[SPEAKER_01]: It's Top 100 Prospects Week at Baseball America.
[SPEAKER_01]: And if you haven't already seen it, we have a breakdown of the top prospects on the Top 100.
[SPEAKER_01]: In fact, I have a link hopefully you can click on right there.
[SPEAKER_01]: But now we're going to talk about players further down in the Top 100 because there's interesting players all through the Top 100.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so for today's video, I asked various baseball America staffers to highlight a pair of players, a hitter in a picture, that they find fascinating from the current 2026 Baseball America Top 100.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Carlos, the position player on the top home that you're going to talk about is one who was considered a potential first round pick in the 2024 draft class.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now all the way to the third round, but here we are not that long later.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's changed teams and he's now a top 100 prospect.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, Mike Sarota coming out of Northeastern entering his draft year before the season started.
[SPEAKER_02]: We viewed him as a top 10 prospect.
[SPEAKER_02]: He kind of checked all the boxes.
[SPEAKER_02]: He was a centerfielder with plus defense.
[SPEAKER_02]: He had a strong arm.
[SPEAKER_02]: He ran well.
[SPEAKER_02]: He had an excellent understanding of the strike.
[SPEAKER_02]: So he made a lot of contact.
[SPEAKER_02]: And he was also coming off of sophomore season where he hit for a lot of power.
[SPEAKER_02]: His stock fell significantly.
[SPEAKER_02]: That spring, the power backed up.
[SPEAKER_02]: He didn't really hit as well as people expected.
[SPEAKER_02]: He felt to the third round.
[SPEAKER_02]: And then like you said, he changed teams.
[SPEAKER_02]: The player that I think he is today is much more along the lines of that preseason Mike Sarota than he was at the time of the draft, which really just feels like a great win for the Dodgers.
[SPEAKER_02]: Why I like Sarota so much now why like Tim then and was surprised to see his fall is I just think he's an extremely well-rounded player who does everything on the field.
[SPEAKER_02]: at a high level.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I'm even surprised by the amount of power that he's shown in pro ball.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that's the one area of his game that you could always maybe critique a little bit and nitpick a little bit even with his sophomore season power surge.
[SPEAKER_02]: You can always point to the metal bat environment of college baseball.
[SPEAKER_02]: a lot easier to hit home run, this is exevelocity data, and just the physicality that he has was never exceptional.
[SPEAKER_02]: But he had a 90th percentile exevelocity just north of 107 miles per hour last year, and then when you combine that impact that he showed with
[SPEAKER_02]: An uncanny ability to recognize balls and strikes, lay off pitches out of the zone, make contact.
[SPEAKER_02]: If we're now layering on that sort of power production from strota, I just think it's a player who has potential all-star upside and is going to give you value in every area of the game.
[SPEAKER_02]: I guess the one question I might have is,
[SPEAKER_02]: what's he going to to perform like at higher levels?
[SPEAKER_02]: He only has 35 games at high right now.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's going to be 23 years old in the 26 season.
[SPEAKER_02]: So you'd like to see him do that in the upper levels, but I just have a lot of confidence in in the well-rounded nature of Sarota's game.
[SPEAKER_01]: But the big thing I want to see is just let's see him fully healthy again.
[SPEAKER_01]: He had a knee injury that cost him a couple of months last year into the season early.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's supposed to be full to go for spring training.
[SPEAKER_01]: But obviously for a guy who
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it had been a little bit of an up and down road.
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll see, you know, hopefully a fully healthy Mike's rota in 2026 and he is a member of our 2026, top 100 prospect rankings.
[SPEAKER_01]: And also Carlos, you're on the pitching side, you're highlighting a player who I would say that there's a number of very intriguing pitching prospects who kind of leapt onto the top under this year, including Braille and Dota.
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, Brayland Doty, we had pretty exciting expectations for him coming out of the draft.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think as soon as he got into Cleveland system after he was signed as a supplemental first rounder in the 2024 draft, the guarding themselves.
[SPEAKER_02]: They were obviously high in his breaking ball before signing him.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's part of the reason that he was their target with that pick.
[SPEAKER_02]: But once he got into their system and their pitching coach just started seeing him rip off the breaking ball that he throws.
[SPEAKER_02]: They were even more excited about that pitch and then he's just coming off of phenomenal 2025
[SPEAKER_02]: first year of pro ball.
[SPEAKER_02]: He posted a 3.48 ERA over 22 starts.
[SPEAKER_02]: He struck out 27.3% of batters.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think the figure that you really are going to love when you look at a pitcher like Braille and Dolly is the 6.4% walk rate.
[SPEAKER_02]: That's a tremendous walk rate for a 19-year-old pitcher in this first year at pro ball.
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think
[SPEAKER_02]: Moving forward, I would expect him to be among the best strike throwing pitching prospects in the game.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think there are some command indicators that he has even beyond just the pure walk rate, like the areas of the zone he's hitting with his specific pitches.
[SPEAKER_02]: I just have a lot of confidence set at the very least.
[SPEAKER_02]: You're getting a high floor pitcher.
