Braves Prospects Likely to Debut in 2021

The Atlanta Braves are next on our Players Likely to Debut series. In case you missed it, we rolled out the AL East all of last week.

AL East: Red Sox — Yankees — Orioles — Blue Jays — Rays

NL East: Marlins

Below, you will find a list of three prospects from the respective organization. Each prospect will have a number score next to their name — this number will represent the estimated amount of time we anticipate that player seeing at the big-league level. Players that have already made their big-league debut will not be included on this list.

BREAKDOWN OF TIME ON ROSTER SCORES:

1 — September call-ups / guys that are likely to see less than 20-25 games on the roster

2 — 1/4 of the season (roughly 40 games on roster)

3 — 1/2 of the season (roughly 80 games on roster)

4 — 3/4 of the season (roughly 120 games on roster)

5 — Full season on the MLB roster

ATLANTA BRAVES

Position — Name (Time on Roster Score)

OF — Drew Waters (3)

The last piece of what the Braves hope to be a strong outfield trio for years to come should be ready to join Ronald Acuna Jr and Cristian Pache soon in Atlanta. Waters presents many raw tools that you dream of when looking at developing minor league players. A start in AAA is likely due some concerns about plate approach but the elite bat speed and athleticism should allow Waters to be up by mid season especially with Adam Duvall being non tendered by the organization this winter.

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SS — Braden Shewmake (1)

The second of two first rounders in the 2019 draft, Shewmake, has quickly moved through a system lacking a lot position player depth. Unike Waters, Shewmake is not the uber-tooled type of prospect, but he has something Waters doesn’t: an incredible approach at the plate. If he shows development in the power department, he might be able to push for a cup of coffee late this year.

LHP — Kyle Muller (2)

The 6’7” southpaw was added to the Braves 40-man roster this offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft in December. While the Braves still hope the other pitches develop enough to fit in the rotation, Muller’s plus heater is big-league ready and could potentially earn him a chance in the pen at the highest level if the Braves need help.

NOTABLE

With Travis d’Arnaud still around for another year, the Braves don’t necessarily have a rush to move their top catching prospect, Shea Langeliers, up to the Majors yet but his development is something to watch this year. The defense has always played and now fully recovered from his hand injury in 2019, it will be interesting to see how much of the raw power can translate into the game.

Two names to follow are pitchers, Jasseel De La Cruz and Philip Pfeifer who have been included on the Braves 40-man roster. Both could continue to see a starter’s workload in the minor leagues in order to add experience on the mound, but likely would see a bump in effectiveness out of the pen if they were to get a promotion to the highest level.

Marlins Prospects Likely To Debut in 2021

The Miami Marlins are next on our Players Likely to Debut series. We covered the AL East last week and the Marlins kick off our focus on the NL East.

AL East: Red Sox — Yankees — Orioles — Blue Jays — Rays

Below, you will find a list of three prospects from the respective organization. Each prospect will have a number score next to their name — this number will represent the estimated amount of time we anticipate that player seeing at the big-league level. Players that have already made their big-league debut will not be included on this list.

BREAKDOWN OF TIME ON ROSTER SCORES:

1 — September call-ups / guys that are likely to see less than 20-25 games on the roster

2 — 1/4 of the season (roughly 40 games on roster)

3 — 1/2 of the season (roughly 80 games on roster)

4 — 3/4 of the season (roughly 120 games on roster)

5 — Full season on the MLB roster

Miami Marlins

Position — Name (Time on Roster Score)

RHP-Edward Cabrera (3)

Cabrera is another young arm in a very deep Marlins system. He tore up the Marlins’ 2019 system with 116K in 96.2 IP between High-A and Double-A. He was in the Marlins summer camp in 2020 but was shutdown due to a back injury. He has flashed a plus fastball and a slider. If he continues to work on his changeup as a plus pitch, he has the ceiling to be a number two starter. A lot of the writers on the staff are fans of this electric arm.

Some more live BP from this morning

JJ Bleday / Edward Cabrera. Round ✌🏻

Cabrera faced Bleday, Monte Harrison and Jerar Encarnacion each twice.

