10 MLB Prospects Who Impressed On The Arizona Backfields
Image credit: (Photo by Bill Mitchell)
Spring training is over. The major league and Triple-A seasons are in full swing, and the rest of the full-season minor leagues will open on April 5. In advance, Baseball America spent a week on the backfields in Arizona trying to pack as many prospects as possible into seven days.
Arizona’s minor league complexes being so tightly packed meant that one could view multiple games a day, and there were many days in the desert when part of a game in the morning could be followed by full games in the afternoon and evening.
The result was a wide variety of prospects, including a flotilla of talented pitching prospects spread across the east and west parts of the valley. Find are notes and video on some of the players who stood out the most below. As always, you can find every team’s Top 30 Prospects here.
Noah Schultz, LHP, White Sox
There is no doubting Schultz’s prodigious arm talent. He brings loads of lightning from the left side every time he takes the mound. Problem is, health has kept him from taking the mound as often as he or the White Sox would like. His 2023 season was delayed by a flexor strain and then ended early by a shoulder impingement. In his final spring tuneup, the Illinois-bred lefthander looked as untouchable as ever, and there’s a whole host of Reds prospects who can verify.
Over three innings, Schultz carved with three pitches that graded at least plus, including a two-seamer that sat in the upper 90s and peaked at 98 and a slider sharp enough to make lefties reconsider their line of work. Perhaps most impressively, Schultz showed the ability to sweep the pitch away from southpaws or dot the corner armside against righties. If he can take the ball every five days, he’ll have a case as the best lefthanded pitching prospect in the sport.
Jesus Tillero, RHP, Dodgers
After signing in 2023, Tillero dominated the Dominican Summer League in his pro debut. He finished the year with a 1.47 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 30.2 innings for the DSL-champion Dodgers Bautista squad. Tillero is not particularly physical pitcher, but he has a smooth, simple operation and, at just 17 years old, showed enough stuff to vex more advanced hitters. The righthander pounded the zone with a four-seamer in the low 90s, a sharp cutter a few ticks lower, a slurvy breaking ball and a changeup that darted away from lefties’ barrels.
He struck out three hitters in two frames, including two looking and one swinging. The latter came against Cleveland 2023 first-rounder Ralphy Velazquez, whom Tillero got to swing over a changeup for strike two and then finished the job a pitch later on a 90 mph heater. Tillero did show a tendency to fly open at times and some evaluators question how much projection he has remaining, but the ingredients are there for an interesting prospect as he enters his first season stateside.
Reggie Crawford, LHP, Giants
Much like Noah Schultz, Crawford’s biggest problem involves a lack of reps. Tommy John surgery and the pandemic limited the lefthander to just eight innings in college, and further dings have meant he’s thrown just 19 innings as a pro. The 2022 first-rounder pitched in an intrasquad game at the team’s complex in Scottsdale in his second-to-last outing of the spring and showed the same nasty stuff that attracted San Francisco to him two summers ago.
He threw just 17 pitches but he got four outs (the inning was extended by a hitter to get Crawford a few more pitches), including three strikeouts—two swinging and one looking. His fastball sat around 97 mph and touched as high as 99. Crawford induced five whiffs—three on fastballs and one apiece on his slider and changeup. He pitched again later in the week against Brewers hitters and wasn’t quite as sharp, both in terms of results and quality of stuff. Health will be the biggest key for Crawford this season. If he can look consistently like he did in the intrasquad game, he has a chance to reach San Francisco.
Brett Wichrowski, RHP, Brewers
The Brewers have a host of interesting arms in their system, including stuff kings Jacob Misiorowski and DL Hall, reigning pitcher of the year Carlos Rodriguez and 2023 supplemental first-rounder Josh Knoth. Add Wichrowski to that list. Milwaukee nabbed Wichrowski in the 13th round of the 2023 draft out of Bryant University, where he struck out 64 in his draft year before getting hit around over 11.2 innings in the Cape Cod League.
This spring, Wichrowski has been a revelation. Facing the Giants on Friday, he struck out three over parts of four innings (when Wichrowski allowed runners, the Brewers opted to bring in their relief prospects in order to expose them to leverage situations before bringing Wichrowski back to open the following frame). The righty’s fastball sat around 95-98 and touched 100 mph and was backed primarily with a sweepy slider in the low 80s and a cutter in the low 90s. He got five whiffs, including four on fastballs and one on a nasty slider for a strikeout. He’s a name to watch as the season progresses.