[SPEAKER_02]: And with the power that he has with the fastball, it's a pitch that was up to 96, 97 miles per hour.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think he's going to make that pitch
[SPEAKER_02]: The ability to land that pitch for strikes and set up what I think is a a plus or potentially double plus curve ball right now he had a power to that breaking ball in his first year in pro ball and I think Braille and Doty is the sort of advanced.
[SPEAKER_02]: athletic body control pitcher who seems to really have a feel for pitch shapes.
[SPEAKER_02]: It's common for a lot of organizations and the guardians are one of these where you really limit the arsenal of young pitchers and kind of let them establish themselves work on a few specific things and then you build on that.
[SPEAKER_02]: Once they have some success, it wouldn't surprise me at all.
[SPEAKER_02]: If Rayland Doty really started to expand his arsenal,
[SPEAKER_02]: in a way that's really exciting.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's been primarily a fastball curveball pitcher now.
[SPEAKER_02]: He threw a slider in the past and high school.
[SPEAKER_02]: He's got a change if that I think can be a quality pitch.
[SPEAKER_02]: And if he winds up being one of these pitchers, he's got a curveball who's got a slider who's got a sweeper slider.
[SPEAKER_02]: I just think his ability to manipulate the ball.
[SPEAKER_02]: and make it go in different ways and add power.
[SPEAKER_02]: His touch and feel is just such a separator for pitchers at this age group.
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm fascinated by by what he's already done and what he could be with more strength and just more experience in the minor.
[SPEAKER_02]: So I think he's got a chance to really rock it up our 100 even more.
[SPEAKER_02]: I was glad that he was on the back of our top 100.
[SPEAKER_02]: I think if at the end of this year he was a top 30 top 40 prospect that wouldn't shock me at all.
[SPEAKER_01]: There is kind of like there's, you could almost view the back of the top 100 for these kind of pitching prospects is kind of, it's not a way, they're already on the top 100, but it's an area where you put them there and then let's see where they go.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're right now in that spot where a little bit of step back, they could slide off of it, but with a step forward, they could really jump into that top 50, which put some among the elite pitching prospects in the game.
[UNKNOWN]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Jeff, as we have each of our prospect team members, take a look at two prospects.
[SPEAKER_01]: from the top hundred.
[SPEAKER_01]: Your picks start with Cardinals outfielder Joshua Bias.
[SPEAKER_01]: I would say among the players who are on this top hundred who came the furthest in 2025 to climb onto our 26 list.
[SPEAKER_01]: Bias has to be one of the guys who stands out.
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe came deeper this because he really went from a guy who was far, far, far off of the top hundred coming in 2025 to a guy who was on our 2020, six top 100 prospects rankings.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I would say, in my time covering prospects, he made one of the more remarkable transformations from a hit tool perspective.
[SPEAKER_00]: This was a guy that, you know, dating back to, you know, his time as a high school player in the Northeast, talented two-way player, exciting athlete with a ton of, you know, upside.
[SPEAKER_00]: huge power and speed, arms, strength, all those things.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was always sort of the lingering swing and misconception.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even when he was playing sort of subpar, New England prep competition.
[SPEAKER_00]: That kind of played out over the early years of his career.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, even last season had a decent sample size, had a 37.4% misrate, a 28.1% in zone misrate.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's typically the type of numbers a few years into your professional career that could more or less sync you with.
[SPEAKER_00]: Means that you're pretty much not a prospect.
[SPEAKER_00]: really concerning stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was somebody that, you know, was mentioned as somebody who potentially could be in the back end of the of the Cardinals top 30 internally, they had talked about some of the adjustments he had made at the end of the season, but.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think I took it sort of took it in a lot of scouts, you know, opposing scouts in the industry, sort of took it from a show me approach.
[SPEAKER_00]: We haven't seen this from this guy yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: A small sample size isn't telling me anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, bias did come out and really showed that he had improved all throughout the 20, 25 season, you know, the underlying, the sort of baseball card numbers speak for themselves, but the underlying numbers back
[SPEAKER_00]: in zone mist rate dropped to a 19.8% in zone mist rate, which is a little bit below average.
[SPEAKER_00]: His, you know, nearly 40% in mist rate dropped to 25.9% this season across all competition reaching the upper minors for the first time in his career.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he did that without having to sacrifice his power or the good angles that sort of got him here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, is a guy that maybe doesn't pull the ball all that much, but as we know, with guys that have the type of immense power that bias has, he doesn't have to, um, you know, 107.1 90th percentile exit velocity this season and 91.5 average exit velocity and hit a ball 1114, um, there's power here, then on top of that, there's speed, athleticism and defensive value.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he actually, you know, he was never in bad shape, but I think maybe took off some of the access weight and looked a little bit more svelte and athletic this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think the stolen base numbers and just the underlying performance defensively really backs that and that's what makes him such an exciting top and under prospect because I think this is now one of the highest power speed ceilings that we have on the list and that's something that we would have shook or head and thought you were, you know, joking if you said this
[SPEAKER_00]: Kudos to the Cardinals and certainly Kudos to Bias for putting in the work and getting where he needed to be.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the picture that you want to highlight is one that I would say is probably a little bit less known kind of in the overall public space, although I think his name is getting more and more out there.
