewer Fanatic consensus draft board entering the 2024 draft, occupying spots ranking from the low 30s to the mid-60s on most industry boards. The Brewers liked what they saw from Burke, selecting him with the 34th overall pick (in the competitive-balance segment after the first round) and signing him to an under-slot bonus of $2.1 million.

Given his 2024 season, and how advanced Burke’s bat is, I found the pre-draft ranking discrepancy between his profile and other first base, power-oriented bats a little wide for my taste. Burke has legitimate bat speed that underpins an uppercut swing. It's all designed to lift the baseball. He has 70-grade raw power, and Burke put up gaudy exit velocities in 2024. His 110.5-mph 90th-percentile exit velocity was one of the very best in NCAA baseball, and he maxed out at 117 mph. He’s not pull-reliant, either. His 19% pulled fly ball rate was only in the 38th percentile in Div. I in 2024. Burke’s bat-to-ball skills are more advanced than you might suspect for a power-oriented bat. In 2024, there was some swing-and-miss in the strike zone (12.6%, right around average), but his overall contact rate of 83% was good for the 66th percentile, and he posted strong numbers outside the strike zone, too.

The bugaboo in Burke’s offensive profile is an extreme chase rate. He’s an aggressive hitter (51% swing rate), but he’ll need to tamp down a chase rate which in 2024 was north of 33%, as pitchers in the upper levels of the minors will take advantage of his eagerness.

2024 Pro Debut: Strengths, Opportunities and Expectations for 2025
2024 Stats (NCAA): 72 games (323 PA), .379/.449/.702, 20 HR, 10.8 BB%, 14.9 K%, 147 wRC+
2024 Stats (A+): 5 games (18 PA), .250/.333/.250, 11.1 BB%, 22.2 K%, 78 wRC+

There’s not much to say on Burke’s 2024 pro debut, as it was so brief that our sample size is unreasonably small. Burke had an incredibly long college baseball season in 2024, playing 72 games for the eventual national champion Tennessee Volunteers. With a full offseason under his belt, I’d expect him to start at High-A Wisconsin in 2025. The Brewers will be hoping he makes short work of Appleton and rises to the upper levels of the minors by the end of the season. He’s a bat-reliant corner profile who will need to mash to provide value, but the building blocks are firmly in place for this outcome.

https://brewerfanatic.com/news-rumors/b ... rke-r3067/

Blake Burke, 1B, Milwaukee Brewers, 6’3”/236

If you like Tommy White’s power and profile, you should like Burke, who hit 20 home runs and had 51 extra-base hits while slashing .379/.449/.702. Burke struck out 15 percent of the time and walked around 11 percent of the time. There are quite a few similarities between him and White, who puts up big-time exit velocities, makes respectable contact, but also chases a bit.

Burke’s exit velocities were 98th percentile among all college hitters as he posted a 95 mph average exit velocity with a 110 mph 90th percentile. Topping out at 117 mph, Burke has a 54 percent hard-hit rate.

The contact was also respectable as Burke posted an overall contact rate near 84 percent with an in-zone mark north of 88 percent. The issue is, Burke chases a ton out of the zone, coming in north of 32 percent on the chase rate. The good news is he still made good contact on pitches out of the zone.

Burke is a heavy line drive hitter and does a good job getting to the pull side. The power is evident. He has risks at a corner-only profile, but he also brings a lot of likes to the table. If you want a power specialty, Burke might be your guy.

https://www.thedynastydugout.com/p/fant ... kings-2024

Cincinnati Reds #25 Prospect: Ethan O’Donnell – Outfielder

The Cincinnati Reds drafted Ethan O’Donnell in the 6th round of the 2023 draft out of Virginia. Following the draft he played in 27 games, with 23 of them coming in Single-A Daytona. Between his short time in Arizona and then in Daytona he hit well, putting up an OPS of 1.047.

