Juicy back here with my yearly top 50 DSL performers age 17 and under. Easily my favorite piece I do each year and the one where I learn the most from start to finish. Very interesting crop this year and the far less obvious rankings at the top than usual. Much more open-ended performances. Important to note, this list Is ranked by subjective performance metrics, not in order of prospect status. I hope you enjoy.
Below are the first 5 of Juicy Jensen’s DSL Top 50 Prospects Age 18 and Under. The rest of the top 50 is on our Patreon under the $5 /mo tier called “The 55”. We know you’ll enjoy it more than a $5 cup of coffee. Thank you for supporting the site and our writers who are compensated for their work.
1. Rainiel Rodriguez, C, Cardinals
5’10 200 R/R DR
I don’t think there’s any real question who the top performer amongst sub 18-year-olds in the DSL was this year. Rodriguez was an absolute monster with underlying stats even more impressive. Signed for $300,000 out of the DR (but spending a big chunk of his life in Pennsylvania) Rodriguez looks like an absolute steal. It’s a plus approach with good feel for the zone, but he is more of a fastball hunter right now and he will need to prove himself against quality spin still. As such, what looks like a plus hit tool from a metrics standpoint grades out closer to average for me with some risk. Power is no risk. Rodriguez reportedly hit a ball 475 feet in a game this year and consistently produced monster Ev numbers. It’s easy plus power potential and he gets the ball in the air at a truly elite rate, results in 10 HR and 25 XBH in just 142 AB. Bonkers. It’s just overwhelmingly consistent hard contact. Rodriguez is not fast and won’t be getting faster. The body is a bit husky and he will have to work hard to maintain a healthy weight and composition. It’s a C or 1B profile. Defensively, Rodriguez is a bit raw but with a very strong arm. While I have my concerns about the Cardinals current hitting dev, their defensive catcher development is up there with the best and I’m bullish on his ability to stick behind the plate. There’s a chance for an average hit, plus power that perhaps even plays up in game catcher who can hit 25-30 HR a year. That’ll play. I view Rodriguez very similar to how I viewed Phillies prospect Eduardo Tait last year and there’s a case to be made that Rodriguez is further along. High risk profile, but IMO this was the best player in the DSL and a prospect who should very much be on fantasy and real life radars, albeit not the top pure prospect of this list.
2. Luis Pena, SS, Brewers
5’11 185 R/R DR
Signed for $800,000 Pena has a case for the best prospect on the best team in the DSL this year. When watching Pena, the twitch and explosion immediately stand out. Pena has big time bat speed, big time foot speed, natural instincts and a cannon for an arm. Pena has a solid 5’11 frame that looks capable of holding 200-205 pounds of good weight at maturity. At the plate, it’s more of an old-school, contact/LD oriented bat path with major hip and wrist explosion that leads to plus bat speed. In terms of pure bat-to-ball skills, Pena is up there with anyone in the class. He catches up to velo in all quadrants and picks up spin well, and the swing has barrel adjustability and he uses his slightly smaller frame to limit the length while swinging hard. It’s 70 grade contact potential safely, but the approach is more raw. Pena comes up looking to hit and looking to swing. He gets away with it due to the pure contact skills and had a miniscule K rate, but there were glimpses of soft contact due to swinging and connecting with pitches out of the zone and he will have to learn more discipline to reach his ceiling. There’s plus raw power here in the frame and bat speed and despite the bat path, Pena has managed to get the ball airborne with consistency, albeit with more pop up type contact than I’d like. As a runner, Pena has the more functional to baseball short stride movements like an NFL RB that let’s his speed play up on the bases and on the infield. This is a player who could genuinely steal 30+ bases a year. Defensively, Pena is a bit raw but shows plus actions at SS and a high defensive ceiling. He has a plus or better arm and with his speed, a fallback of CF feels safe. Overall Pena has drawn comps to a young Javier Baez, which is fair but right now, he looks more like the prime, Cubs era Javy and I think there is super star upside here that rivals any player on this list. It is worth noting that Pena dealt with injuries that sapped his stats to end the year and players as twitched up as this often deal with a heavier dose of injury risk. This could be the case with Pena. There’s also risk that Pena’s natural abilities will allow him to get away with and develop bad habits that don’t show up until the upper levels, which could slow development and lead to some hiccups at times. All of that said, Pena has the potential to become a true 5 tool player if his approach ticks up and 60 hit, 60 power, 70 run and a 70 arm at SS or CF is within the realm of realistic possibility. That would be a genuine super star, but it’s worth noting he comes with a hefty dose of risk. For now, Pena projects most as a higher ceiling version of recents Nats first round pick Seaver King. I really like this player and am in on him, despite him being a profile I generally avoid. Immense ceiling.