[SPEAKER_01]: But what is it about Caden Scarborough, the Rangers' right hander that kind of pulled him up onto the baseball America, 2020-6-top 100?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I have some regrets with Caden Scarborough was in consideration for the article I do sort of on the eve of the season every year with my 20 break out pitching prospects.
[SPEAKER_00]: I really did really well with the names that were on there last year, but I couldn't even better if I had included Caden Scarborough and I had gotten some tips from some folks, you know, that had scouting him as an amateur and then some others that had sort of seen him throughout spring training and even earlier on and and and.
[SPEAKER_00]: in the off season.
[SPEAKER_00]: So he took a really big jump forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: The extension has climbed.
[SPEAKER_00]: The velocity has climbed.
[SPEAKER_00]: His direction to the plate is much more streamlined.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's created much better angles out of the hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we saw that throughout the season.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was an excellent performer.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's now sitting 93 to 95 miles an hour with
[SPEAKER_00]: six and, you know, three quarters to, you know, six point eight, nine inches of extension, consistently, which lowers that release height to about five foot two, which is a really, really low release height.
[SPEAKER_00]: But beyond that, what makes this fastball special is he also gets behind the ball well, creates ride and in a lot of arms side run.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's sort of an interesting sort of efficient spin axis that's almost reminiscent of a two-seamer, but it is a four-seamer.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it plays really well, show the ability to consistently land that pitch in zone with a nearly 60% in zone rate and a strike rate hovering around that magic 70% number.
[SPEAKER_00]: He misses bats with that pitch.
[SPEAKER_00]: He gets swings and misses above the zone with that pitch.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think because of sort of the angles in the arm side movement, it's a really deadly combination
[SPEAKER_00]: But that's not only a good pitch JJ.
[SPEAKER_00]: He has also got a sweeper that sits 81 to 82.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll touch 84 or 85.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it averages somewhere between 15 to 17 inches of sweep.
[SPEAKER_00]: Really consistently plays off of the fastball well.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's a deadly pitch to right handers and something that he can back door and steal strikes with to left handers as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's got a good change up.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's still developing, but has some sort of splitter of traits and a good separation in terms of release and plane off of that fastball.
[SPEAKER_00]: We talk about fastballs and projection on changeups.
[SPEAKER_00]: A lot of that comes down to not only the difference in speed, but really sort of the difference in break.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there a certain point where it looks like a fastball all along that plane, and then maybe five, six feet before the plate, all of a sudden takes a sort of dasterly turn.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's maybe projection for that third pitch to take an even bigger step, but we're talking about two plus pitches here, a really athletic thrower, and more power projection to come as well.
[SPEAKER_01]: To give an example of the transformation, you just laid it out.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now he was, it was a brief pro exposure in 2024.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was versus 16%, really a 17%, 16.9% walk rate in his limited time in 2024,
[SPEAKER_01]: He showed through a lot more strikes, basically blitzed through low-A, the Carolina League, and then finishes that year with three starts, doesn't allow a run in three starts in high-a hub city Spartanburgers, which I think we're probably the place he starts 20, 26 as well, but definitely an arm to watch.
[SPEAKER_01]: And an arm who clearly earned the spot, moving up onto the baseball American top 100.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Josh, the Yankees have a pair of prep shortstop, prep draft picks, shortstuffs in the top 100.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's Lombard Jr. is their number one prospect, but coming up not far behind them is a 2025 drafty DAX Killby.
[SPEAKER_01]: What stands out to you about DAX Killby?
[SPEAKER_04]: The first thing that stuck out about DAX was the response you got to him.
[SPEAKER_04]: You know, I think I mentioned somewhere or in chats that no fewer than four scouts who saw him in the Florida state league, who were not employed by the Yankees.
[SPEAKER_04]: Texted me to say, hey, this guy is real and you've got him way too low on your list, which is fine.
[SPEAKER_04]: I expect that to happen after the draft.
[SPEAKER_04]: Um, and then you talk to the people internally and they're over the moon about him and think I mentioned on the, but I mentioned on some of the podcasts that, you know, he, the margin between he and George Lombard for number one is not far even though there's an Elmer Rodriguez sitting in the middle.
[SPEAKER_04]: But for the top, you know, position player prospect in the system, it's a razor thin and I positioned DAX where I did with the anticipation that
[SPEAKER_04]: There's a chance he's the number one prospect in the system by midseason.
[SPEAKER_01]: And when you look at that, the other thing that stands out is, is if you look at our top 100, he ranks among Eli Willets to the head of him, but there are not many prep short stop from last year's draft or ahead of him.
[SPEAKER_01]: Even though Dax Kilby was not second or the third or the fourth high school short stop, whose name, you know, heard his name called in the draft.
[SPEAKER_01]: It does look right now, early on, but it does look like kind of a little bit of a draft coup for the Yankees,
[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, and I remember asking someone internally like what made you guys believe in him as a hitter and you know I he went into this deep metric that is called a he hit the ball a lot and he hit it hard and he hit it often and I think a lot of times we kind of make this harder than it needs to be he didn't swing and miss much he hit a lot of pitch types he hit with more impact than would be expected he's plenty athletic I know there are systems outside of the Yankees who valued him very highly in the draft.