He was untouchable. #Marlins pic.twitter.com/iT4Y0wu1M6

— Ian Smith (@FlaSmitty) February 24, 2020

OF-Jerar Encarnación (1)

Encarnación has a massive presence in the outfield. Standing at 6-5, 239lb, Encarnación has raw power and a swing that covers a lot of the plate that generates hard contact. Like Cabrera, he moved quickly through the minors in 2019 and earned a spot on the 40-man roster this winter. He posses an arm in the outfield, getting 19 assists between two levels in 2019. A fast start in Double-A could earn him a September call up.

9th inning. 3-run bomb to break the tie.

Jerar Encarnacion reps the Marlins farm system. #MarlinsST pic.twitter.com/uG2xolOHAX

— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) February 25, 2020

OF-JJ Bleday (2)
The 2019 4th pick overall was in alternate camp in 2020. He handled his first assignment in High-A well, putting up a wRC+ of 107. With the combination of a quick bat, raw power, speed, and the ability to hit the ball to all fields, the lefty bad should be making an appearance by the end of the summer.

JJ Bleday abusing the first pitch he sees from Braxton Garrett #Marlins pic.twitter.com/8npXK7JOmg

— Ian Smith (@FlaSmitty) February 23, 2020

Notable

Infielder Jose Devers, who came over in the Stanton deal, is a name to look out for as he should be starting the season in Double-A. Griffin Conine, son of former Marlin, Jeff Conine, who came over in a trade from Toronto in August, is another outfield who makes hard contact and could also see him make a rise through the system in 2021.

Photo Credit: Miami Herald

Rays Prospects Likely to Debut in 2021

The Tampa Bay Rays are next on our Players Likely to Debut series. In case you missed it, we rolled out the AL East all week.

AL East: Red Sox — Yankees — Orioles — Blue Jays

Below, you will find a list of three prospects from the respective organization. Each prospect will have a number score next to their name — this number will represent the estimated amount of time we anticipate that player seeing at the big-league level. Players that have already made their big-league debut will not be included on this list.

BREAKDOWN OF TIME ON ROSTER SCORES:

1 — September call-ups / guys that are likely to see less than 20-25 games on the roster

2 — 1/4 of the season (roughly 40 games on roster)

3 — 1/2 of the season (roughly 80 games on roster)

4 — 3/4 of the season (roughly 120 games on roster)

5 — Full season on the MLB roster

Tampa Bay Rays

Position — Name (Time on Roster Score)

2B — Vidal Brujan (3)

The Rays are not afraid to give players a chance. In recent years, you’d be hard-pressed to find an organization that used as many players as they did over the course of a full season. The club now has several top prospects that are ready for their chance. Brujan is ready for the big leagues and, if the club decides to move Brandon Lowe into a more full-time outfield role, the keystone is there for the soon-to-be 23 year old. High walk rates, low strikeout rates, and a knack for stealing bases — that’s what you can expect to see when he arrives in Saint Petersburg, FL.

SS — Wander Franco (3)

You have waited long enough. The Rays have waited long enough. There is nothing left for the No. 1 prospect in baseball to do, except take the field at Tropicana Field. He participated in the LIDOM Dominican Winter League earlier this winter, before ultimately leaving his Leones del Escogido team with shoulder soreness and biceps inflammation after playing just five games.

Wander Franco takes this one for a ride to his pull side to give @EscogidoBBClub the lead. #RaysUp Who cares about LA w/ hands like these, right? pic.twitter.com/2LI3D4Hn0h

— Ralph Lifshitz (@ProspectJesus) November 18, 2020

Willy Adames is a serviceable shortstop for the club, but Franco is the future. Perhaps the best 2021 scenario comes by keeping Adames at short and lining Franco up at third base. Joey Wendle’s bat might play-up in a super-utility/depth role. Regardless of how the team handles him, the time has come for the game’s most anticipated debut.

LHP — Shane McClanahan (2)

Drafted from the nearby University of South Florida, McClanahan made his Double-A debut late in the 2019 season. His overall numbers look promising, however his 2020 Spring Training got off to a rocky start. He pitched 2.2 innings in his first three appearances, allowing seven hits and eight earned runs. His fortunes turned over his next three games as he pitched 3.1 innings of shutout ball, allowing four hits and striking out seven.