When the 2024 season began the Cincinnati Reds sent Ethan O’Donnell to join the Dayton Dragons outfield. After going 0-3 in his season debut he could come back the next day and pick up his first hit and add a walk. The following game he picked up two more hits, another walk, and one of his hits was a double. But the hits stopped showing up from there as he went 6-33 the rest of April (.182) and had no extra-base hits. O’Donnell did walk more often than he struck out during that time, helping him post a .372 on-base percentage in the final three weeks of the month.

In his first start in May, which came a week after his last start in April (he appeared in two games during that week but he was a pinch runner in both of those games as he dealt with a shoulder issue) he went 2-5 with his first home run of the year. His playing time was limited after that for the following two weeks, too – playing every couple of days. From May 8th through the 22nd he went 3-20 while playing in just seven games. But on May 24th he returned to the lineup and began to play every day again and finished out the month going 7-22 with a .969 OPS.

That hot hitting didn’t quite carry over into June. While the outfielder hit .306 in the first 10 games of the month he only walked twice and only had one extra-base hit. Things went south from there and in a big way. Over the next month-and-a-half he hit just .145/.260/.241 while striking out 30% of the time he stepped to the plate.

On July 27th he broke out of the slump by going 1-4 with a double against Fort Wayne. From that point through the end of the year he caught fire. Over the final 40 games of the year – including two playoff games – he hit .352/.405/.556 and stole 13 bases in 15 tries.

Ethan O’Donnell Scouting Report

Position: Outfield | B/T: L/R

Height: 6′ 0″ | Weight: 190 lbs. | Acquired: 6th Round (2023 Draft)| Born: March 27, 2002

In the 2024 season we saw the highs and the lows from Ethan O’Donnell. How much of those lows were due to him dealing with injuries during the season is a bit unknown, but for much of the year he was not exactly 100%. For the final two months of the season, he crushed the ball and showed his upside.

At the plate, O’Donnell can and does use the entire field. He can use his above-average speed combined with his ability to bunt to boost his offensive profile – he was able to turn 21 bunts in 2024 into 15 hits. On top of those 15 bunt hits, he also had another 10 infield singles.His power is mostly to the pull side and he’s got fringy raw power, but there could be enough in there to project double-digit home runs.

His speed is an asset on the bases, where he went 31-for-36 in stolen base attempts in 2024 in his 104 games played. But he can also use it well on defense. While he isn’t a burner and his speed is fringy for center, he takes good routes and gets good reads which allows him to be plenty capable of handling center field. He does profile a little better in the corners and there’s enough arm there for right field, though it won’t stand out.

The upside is there for Ethan O’Donnell to be an every day center fielder if he can get the most out of his bat – which likely means cutting down on his strikeout rate a little bit from where it was in 2024. There’s not exactly a single standout skill that he has besides bunting, but his tools are all fringe-average or a little better. If he can’t max things out at the plate, he’s still got a chance to be a well-rounded 4th or 5th outfielder who can provide various skills off of the bench.

Interesting Stat on Ethan O’Donnell

In games played on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday he hit .205/.299/.299 (136 plate appearances). In games that were played the other four days of the week he hit .299/.387/.471 (279 plate appearances).

-Doug Gray

https://www.redsminorleagues.com/2025/0 ... utfielder/

Cristian Mena, RHP, Diamondbacks

Mena has long been a darling of models, as the White Sox—and now the D-backs—have aggressively promoted him despite being consistently young for the level. After debuting in the majors last year at age 21, RoboScout thinks his 85 mph slider and two fastballs should be sufficient to be a back-of-the-rotation starter with midrotation flashes at peak. Early reports from camp are that the 22-year-old has added some velocity over the offseason, too.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories ... t-top-100/

14. Carson DeMartini, SS

Ht: 6'0" | Wt: 185 | B-T: L-R

Age: null
BA Grade/Risk: 45/High.

Track Record: DeMartini’s amateur career included three years at Virginia Tech and summers in the Coastal Plain and Cape Cod leagues. In his junior year with the Hokies in 2024, DeMartini crushed a career-best 21 home runs. The Phillies drafted him in the fourth round and signed him for $542,900. He started his pro career with Low-A Clearwater and hit a pair of home runs over 24 games.