[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, it was a really great debut, and I expect a lot out of him in 2026.
[SPEAKER_01]: Defensively, how likely is it that he is a, again, not talking about other players that could block him, but how likely is it that he's capable of being a solid, major league shortstop, or is he more likely to move positions?
[SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I was going to say not very.
[SPEAKER_04]: He's probably going to move positions.
[SPEAKER_04]: There's questions about his arm.
[SPEAKER_04]: I think it might fit his second base.
[SPEAKER_04]: There's been people who might put it in the outfield, if he changed that arm stroke up a little bit.
[SPEAKER_04]: But offensively right now is kind of the meal ticket.
[SPEAKER_04]: We'll see how it goes as he moves up the ladder, but you know, we do did.
[SPEAKER_04]: mentions a couple of guys who are ahead of them in the pecking order.
[SPEAKER_04]: Anthony Volpi exists and is in the big leagues.
[SPEAKER_04]: George Lombard is the better defender by a wide margin among those two and then it's Killby.
[SPEAKER_01]: So also, on the pitching side, Josh, looking at Mariners' right-hander Ryan Sloan.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's one of the, our kind of our picks to click in 2025.
[SPEAKER_01]: Here we are in 2026.
[SPEAKER_01]: He kind of took a step forward, but not a dramatic one last year.
[SPEAKER_01]: What are you expecting?
[SPEAKER_01]: What stands out about him and has you excited about him?
[SPEAKER_01]: Top 100 Prospect Ryan Sloan.
[SPEAKER_04]: I mean, I had him really high on my list.
[SPEAKER_04]: I mean, I'd have been like the second or third post pitching prospect on my list.
[SPEAKER_04]: And I think we're understanding how good his season was.
[SPEAKER_04]: Like he finished the year, our handbook gives him three plus pitches with an average cutter and above average control.
[SPEAKER_04]: Oh, it struck out 77 and walked 15 in 71 innings at Modesto, then was pretty, they punched out 13 more and walked nobody in two star or three starts at Everett got a little bit harder, but if you ever been to Everett, you understand that a fly ball there.
[SPEAKER_04]: is danger no matter what.
[SPEAKER_04]: I mean, you're talking about alleyways that might be 360.
[SPEAKER_04]: I remember going back in the day and someone asking me to go to the grocery store's Kirby and someone asked, you know, how does George Kirby give up any runs here and I got into the park and I go, oh, that's how.
[SPEAKER_04]: Because these fences are super far in and you can't do much about them because of the wear of the park is built.
[SPEAKER_04]: I thought he had an outstanding season and you know, you're also in the correct organization or one of the correct organization to develop pitching I don't know if you've noticed but the pitching rotation in Seattle is very homegrown and they've got a lot of more of them come in so I trust them to develop guys and get them to the big leagues so.
[SPEAKER_04]: I didn't, I thought Brian Sloan took a momentous step forward and would have taken even further step forward had, you know, the eye injury not happened.
[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, but Ryan Sloan, as you said, a picture of as a tent for three plus pitches, um, and really is kind of a one average and he's, and you've got a big physical frame.
[SPEAKER_04]: He's, he's everything you look for in a power picture.
[SPEAKER_04]: Like, obviously there's coats of polish to still apply and there's a lot of projection involved in terms of the stuff, but you can do, you can have much worse templates than what you've got with Ryan Sloan.
[SPEAKER_04]: So I loved him when I saw him last year and I was looking forward to seeing him later in the year, but
[SPEAKER_04]: he got promoted.
[SPEAKER_04]: So that didn't happen, but he was he's my pick to click last or one of my picks to click last year and he's my pick to click this year among them.
[SPEAKER_04]: I'm sure we're only talking about one person here.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's Ryan Sloan, another member of the baseball America Top 100 prospects list.
[SPEAKER_01]: there are so many short stops in this year's top 100, but there are not many who are guys who have emerged as much as giant short stop Johnny level, he zoos what stands out about level and why he's on the top 100.
[SPEAKER_06]: Well, just the prefaces, I think I saw level play this year on the back field more than I'd seen my own family.
[SPEAKER_06]: That doesn't have to do with me being a fat family nurse, the fact that they're in California and Johnny Lable plays down the street from where I live.
[SPEAKER_06]: And yeah, I mean, right off the bat, when you look at him, I mean, he's not your typical size, you know.
[SPEAKER_06]: Top 100 short stuff, you know, he's a 5 foot 10 guy, 160 pounds, but I mean, the looks are deceiving because he has, you know, has some pretty good contact rate, but he also has some pretty good power to go with it, you know, more power than your typical size above average juice, you know, his 90%ile exibylosile was a hundred and three point five mile per hour.
[SPEAKER_06]: And also he's a switch hitter so you can do it from both sides of the plate and you know Josh Norse ranked them as the number one Arizona complex league prospect and what out of doubt I think that was certainly the case you know there might have been a close number two or number three But he was definitely ahead above everybody I mean as a hitter, I mean this guy was able to hit to the ball all fields you know and you know it does a really good job getting contacts in the zone I think that's what it's short swing specifically
[SPEAKER_06]: And, you know, for a young player, his age, you know, for him to be able to do that.
