Slash young6/22/2023 Toronto has a quartet of mighty-fine Major Leaguers playing in either their age-24 or age-25 season. Toronto Blue Jays: Orelvis Martinez, SS/3B, age-21 season (Has not yet made MLB debut) If he stays healthy, he's on pace for around 25 home runs and 50 stolen bases. An injury-riddled campaign kept him from fully delivering on that potential last year, but Franco has emerged as a legitimate AL MVP candidate for the best team in baseball. The Rays bet big on Franco's superstar upside just 70 games into his career, signing the then-20-year-old to an 11-year, $182 million deal in November 2021. And there's plenty of pop in his bat-which we already knew from the 70 doubles, 11 triples and 48 home runs he hit in the minors from 2021-22. Because when he does get on base, he is arguably the best base-runner in the majors. New York Yankees: Anthony Volpe, SS, age-22 season (.215/.307/.399, 7 HR, 18 RBI, 13 SB)ĭespite a mediocre on-base percentage, a whiff rate of nearly 30 percent and a glove that is on pace for more than 20 errors, Volpe remains one of the top candidates for AL Rookie of the Year. 343 in his first 10 games and could be a budding star. But with Xander Bogaerts gone and Trevor Story hurt, the Red Sox had basically no choice but to give Valdéz a prolonged audition when Yu Chang also hit the IL in late April. 184 through 14 games at Worchester this season. However, he was nothing special last season after coming over in the Christian Vázquez trade, and he was hitting just. He was a certified hitting machine in the Astros' farm system. The bizarre part of Valdéz hitting well since getting called up is that he did not do so in the minors for Boston. Rutschman provides solid value as a catcher and is already one of the most patient hitters in the majors.īoston Red Sox: Enmanuel Valdéz, 2B/SS, age-24 season (.278/.339/.444, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 SB) He didn't crack the All-Star Game roster last year after getting called up in late May, but he did make a spirited run at Julio Rodríguez's AL ROY crown and finished 12th in the AL MVP vote. With honorable mentions to Gunnar Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez-who entered the year unanimously regarded as two of the best prospects in all of baseball-Rutschman has already been established as a star. Statistics current through the start of play Friday.īaltimore's Adley Rutschman Patrick Smith/Getty Imagesīaltimore Orioles: Adley Rutschman, C, age-25 season (.285/.407/.462, 7 HR, 24 RBI) Teams are broken up by division and listed in alphabetical order within their divisions. However, we're focused more on the "upside" portion of our headline, and you don't need us to let you know that already established stars the likes of Ronald Acuña Jr., Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. That third bullet point might seem to fly in the face of our attempt to identify potential superstars. Has never previously been named an All-Star.can be a prospect, but must be a player the franchise reasonably thinks could contribute this season) Is currently on the 40-man roster (i.e.To qualify as a candidate for this list, a player must meet each of these three criteria: Cleveland's Tanner Bibee Ron Schwane/Getty Imagesįrom Arizona's Corbin Carroll to Baltimore's Adley Rutschman and Cleveland's Tanner Bibee, the ABC's of Major League Baseball's future generation of stars is already looking bright.Įvery franchise has at least one budding star upon whom it is pinning some of its long-term hopes and dreams.
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