Scouting Report: The lefthanded-hitting DeMartini’s offensive profile is led by his power, which helped him produce an OPS of better than 1.000 in each of his three seasons at Virginia Tech. His swing is steep and uphill and creates holes in his swing likely to be exploited at the higher levels of the minor leagues. No potential contact issues surfaced in the Florida State League, where he finished with a pristine zone-miss rate of just 13.6%. A former shortstop in high school, DeMartini shifted to third base in college and split his pro time between both positions as a pro. He’s got the tools to stick at the hot corner, and his power should be plenty to profile there if he can get to it often enough. He’s a fringy runner, and scouts noted that the longer finish in his swing might tamp down his home-to-first times.

The Future: DeMartini’s college career gives him a leg up on the competition in the lower levels of the minor leagues, and he’ll likely move to High-A Jersey Shore to begin his first full season as a pro. His power will be stress tested at the BlueClaws’ home park, which is famous for suppressing fly balls to right field. He has a chance to be a second-division regular at third base.

Scouting Grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 50 | Run: 45 | Field: 50 | Arm: 50.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2 ... =preseason

29. Carson DeMartini, 3B

Drafted: 4th Round, 2024 from Virginia Tech (PHI)
Age 22.1 Height 6′ 0″ Weight 197 Bat / Thr L / R FV 35+

Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Hit Raw Power Game Power Run Fielding Throw
20/30 50/55 35/50 40/40 30/50 50

DeMartini has above-average lefty bat speed, but it takes him quite a bit of noise and effort to generate it, and he had a 27.7% strikeout rate in his draft year at Tech, which is comfortably in red flag territory. His swing is geared for low-ball power in the extreme. DeMartini often collapses to one knee on his biggest swings, and he averaged 20 degrees of launch after the draft at Clearwater, where his K rate was half of what it was in college. Realistically, DeMartini is going to struggle to cover the outer third because of his approach and has a power-over-hit skill set. If he can play multiple defensive positions, then a role similar to the one Kody Clemens has been playing is realistic. DeMartini played third base for the Hokies and got middle infield reps on Cape Cod, then the Phillies played him at all three of those positions after the draft. Plus hands are his defining trait on defense, as DeMartini lacks typical middle infield range and his arm strength is average. He had a labrum surgery on his shoulder in 2023 and it’s possible aspects of his defense will improve as he gets further away from that injury.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/philadelphi ... prospects/

16. Carson DeMartini, 3B

Philadelphia Phillies, Clearwater Threshers, A

AGE: 22 DOB: !2/27/2002
BATS: L THROWS: R

HT: 6' 0" WT: 197
DRAFTED: 2024, 4th (130) - PHI
ETA: 2027

Scouting grades: Hit: 45 | Power: 55 | Run: 40 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 45

Virginia Tech has built a recent reputation of developing hitters who go early in the Draft, with six players taken in the top five rounds over the previous two years. DeMartini had been part of the offensive upswing since his freshman year in ’22, posting an OPS over 1.000 in his first two seasons. A shoulder injury forced him to a DH role for much of the 2023 season, and surgery to repair his labrum kept him out of fall action. He returned to the lineup and the field in the spring, and while the power returned, so did some concerns about his approach. But the Phillies saw enough offensive upside to make him the seventh Hokie to go in the top five rounds in the past three years, signing for full slot as a fourth-round pick.

DeMartini is a compact and strong left-handed hitter who looks to do damage. He has a power-over-hit profile with plenty of bat speed to drive the ball and extra-base authority to all fields. After striking out in 25.2 percent of his plate appearances in 2022, he trimmed that to 17.1 percent as a sophomore by cutting his chase rate on breaking stuff, seeing a lot of pitches and upping his walk rate. He still drew free passes as a junior, but the K rate jumped back up, with some wondering whether the repaired shoulder had forced a swing change that added holes in his path.