[SPEAKER_06]: Obviously, really, really impressive.
[SPEAKER_06]: And then, you know, I know we're talking on the hit or wise, but also defensively to play some of the best defensive.
[SPEAKER_06]: I've seen on those back feels and as you know, those are pretty bad defensive on the back feels too.
[SPEAKER_06]: So, hey, Madden, you know, we're all player.
[SPEAKER_06]: Eventually, you know, played the entire year in the Arizona complex, before being promoted over to low A San Jose, where you know, he played a little bit of second base, too.
[SPEAKER_06]: Got some rap sentence, that crowded field of draft picks, came into San Jose.
[SPEAKER_06]: So this guy, I mean, it really really good, really good for the Giants to be able to have them, too.
[SPEAKER_06]: So many guys represented in their top 100, compared the past year, too.
[SPEAKER_01]: This is, he's not the only young shortstop that we have for the giants in the top 100 Jostmark and Zollas is also, we have forgot about him, he's on the top 100 as well.
[SPEAKER_01]: The thing you mention of level that I do find interesting is, as you mentioned, he's a shorter guy.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's something that's changed in my time at VA is kind of the realization.
[SPEAKER_01]: Short but strong is really valuable because you talked about it's short levers.
[SPEAKER_01]: Is that back control that's a little easier to do?
[SPEAKER_01]: if you don't have kind of the long levers, kind of the bigger strike zone, cause by the way, if you're taller, you're gonna have a bigger, not just you, it is already a bigger strike zone, but the ABS challenge system is mathematically a bigger strike zone for those players as well.
[SPEAKER_01]: All of that fits in, but the key thing with a shorter player, smaller stature player is you have enough strength and enough power to make it work.
[SPEAKER_01]: Johnny level, he's kind of already showing you signs of that as you know.
[SPEAKER_06]: No, he absolutely is, you know, for a shorter player, he does, I would say not have necessarily a thicker thicker lower half, but a lot of his strength comes from the lower half of his body, you know, he does a good job, you know, boobin his hips and put even something in the position to really Generate as much power as he can and I would say to all powers of the field to it, I mean, to him to be able to do it from both sides of the play to
[SPEAKER_06]: at such a young age as well, you know, I think also adds to that.
[SPEAKER_06]: It's going to be interesting to see just, you know, with the amount of infielders, specifically shorts that the Giants have right now on the lower levels, obviously we'll mention Joe Swar too.
[SPEAKER_06]: And then Gavin Killing, their most recent, their first round draft pick this past year, to see how they're going to play it out.
[SPEAKER_06]: But I mean, this year in low-A, San Jose, where he's going to face, you know, a little bit pictures with a little bit more premium stuff and a little bit control it, things going to be a true test to see how he's able to hold up in the long run.
[SPEAKER_01]: So on the pitching side, the A's, we just talked about the Giants have a number of shortstop some top 100.
[SPEAKER_01]: A's have a couple of shorter speaking of shorter, shorter left handers on the top 100.
[SPEAKER_01]: Actually, they're back to back.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have Jamie Arnold and Gabe's jump.
[SPEAKER_01]: You wanted to talk about Jamie Arnold.
[SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, absolutely.
[SPEAKER_06]: And it's, you know, I got to see Jamie Arnold, you know, a couple of days after, I mean, a week or so after he was drafted, you know, pitch out of the, the Mesa complex, you know, was just doing tosses and stuff like that.
[SPEAKER_06]: He actually didn't get the pitch off the mound.
[SPEAKER_06]: Because he suffered a finger injury that said back from his regular German program, so he did not pitch at all or anything like that.
[SPEAKER_06]: He did go through whatever he could have a Australian program, but in a sense, you know, I think the biggest thing, especially this is my first year truly working on the draft site is coming into the year.
[SPEAKER_06]: Jamie Arnold was somebody who cut a gun number one overall.
[SPEAKER_06]: But then there was just a handful of other pictures that just kind of skyrocketed, Kate Anderson, Liam Doyle, a couple, you know, to name within this draft class.
[SPEAKER_06]: And what I think Jamie Arnold does really, really well is his unusual delivery.
[SPEAKER_06]: You know, he has a low three quarters of the liver with a low release explosion.
[SPEAKER_06]: of athletic the delivery, and he's been compared quite a lot to Crosse, obviously Crosse a little bit taller, Arnold, Scantxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[SPEAKER_06]: that comes out with true that angle, that's pretty impressive to do.
[SPEAKER_06]: So, but also mid 80 sweeper that was able to generate at 70% strike rate, you know, in college from both sides, you know, he has, he has, you know, the premium stuff, the deception and also the command to be able to do it.
[SPEAKER_06]: So, you know, it's going to be a big year for him, you know, he's going to be.
[SPEAKER_06]: and bigly camped this upcoming year, day before story, you mentioned that and it's going to be in poor year.
[SPEAKER_06]: It could also be a quick rise within the system.
