Breakout Prospects On Top 30 Lists For East Division Teams

Blue Jays

Alan Roden, OF: While the Blue Jays have had one of the lowest ranking systems in baseball in recent years, they have done an excellent job of developing offensive-minded corner infield and outfield profiles. Roden is part of a group that has included Davis Schneider, Spencer Horwitz and Vinnie Capra in recent years. While Roden has more pedigree than any player in that group, he falls into the category of hitters with above-average to plus bat-to-ball skills and approach. Roden differentiates himself from this group with stronger defensive skills and athleticism, but lacks some power. Roden’s lack of loft and underwhelming exit velocity data is the biggest knock on his profile. Despite this, his hitting ability is so advanced that his lack of impact hasn’t hurt his profile. He hit .321/.437/.459 over 69 games with High-A Vancouver and has walked more than he’s struck out since joining Double-A New Hampshire a few weeks ago. 

Orioles 

Alex Pham, RHP: Coming into the season Pham was viewed as a nice depth piece in one of the deepest systems in baseball. As we enter the final stretch of 2023, the righthander drafted out of San Francisco in 2021 has blossomed into one of the five best pitching prospects in the Orioles system. While Pham will not overwhelm you with power across his pitch mix, he does show five different pitch shapes, and has excellent ride on his four-seam fastball. He plays a mid-80s slider off of his fastball and will work in a curveball, changeup and cutter. Strike-throwing has been Pham’s biggest hurdle, but he does a good job of avoiding problematic areas of the strike zone and subsequently limiting hard contact. 

Red Sox

Shane Drohan, LHP: The addition of a cutter to Drohan’s pitch mix and the addition of a few ticks of velocity across his arsenal saw the lefthander leap into and up the Red Sox Top 30 list in 2023. He dominated early in the season with Double-A Portland, earning a promotion to Triple-A Worcester after six starts. Drohan has since struggled in the Triple-A environment, seeing his walks substantially jump with the automatic strike zone used at the level. He’s maintained his swing-and-miss and strikeout numbers with Worcester, but has paid the price for his misses with lots of walks and the highest home run per nine rate of his career. While his time with Worcester has been a recalibration of Drohan’s prospect status, he’s squarely put himself into the mix as a 40-man roster option for next year. After making adjustments and improvements last offseason Drohan will look to tighten his command and take another step forward heading into 2024. 

Yankees

Agustin Ramirez, C: Ramirez is a classic Yankees catching prospect who has plenty of offensive talent but still needs to answer questions about whether he can stick at the position in the long run. After an excellent season in the Florida Complex League in 2022, Ramirez got on the fast track in 2023. He moved from Low-A to Double-A by Aug. 8 while showing a blend of contact and power in the batter’s box. He’s one of the best ball-strikers in the organization and could just be beginning to scratch the surface of his talent. 

Rays

Yoniel Curet, RHP: Curet has long had an impressive arm. When the Rays signed him, he could already reach the mid 90s. But he’s taken a big step forward as a pitcher this year. Few Carolina League hitters have been able to square up either his fastball or slider. His .132 opponent batting average is by far the best among any MiLB pitcher with 80 or more innings pitched this season. As of Aug. 9, Curet had allowed two or fewer hits in 12 of his past 13 starts. When he’s on the mound, the league’s hitters are hitting .132/.297/.171.

Braves

Luis Guanipa, OF: The speedy Venezuelan outfielder has been a bright spot in a shallow Braves system in 2023. He’s steadily moved up the Braves rankings throughout the summer, landing inside the Top 10 for the final update of 2023. Guanipa is a speedy center fielder with advanced bat-to-ball skills and approach for his age. His chase rate is reasonable and he limits his swing and miss. His exit velocity data is fringe-average but he shows the ability to hit the ball in the air and has natural loft to his swing. Guanipa should come stateside in 2024, where he’ll be one of the more interesting Braves international signings in years.

Marlins

Dane Myers, OF: In 2017, the Tigers took Myers out of Rice, where he was a two-way player. The Tigers drafted him as a pitcher and he spent the next three seasons on the mound before making a few trips back to the batter’s box in 2019. By 2021, he was a full-time position player again for his last two seasons with the Tigers. The Marlins popped Myers in the minor league Rule 5 draft and then watched as he hit his way to the big leagues. He hits the ball extremely hard and can play center field, which has helped him ascend Miami’s minor league ranks.

Mets

Christian Scott, RHP: Scott worked primarily as a reliever at Florida. After drafting him in the fifth round in 2021, the Mets have gradually converted the righthander into a starting role. This season the 24-year-old Scott has worked exclusively as a starter and has climbed to Double-A Binghamton, where he posted a 3.00 ERA through nine starts. Among Double-A pitchers with at least 50 innings, Scott ranks first with a 2.66 FIP and third with a 28.7 K-BB%. His success is largely attributable to ditching the sinker he favored in college in favor of a 94 mph four-seam fastball that has become his top bat-missing pitch. The 6-foot-4 Scott rounds out his aresenal with an above-average slider and an average changeup, two-seamer and curveball.

Nationals

Trey Lipscomb, 3B: Lipscomb was a late bloomer at Tennessee who had a relatively modest debut last year. A slugger as a Vol, Lipscomb has shown a hit-first approach this year. He barrels the ball consistently, and has shown improvement at third base as well. He’s transformed himself into one of the second-tier of Nationals prospects with a clear path to an MLB role.

Phillies

Wen Hui Pan, RHP: Pan was one of the Phillies’ top signings in the 2023 international class, netting a $350,000 deal from Taiwan in January. He impressed during minor league spring training and is in the midst of an impressive campaign at Low-A Clearwater. Though he had a pair of rocky outings in July, he’s still pitched to a 4-1, 2.91 mark on the season with 77 strikeouts in 55.2 innings. The 20-year-old righthander uses five pitches, primarily his four- and two-seam fastballs that top out in the high 90s as well as a mid-80s splitter with fading life that flashes plus.