A shortstop in high school, DeMartini moved over to third base at Virginia Tech with fringy footwork and hands. He had plenty of arm for the hot corner before the surgery, but he’ll have to prove his repaired shoulder is 100 percent. A move to left field could be in his future, but it’s the power potential the Phillies were really buying.

https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2024 ... ini-701831

11. Carson DeMartini, 3B (Low-A Clearwater)

DeMartini made our final draft Big Board at No. 61, which Nori and Burkholder did not, although that was more due to the college/prep informational gap (both the knowledge of signability and the availability of data). A very plausible first-rounder entering his 2024 college season at Virginia Tech, DeMartini’s hit tool proceeded to crater, with a 64% overall contact rate and 72.5% inside the zone as a junior. That dropped him all the way to the fourth round. The most generous explanation for this contact dip is that he was affected by a shoulder injury, and to that end his in-zone contact rose back above 90% after the draft. DeMartini lifts the ball and has shown above-average power potential even when missing too much, so a longer run of even acceptable contact rates would push him into draft steal range as a potential power-driven lefty third base option.

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/

17. Will Johnston, SP

Drafted: 13th Round, 2023 from Texas A&M (OAK)
Age 24.1 Height 6′ 3″ Weight 215 Bat / Thr L / L FV 40

Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Fastball Slider Splitter Command Sits/Tops
50/50 45/50 40/50 40/50 88-92 / 95

Johnston moved from Texas A&M’s bullpen into their rotation in the middle of his draft year and the A’s have continued to stretch him out in pro ball. So far, it’s working. Johnston pitched at three levels in 2024, covering 99.2 innings and striking out 33% of the batters he faced. Johnston also kept his walk rate just under 10% on the year, which is an encouraging sign after he posted some lofty free pass totals during his amateur career. Johnston hides the ball forever and has a due north arm slot that imparts ride on his fastball. He has a pretty generic vertical breaking ball that plays off of that; it has good finish and depth when it’s buried, but not enough bite to miss bats in the zone. The quality of Johnston’s splitter can still really vary; his best ones show tumbling action with late depth, while others are still prone to floating on him and have little movement at all. If the split can progress to being a consistently average offering, Johnston has a back-of-the-rotation future ahead of him. If not, he has a favorable multi-inning relief profile.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/athletics-top-38-prospects/

14. Cristian Mena, RHP

Ht: 6'2" | Wt: 170 | B-T: R-R

Age: null
BA Grade/Risk: 45/High.

Track Record: Mena signed with the White Sox for $250,000 in 2019 but the pandemic delayed his debut to 2021. He has since more than made up for the lost time. He rocketed through Chicago’s system, reaching Triple-A at 20 years old in 2023. He was traded shortly before spring training in February 2024 to the Diamondbacks in exchange for outfielder Dominic Fletcher. Mena posted solid results in hitter-friendly Triple-A Reno, earning his big league debut in July, but made only one start in the majors and three more in the minors before his season ended early due to a right forearm strain.

Scouting Report: Mena added a tick of velocity last year to his 93 mph fastball, but the pitch was hit hard in Triple-A, which was perhaps as much about pitch usage—i.e. being too predictable—as pitch quality. He also incorporated a sinker and used it more as the season progressed. His curveball is his best weapon, a downer breaking ball he throws as hard as 87-88 mph. He also throws a sweepy slider and a changeup. He has a starter’s delivery and an aggressive, attacking mentality but has to cut down on walks.

The Future: Mena has a deep enough repertoire and enough pitchability to be a back-of-the-rotation starter in the short term. If he can find a way to get his fastball to play better, whether it’s with more velocity or movement or better usage, he could grow into more than that.

Scouting Grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 55 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 45.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/teams/2 ... =preseason

8. Cristian Mena, SP

Signed: July 2nd Period, 2019 from Dominican Republic (CHW)
Age 22.1 Height 6′ 2″ Weight 170 Bat / Thr R / R FV 45

Tool Grades (Present/Future)
Fastball Slider Curveball Changeup Command Sits/Tops
40/45 45/55 55/60 40/55 45/60 90-94 / 95

Mena is a precocious and athletic 21-year-old righty who made his big league debut in 2024 and then was shut down for the rest of the season a few weeks later with a forearm strain. The White Sox signed Mena in 2019 and the start of his career was delayed due to the pandemic, yet he was still just 18 years old when he first took a pro mound in 2021. In 2023, at age 20, he was the youngest pitcher in baseball to reach Triple-A. Stocked with tweener outfielders, the Diamondbacks acquired Mena from Chicago in exchange for Dominic Fletcher just before the 2024 season.