[SPEAKER_06]: I mean, we've seen so many pictures, a century savage being one of them this year and I think in this class along with Kate Anderson.
[SPEAKER_06]: I think Arnold is in prime position to be able to rise quickly if everything goes in poor in the plan.
[SPEAKER_01]: It wouldn't be shocking at all.
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think I think I can believe it.
[SPEAKER_01]: If it wouldn't be shocking at all, if we saw Jamie Arnold in the Big League rotation at some point in 2026, I would say 2027 would be the slower path for him.
[SPEAKER_01]: Kind of it's going to be this year or next.
[SPEAKER_01]: And very possibly this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's Jamie Arnold and Johnny level, two more members of the baseball America Top 100.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Ben, this is a top 100 that is filled with short stops.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's the most short stops we've ever had on the top 100.
[SPEAKER_01]: But one that jumps out kind of at the middle of this list is Red Sox Short Stop Franklin areas.
[SPEAKER_01]: What makes him stand out to you?
[SPEAKER_03]: He's, I'm really excited about Franklin Ares.
[SPEAKER_03]: He, you know, he finished the year as a 19 year old in double a.
[SPEAKER_03]: So the Red Sox are pushing him extremely aggressively.
[SPEAKER_03]: And you can see why.
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, just watching him on defense.
[SPEAKER_03]: I mean, look, there's, there are a lot of short stops who are in our top 100.
[SPEAKER_03]: And a lot of them will stay at short stop.
[SPEAKER_03]: We know a lot of them are going to go to
[SPEAKER_03]: third base or second base or maybe even a corner outfield spot.
[SPEAKER_03]: Maybe in first base in some cases.
[SPEAKER_03]: But Frank on areas, I feel really strongly about his ability to stick at shortstop.
[SPEAKER_03]: He defends his position at a really high level.
[SPEAKER_03]: And he's not like your typical
[SPEAKER_03]: super bursty explosive tie player.
[SPEAKER_03]: He's probably one of the slower short stops in terms of raw foot speed, but I don't think you really need to be extremely fast to play short stuff.
[SPEAKER_03]: What he is is he's extremely
[SPEAKER_03]: he's quick and he's extremely extinct if he just has a nose for the ball he retops well he just has a knack for being in the right place at the right time and he'll make those highlight real tight plays for you going deep into the hole coming in on the ball but he's also pretty steady at making the secure you know reliable tight plays that you need from a short stuff they don't often see
[SPEAKER_03]: in a young shortstop.
[SPEAKER_03]: And I'm talking so much about his glove right now.
[SPEAKER_03]: If he was just like a good glove shortstop, that's not my flavor.
[SPEAKER_03]: I like guys who can hit and Frank on areas has outstanding hand-eye coordination.
[SPEAKER_03]: He rarely swings and misses.
[SPEAKER_03]: And I think it's to the point sometimes where he can get himself in a little bit of trouble, where he'll swing at some maybe borderline pitches even just outside the strike zone.
[SPEAKER_03]: And he's still able to put the bat to the ball.
[SPEAKER_03]: So I like having that ability to put to the bat to the ball.
[SPEAKER_03]: I do think he's going to have to tighten up his strike zone judgment a little bit.
[SPEAKER_03]: But also he's 19 years old.
[SPEAKER_03]: He's playing in high A mostly last year.
[SPEAKER_03]: So I think that maybe has something to do with it.
[SPEAKER_03]: And I do also think there's going to be some more power in there.
[SPEAKER_03]: Then what we've seen so far, I mean, he is not, I don't think he's this like a light slap hitting shortstop.
[SPEAKER_03]: We saw him hitting balls up to 110 miles an hour this year at 19 years old.
[SPEAKER_03]: That's pretty strong already.
[SPEAKER_03]: And I think there's going to be some more power that comes.
[SPEAKER_03]: Now is it going to be 10 to 15 home runs?
[SPEAKER_03]: Probably what like most people would say, I'm actually more optimistic.
[SPEAKER_03]: He gets to 15, 20, maybe has some
[SPEAKER_03]: 20 plus home run years in there and then if you look at the sum of the the parts of a guy you could potentially be a plus defender at short stop who puts the back to the ball the way he can.
[SPEAKER_03]: If he ends up being a 15 plus home run guy, you know, it's a three four win guy and if he gets to more than that we're talking about a perennial all star.
[SPEAKER_01]: When I think of a bin-battery type player, you love the hitters who can then develop power.
[SPEAKER_01]: We've seen examples of this.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not putting them in the Francisco Lendor group, but when Francisco Lendor was coming up at the shortstop, the biggest question was when his power developed, but he was just a pure hitter, ended up being a guy who was a 25, 30-hum run guy down the road.
[SPEAKER_01]: In an area's case, you are talking about a guy again when a guy can stick at shortstop like this.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's like the upside that could get there.
[SPEAKER_01]: But the other thing I think that puts him kind of in the middle of the top hundred for us is what you're talking about that even if that power doesn't develop, if you just got the hitting ability he does and the defense, it would still be enough to make him a very productive, long-term big league or potentially.