JD Gonzalez, C, Padres
Obviously, Ethan Salas is the catching kingpin (if one can have such a title at 17 years old) in the Padres system, but Gonzalez has opened plenty of eyes this spring. The Puerto Rico native was San Diego’s second pick—which came in the third round—of the 2023 draft on the strength of a potentially elite defensive skill set and offensive upside. Both parts of that package have been on display during the Cactus League, including one late game against Seattle that included two majestic home runs to the pull side.
Gonzalez’s swing is as pretty as they come, with little wasted movement and plenty of loose, whippy explosion through the ball that produces the kind of contact that makes onlookers snap to attention in an instant. Gonzalez does not have any official professional experience under his belt, so he’ll likely start in extended spring training, but the Padres have shown no fear when it comes to pushing their most talented players, so a quick move to Lake Elsinore certainly isn’t out of the question.
Jake Eder, LHP, White Sox
Eder opened his career with the Marlins by jumping directly to Double-A in his first season as a pro. He was dazzling with Pensacola, where he competed for the Southern League’s ERA crown before suffering an injury that required Tommy John surgery. Eder returned in 2023 and pitched to mixed results before being sent to Chicago in the trade that made Jake Burger a Marlin. He finished the year with Double-A Birmingham and then added more time in the Arizona Fall League, where he struggled with control and command over six outings.
Eder pitched three innings in an intrasquad game toward the end of spring and was excellent, recording six strikeouts and getting 10 whiffs overall while pounding the zone with a four-pitch mix that included a cutter in the 86-88 mph range in addition to his usual fastball-slider-changeup array. If he brings the same crispness into the season as he showed on the backfields, he could add some more shine to an overhauled White Sox system.
Josue De Paula, OF, Dodgers
Among teenagers, De Paula may have the claim as the most advanced hitter in the minors. He cemented that rep in BA’s looks through contact, impact and keen strike-zone knowledge. The 18-year-old, who skipped the Arizona Complex League and instead headed to straight to Low-A, was particularly impressive in an at-bat against Cleveland lefty Steven Hajjar, a seasoned college veteran who has the weapons and guile to carve much younger hitters. De Paula was unfazed. The lefty opened with a fastball up and in to knock De Paula off the dish, then followed with a breaker away. De Paula didn’t bite. Hajjar nibbled in and out and in and could not draw a whiff. Eventually, De Paula worked a five-pitch walk, which is in line with his sublime 13.8% walk rate with Rancho Cucamonga last year. He also homered to the opposite field in an earlier game.
Logan Evans, RHP, Mariners
Evans has been one of the breakout stories of the spring and one of the worst kept secrets on the Arizona backfields. When he was selected 12th round of the 2023 draft, after two seasons at Penn State and two more Pittsburgh, few could have expected such a quick rise to prominence. Seattle’s analytics department flagged him as a player with properties they could improve and see a corresponding gain in stuff, and those instincts have proved correct. Evans’ fastball has already ticked up into the mid 90s, and his sharp sweeping slider should help him get plenty of whiffs. In a backfields matchup against San Diego, he mixed his four-seamer with a low-90s cutter, a high-80s changeup and a mid-80s slider over three effective innings with only a solo home run blemishing his outing.
Adam Serwinowski, LHP, Reds
Serwinowski was Cincinnati’s 15th-round selection in the 2022 draft out of high school in Texas. The spindly lefty opened eyes last fall during the Arizona Complex League, when he ranked among the league’s Top 20 prospects. He earned that rep thanks to a mix of a low-to-mid-90s fastball that peaked at 97 at the front of a mix that also included a sweepy breaking ball, a cutter and a changeup. His repertoire was plenty effective against a Dodgers lineup that included many of the system’s talented prospects. The fastball in particular worked well up in the zone, and the slider fared well when it came to neutralizing lefthanders. Serwinowski also has a funky delivery that provides his mix with extra deception. He’s one to monitor the Cincinnati system.
Mason Barnett, RHP, Royals
Barnett is one of Kansas City’s brightest pitching prospects, and in a late-spring turn against the Rangers he showed some of his upside. He struck out five hitters over three innings, and in doing so showcased a wipeout slider that served as a finisher on his first two punchouts. The Auburn alum sat between 94-96 mph with his fastball in the early portion of his outing but dipped more into the 92-94 mph range in the later frames. He also mixed in a nose-to-toes curveball in the high 70s and a mid-80s changeup. If he can build up his strength and maintain his better stuff deeper into outings, he could fit in a rotation. If not, he has a chance to be a reliever who uses his fastball-slider combo to get outs in late-inning situations.