Since arriving in Arizona, Mena has trimmed his physique, changed his delivery (it’s more cross-bodied now), and is throwing his breaking balls much harder; they now bend in around 84-87 mph rather than the 82-84 mph range they did while Mena was with Chicago. But the issues that have otherwise plagued Mena during his prospectdom largely remain. His fastball lacks effective movement and he was once again homer-prone in 2024. Some of his 21.1% HR/FB rate in 2024 has to do with the PCL hitting environment, but Mena has had a HR/FB rate of 15% or more in three of his four pro seasons and has allowed an OPS over 1.000 against his heater each of the last two years. The two-seamer and Mena’s changeup, a glorified sinker in the 88-91 mph range, should give him a way to stay off barrels, and his delivery and arm action are so athletic and lovely that you can project heavily on the changeup. Two good breaking balls — a slider and a curve with velocities that have tended to blend — have long been the staple of Mena’s profile and remain so. Both are tough to pick up out of Mena’s hand, and he tends to locate them when he isn’t overthrowing.

Mena’s season-ending forearm injury clouds his immediate future a little bit, and his fastball’s vulnerability caps his ceiling, but he has plus breaking stuff and a delivery/athleticism combo that indicates he might develop a plus changeup and plus command. Mena is likely to be a steady, strike-throwing no. 4/5 type of starter.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/arizona-dia ... prospects/

12. Cristian Mena, RHP
Arizona Diamondbacks

AGE: 22 DOB: 12/21/2002
BATS: R THROWS: R
HT: 6' 2" WT: 170

SIGNED: July 2, 2019 - CWS
ETA: 2024

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45

Mena signed with the White Sox for $250,000 in July 2019 as the most prominent pitcher in his international class. A little more than four years later, he reached Triple-A in his age-20 season, was placed on Chicago’s 40-man roster and was then traded for outfielder Dominic Fletcher as the Sox looked for Major League-ready offense. Mena was the only age-20 pitcher to meet the qualifying standard at Double-A and Triple-A in 2023, posting a 4.85 ERA with 156 strikeouts (14th-most in the Minors) over 133 2/3 innings. His 15.9 percent swinging-strike rate was second-best among 89 qualifiers at the top two levels, regardless of age.

The 6-foot-2 right-hander added velocity during his stay in the Chicago system but was around 90-94 mph with his fastball in 2023, topping out at 95 without enough movement to be effective against upper-level hitters (which is why he only threw it 39 percent of the time last season). The whiffs came much more prominently from his secondaries, starting with a low-80s curveball with sharp downward movement. His similarly low-80s slider had more horizontal break but could bleed into the curve at times too. His upper-80s changeup averaged 13 inches of horizontal movement at Triple-A, and that helped it get more whiffs than should be expected for a cambio at that velo.

Mena walked 11.3 percent of his batters faced at Double-A, a bit of a surprise for a pitcher with solid athleticism and a nearly effortless delivery. Control issues can come from a pitcher who relies too much on breakers and offspeed, so a better fastball and improved confidence in the heater would go a long way. Mena can take more time to develop at Triple-A with Arizona and work toward his ceiling as a legit MLB starter.

https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/2024 ... ena-691441

Person of Interest: Cristian Mena, RHP (Arizona Diamondbacks)

Acquired from the White Sox in the offseason for Dominic Fletcher, Mena just turned 22, but already feels like he’s been a prospect forever. He’s still consistently inconsistent, now a primary breaking ball chucker, leaning on a curve and sweeper over his too-hittable 93 mph fastball. The PCL isn’t the best place to be a junkballer, but the breakers might be good enough to carve out a major-league long relief role (although there’s little relief to be found at Chase Field). —Jeffrey Paternostro

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/pros ... prospects/