[SPEAKER_03]: I do think there is going to be some more power in there than what we've seen obviously again I'm obviously not saying he's going to be the next mooky bets, but mooky bets hit zero home runs in the New York Pendleak when he was frank on areas as age and he's probably comparable in height.
[SPEAKER_03]: I don't think frank on areas is going to have that kind of bats better obviously that kind of career because mooky bets his next stop is going to be Cooperstown.
[SPEAKER_03]: But yeah, I do think there's going to be some more impact coming with frank on areas just as you continue to get stronger learns which kind of pitches to you know, maybe get the bad head out a little bit earlier and turn on for power because right now he's very content just putting the ball in play and I then we just see a lot of hitters evolve in terms of both physically and in terms of their approach.
[SPEAKER_03]: in terms of learning which pitches they can take more chances on try to get off their ace and try to drive for some power.
[SPEAKER_03]: And I think Frank on area fits into that camp of somebody you can potentially do that.
[SPEAKER_01]: On the pitching side, Kendri Turio is the type of prospect who, to say he raised his profile with what he did.
[SPEAKER_01]: He kind of leapt up our prospect rankings, partly because he got these the guy who, at a very young age, got to Lowei was pitching in the playoffs in Lowei for the royals at the end of the year.
[SPEAKER_01]: But on top of that, it's a really polished approach, polished kind of pitch mix for a pitcher this young.
[SPEAKER_01]: Isn't it what Kendri Turio?
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, that's what that's what's always stood out about Kendri Churrio is just how polished he is, just how how advanced he is in terms of his ability to throw strikes.
[SPEAKER_03]: So when he was in Venezuela as an amateur player, which I mean, geez, was like a year ago.
[SPEAKER_03]: He wasn't long.
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I'd talk about rising up the rankings.
[SPEAKER_03]: He literally couldn't rank him at the beginning of 2025, because he was an unsigned player.
[SPEAKER_03]: But you know, when teams were scouting him,
[SPEAKER_03]: probably sub six foot right-handed pitcher who is throwing, you know, maybe mid to upper 80s, but throwing a lot of strikes, had some ability to manipulate his secondary stuff, but nothing overpowering, and then the velocity just kept ticking up.
[SPEAKER_03]: And up and up and by the time January 15th got here last year, we said he was one of the best pitching prospects in the class, even though he signed for $250,000, you know, a solid chunk of money for a picture, but certainly not, you know, guys signed for a million dollars or half a million dollars even so.
[SPEAKER_03]: not like a top 100 bonus in the class, but even as a stuff spiked, you always saw consistent high level strikes from him as an amateur, but you never quite know how that's going to translate until you actually get into professional baseball, even against DSL hitters.
[SPEAKER_03]: And he just, he just carved them up like it was not a challenge for him at all.
[SPEAKER_03]: And he moved so quickly like you said, he got to Lowe by the end of the year at 17 years old.
[SPEAKER_03]: Now he's up to 98 miles an hour.
[SPEAKER_03]: He has feel for spin and a curve ball that's getting up toward that 2800 RPM range.
[SPEAKER_03]: There's feel for a changeup in there too.
[SPEAKER_03]: And he's, he's an elite striker.
[SPEAKER_03]: It looks like he's somebody's going to have 70 control.
[SPEAKER_03]: not too far from that right now, which is wild to say.
[SPEAKER_03]: So to speak, I guess at that age, and look, he's probably going to start the year this season in low-A as an 18-year-old.
[SPEAKER_03]: He's polished, I would expect him to get a promotion if he pitches the way I think he will and get to high-A.
[SPEAKER_03]: Now does he finish the year in double-A as an 18-year-old?
[SPEAKER_03]: Maybe, if not, he's going to be starting double.
[SPEAKER_03]: I imagine in 2027 when he's 19 years old.
[SPEAKER_03]: So this is guy who has a lot of, like you said, polish and pitch ability to him.
[SPEAKER_03]: But you compare him to somebody like a David Shields in the Royal System who, okay, Shields is left-handed.
[SPEAKER_03]: He has great control to another really polished,
[SPEAKER_03]: guy as a teenager in that farm system, but David Shields is, you know, top and out.
[SPEAKER_03]: It may be 93 and maybe there's more to come.
[SPEAKER_03]: I think there's probably should be a little more still to squeeze out from David Shields, but Henry Chereau's already thrown up to 98 miles an hour.
[SPEAKER_03]: There's probably maybe a little bit more coming for Henry Chereau and he's got feel for spending a break and ball feel for a change up like it's just a really exciting mix of
[SPEAKER_03]: a starter look with both polish and stuff at an extremely young age still.
[SPEAKER_01]: We always like to say that that team show us what they think about a player by kind of how they move the player on different teams move players at different rates.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I want to kind of highlight that interior in this case because nowadays to bring a player to the states during the season is a very significant decision.
[SPEAKER_01]: A player in the Dominican Summer League does not count
[SPEAKER_01]: The minute you come over, set foot in the state, you do.
[SPEAKER_01]: And the royals with Tureo saw him kind of realize like you said, he's just not getting enough challenge here to develop, that they were willing to bring him over.
[SPEAKER_01]: Really, I would say ahead of schedule in a lot of ways.