With a fastball that gets up to 98mph and a plus breaking ball from the left side, there is a lot of bullpen risk here. The Rays are decimated with injuries to key pitchers like Yonny Chirinos (Tommy John surgery), Brendan McKay (labrum surgery), Jalen Beeks (Tommy John surgery), Brent Honeywell (arthroscopic elbow surgery), and Colin Poche (Tommy John surgery) so the Rays could use McClanahan for spot starts, long relief, or he could be a rotation regular if the injuries continue to pile up.

Notable

With Nate Lowe now on the Rangers, brother Josh Lowe has aspirations of a big-league debut in 2021. The absence of a season last year was a big detriment to the 22-year-old outfielder. Lowe saw huge gains in 2019 while playing for Double-A Montgomery, belting 18 home runs and stealing 30 bases.

The Rays have put an emphasis on developing infielders in recent years and while they have several guys that are ahead of him in the rankings, former Florida State shortstop Taylor Walls has steadily built up his profile and could make his debut later this year. Awarded as the team’s 2019 minor league pitcher of the year, Joe Ryan was also included in the 60-man player pool for the 2020 season. As stated previously, the Rays utilize a lot of arms throughout the course of a season. Once he’s added to the 40-man roster, Ryan could be a useful arm for the Rays this year.

Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Times

Orioles Prospects Likely to Debut in 2021

The Baltimore Orioles are next on our Players Likely to Debut series. In case you missed the previous two installments, the AL East is being rolled out this week. Here’s a look back at where it all started.

AL East: Red Sox — Yankees

Below, you will find a list of three prospects from the respective organization. Each prospect will have a number score next to their name — this number will represent the estimated amount of time we anticipate that player seeing at the big-league level. Players that have already made their big-league debut will not be included on this list.

BREAKDOWN OF TIME ON ROSTER SCORES:

1 — September call-ups / guys that are likely to see less than 20-25 games on the roster

2 — 1/4 of the season (roughly 40 games on roster)

3 — 1/2 of the season (roughly 80 games on roster)

4 — 3/4 of the season (roughly 120 games on roster)

5 — Full season on the MLB roster

Baltimore Orioles

Position — Name (Time on Roster Score)

Given their recent struggles, you could make a significant case that the Orioles should have way more than three prospects likely to make their MLB debut. However, for simplicity sake, here’s a look at three players that you should see at some point during the 2021 campaign.

RHP — Michael Baumann (3)

It should comes as no surprise to see Baumann’s name on this list. For starters, he is very highly regarded among many of us at Prospects Live and he inspired the first-ever Prospects Live Love Story, sorry Jason Kamlowsky.

Entering his age-25 season, the right-hander has proven himself throughout his time in the minors and has little left to prove. He’s pitched 297 innings in the Baltimore organization since being drafted in the third round of the 2017 MLB Draft. Unlikely to blow hitters away, much of his success can be attributed to his ability to inducing ground balls and keep the ball in the park.

Only four pitchers have thrown more minor league innings over the last three seasons (2017-2019) and allowed fewer home runs than the 15 that Baumann has surrendered. Their names? Matt Manning, Tucker Davidson, Daniel Tillo, and Nick Nelson. While Baltimore likely waits until May to call him up, Baumann should soon be reunited with his college teammate at Jacksonville, Austin Hays.

OF — Yusniel Diaz (4)

This is the moment that I admit that I was wrong about one thing. A couple of years ago we published our Bold Predictions for the 2019 season, I announced that Diaz was going to outlast Vladimir Guerrero Jr and win the AL Rookie of the Year. I was way off. Fast forward a bit and here we are again. No, he won’t win the ROY award in 2021, but he will give Orioles fans something to cheer about.

"I think he's somebody who could be able to help us in all three outfield spots."