3. Santiago Camacho, C, Giants
5’11 175 S/R VZ
It’s hard to have much of a better season than this. Camacho may not have the raw tools of some of the other players at the top of this list, but he is as polished as they come. Camacho, who signed for $277,500 out of Venezuela has clean swing mechanics from both sides and a nice blend of contact and damage. It’s a gap shooting approach at the plate, but Camacho has flashed average raw power with the ability to lift and square up the ball with consistency, leading to 14 XBH in just 102 AB. More than just pop, Camacho’s swing mechanics stand out. It’s a clean, wrist and hips geared swing with a clean path and feel for the barrel with a high adjustability ceiling. Pair that with plus swing decisions and an extreme lack of soft contact and you have the ingredients for a plus hit tool. Behind the plate, Camacho is a polished receiver but has fringey arm strength. Camacho is a pretty good athlete by teen catcher standards and while he won’t be a speed demon, won’t clog the bases either. Overall, Camacho is probably the second best catching prospect in the class for me right now, with a chance for a plus hit tool, average game power and a chance to stick behind the plate. That’s a recipe for a top 100 prospect and valuable player down the line, but as always, I’d exercise caution with teen catchers, especially ones that lack standout power.
4. Jesus Made, SS, Brewers
6’2 200 S/R DR
Sans Leo De Vries, Made is likely the consensus number one prospect in this INT class at the moment, with a potential genuine five tool skillset, some pedigree and exceptional performance. Made has a big and athletic 6’2 frame with twitchy actions. A switch-hitter, Made has easy plus bat speed from both sides and a slightly upper-cut bat path from both sides of the plate. Made has a bit of a noisy set up with some moving parts and I do worry a bit about how well he will handle better pitching. I do expect the soft contact and swing and miss to tick up a bit, but luckily Made makes very good swing decisions and has thus far mitigated swing and miss, so he can afford that slight uptick. There’s plus raw power potential and while he does make some soft contact, he evens it out with a high rate of hard contact in game. A plus runner now, Made will likely slow down just a tick as he fills out his big 6’2 frame but should stay above average in his early to mid 20’s. There’s an outside chance Made sticks at SS, although 3B or OF feels a bit more likely given the frame and somewhat raw actions at SS. 3B in particular makes sense as Made’s best tool is likely his arm. Overall, I could see Made winding up a 40 hit, 60 pop, 55 run bat with an above average approach and plus defensive at 3B with a genuine 70 arm. It’s star upside, but I tend to be a bit more wait-and-see with the hit tool than many. Made might be a top 100 prospect now, but if he can continue to perform like this, he could skyrocket up that list.
5. Emil Morales, SS, Dodgers
6’4 195 R/R DR
While technically born in Spain, Morales trained in the DR and signed for $1,897,500 as the Dodgers top signing in the 2024 class. Coming into the year, Morales received easily the most rave reviews of any prospect outside of De Vries in the class. He started the season slowly, but when he started to acclimate…he went OFF! Morales has some swing and miss in his 6’4 long-levered frame, but the power here is absurd. It’s easily a 70-grade power projection and could be plus raw now. He pairs that with the ability to put everything in the air and he makes for a very scary at bat. I think he will wind up closer to a 40-45 hitter than initially expected, but that’s more than fine when paired with 70 grade in-game power. Defensively, Morales isn’t a SS and is more likely a 3B/RF projection. At the end of the day, I realistically expect Morales to become the next Coby Mayo…and I love Coby Mayo. Very good prospect and perhaps the Dodgers best INT signing in recent memory.