When will Orioles prospect Yusniel Diaz debut? pic.twitter.com/M65gNaQJHt

— Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) January 8, 2021

LHP — Zac Lowther (2)

Having been drafted one round ahead of Baumann in 2017, Lowther has operated well under-the-radar in the Orioles system. Coming in at No. 20 on our list of 2021 Baltimore Orioles prospects, the left-hander turns 25 years old shortly after Opening Day. He doesn’t have huge upside but the Orioles could benefit from bringing him up for a spot start or two to see what he can do against big-league bats. In 326 innings pitched he’s posted a 2.26 ERA while striking out 380 batters. Like the aforementioned Baumann, his ability to keep the ball in the park — only 17 home runs allowed — could be a boost in the rotation or in the bullpen given the hitter-friendly Camden Yards, and entire AL East for that matter.

Notable

You may have noticed that DL Hall was not mentioned above, he could have easily been included on this list. He’s currently not on the 40-man roster and with his high-upside, it may not be in the club’s best interest to get the service-time clock going just yet. I do expect to see him this season, but do’t expect it to be more than a late-season ‘let’s see what we have heading into next year’ type of situation.

Tyler Nevin and Rylan Bannon are names to keep an eye on as well. Although Rio Ruiz has shown some reverse splits, faring better against lefties than righties, but given his poor overall batted-ball profile don’t be surprised to see the left-hander lose some at-bats to either one of these right-handed hitting infielders.

Yankees Prospects Likely to Debut in 2021

In the second installment of our Players Likely to Debut series, the focus shifts to the New York Yankees. If you didn’t see Monday’s list, here’s a look at where it all started.

AL East: Red Sox

Below, you will find a list of three prospects from their organization. Each prospect will also have a number score next to their name — this number will represent the estimated amount of time we anticipate that player seeing at the big-league level. Players that have already made their big-league debut will not be included on this list.

BREAKDOWN OF TIME ON ROSTER SCORES:

1 — September call-ups / guys that are likely to see less than 20-25 games on the roster

2 — 1/4 of the season (roughly 40 games on roster)

3 — 1/2 of the season (roughly 80 games on roster)

4 — 3/4 of the season (roughly 120 games on roster)

5 — Full season on the MLB roster

NEW YORK YANKEES

Position — Name (Time on Roster Score)

The Yankees’ system is loaded with several pitching prospects we could see make their debut in 2021. In addition, the club has a few positional players with high ceilings, despite most of them being a year or two away. New York has good pitching depth in their system that could provide an impact in 2021 since they, once again, look like early favorites in the AL East.

RHP-Luis Medina (1)

The 6-foot-3 right-hander spent time at the alternate site in 2020, and there was a reason for that. He flashes three plus pitches, a fastball that touched 102mph, a power curve, and a changeup. Plus, as Kyler Peterson discussed on his live look back in April 2019, he “will not be able to get past advanced hitters until control is refined.” He is projected to start the season at the Yankees’ new Double-A affiliate in Somerset, NJ. If he can work on the control of his secondary pitchers, there’s a chance you could see him in September.

RHP-Luis Gil (1)

Another hard-throwing right-handed starter in the Yankees system, Gil made two starts in the Dominican Winter League for Tigres del Licey. Just like Medina, the primary focus is to work on control. His slider was making headlines at the Yankees’ alternate site, which is a good compliment to his plus fastball. Gil is expected to join Medina at Double-A Somerset.

RHP-Alexander Vizcaino (2)

Vizcaino got a 40-man roster spot this off-season, and rightfully so. The right-hander, who turns 24 years old in May, turned heads with 101 strikeouts in 87.2 innings at Charleston in 2019 before earning a promotion to Tampa. Traditionally a starter in the minors, he spent the spring of 2020 pitching out of the bullpen. He throws a fastball, slider, and a plus changeup. He’s one of the best athletes in the Yankees system and like the previously mentioned arms, also posses a fastball with heat. He might be the closest of the group and may earn a call up to the Yankees bullpen if he can succeed in Double-A.

Notable:

A 2020 first-round draft pick, Austin Wells could be a fast riser in the Yankees’ system. The catcher hit .308 for Yarmouth-Dennis in the Cape Cod League in 2019 so adjusting to wood bats should not be an issue. It would be a long shot for Wells to get a September call up — as he is not on the 40-man roster — but he is a player to watch.

Another name that was added to the 40-man roster this off-season, righty Roansy Contreras is also a long shot to get a September bump. Pitching at High-A for the first time, you’ll want to monitor his success as he could climb quickly.

Photo Credit: Newsday