[SPEAKER_01]: That kind of insignificant and kind of a little bit of a hint further about what they think about Tureo, isn't it?
[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, we very rarely see for different reasons.
[SPEAKER_03]: Some of it's the roster limits.
[SPEAKER_03]: Some of it's, you know, the players want to stay in the DSL for tax reasons.
[SPEAKER_03]: So we rarely see players coming over now for their first season to the United States and mostly just stay in the DSL.
[SPEAKER_03]: Obviously, like, you know, to agree with the Padre's or Ethan Salis with the Padre's too.
[SPEAKER_03]: And, you know, Salis's brother Andrew with the Marlins last year was an exception too, but for the most part,
[SPEAKER_03]: You know, unless it's like an older player who's already 19, 20 years old, something like that, we're very rarely seeing players, even the most advanced players, come straight to the states in their first year.
[SPEAKER_03]: But yeah, I mean, Kendri, Juryo, that if they just said,
[SPEAKER_03]: this guy is so good.
[SPEAKER_03]: He's an exception.
[SPEAKER_03]: And if you're Kendri Churio, yeah, it's not that I think he was going to be a slow path to the big leads, but getting to low a that quickly certainly accelerates his timetable in terms of when he can get to Kansas City.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's another one to watch on our top 100 prospects list, Kendri Churio joining the top 100 as an 18 year old.
[SPEAKER_01]: there are so many intriguing prospects in our top 100 prospect of ranking which are up at baseballamerica.com.
[SPEAKER_01]: But Ian George Lombard Jr., the Yankees number one prospect, short-stop prospect really stands out to you as kind of a fascinating prospect.
[SPEAKER_01]: Why is that?
[SPEAKER_05]: I think that the main reason is, we got such split feedback on him during the ranking process.
[SPEAKER_05]: And he was one of the players that where we initially slaughtered him, it was kind of split half of the feedback we got was he should be higher, and then the other half was he should be lower.
[SPEAKER_05]: And when something like that happens, it makes me really want to dig into and further evaluate why is that the case?
[SPEAKER_05]: Because I feel like generally the feedback usually get it's either in one direction.
[SPEAKER_05]: It's usually pretty good or move them up a little bit or move them down a little bit.
[SPEAKER_05]: This one completely way up, way down.
[SPEAKER_05]: We got the whole spectrum.
[SPEAKER_05]: And I think that makes him one of the most interesting prospects heading into 2026.
[SPEAKER_05]: Because you combine that with his pedigree.
[SPEAKER_05]: This is a pass first round pick.
[SPEAKER_05]: He plays for a very prominent team in the Yankees.
[SPEAKER_05]: He's their number one prospect.
[SPEAKER_05]: And he's a short stop.
[SPEAKER_05]: You know, we're talking about the premium position at baseball.
[SPEAKER_05]: And when you have that type of profile, it makes it, I think, just a very interesting prospect heading into the season and frankly, looking back at last season, all so very interesting, just because of such the wide range of outcomes you get depending on the scouts you talk to, who saw him last year.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, as you said, he has a split camp player.
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like that what we're really talking about
[SPEAKER_01]: There's he as he perfect example to me of what of projection and what Scouts are trying to do because it feels like that there is a current disconnect between the results that we've seen most of the time and he's moved very fast.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's the other thing that we have to add in here is the age at level that he's been at.
[SPEAKER_01]: But
[SPEAKER_01]: that the results versus the potential for what he could be, what would kind of indicate or do you see there that could indicate that he ends up being a player who really kind of blossoms in his 20s and kind of blends that it could hit as projections that he has this white, which is why he's as high as he is in our top 100 right now.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, it's a great point.
[SPEAKER_05]: And as you said, if you really look at it, he's only performed basically for a month, the start of the 2025 season in high A and he did this as a 20 year old, which is very impressive.
[SPEAKER_05]: He had a great start hit 329, 4.9, 4.9, 4.88, 4.88, and 118, and 118 appearances, went up to double A as you said, and struggled.
[SPEAKER_05]: But I think the thing that really stood out to me and digging into him this off season was the underlying data.
[SPEAKER_05]: There's still a lot of things that you really like here.
[SPEAKER_05]: This is a guy with a very patient approach and a good 16% chase rate.
[SPEAKER_05]: His bad at ball, the EV's are good, average exit velocity was over 90 miles an hour.
[SPEAKER_05]: His 90th percentile was 103.2 miles an hour.
[SPEAKER_05]: Those are both really good numbers for someone his age.
[SPEAKER_05]: The issue is, and I think why he struggled and especially when he made the jump to double A was the contact, there's still some contact issues as there's some swing issues.
[SPEAKER_05]: And I think that's something that could that scouts who really believe in him think can get ironed out as he moves up the ladder.
[SPEAKER_05]: But I also can understand the skeptics because you look, and there are some red flags there.
[SPEAKER_05]: struggles to elevate the ball, hit 2015 and an extended sample in double A granted
[SPEAKER_05]: And so I think there's just a lot of ways that his development can go and why that even though he's already in the high miners, there's a fair amount of risk and variance in his profile.
[SPEAKER_01]: So the defense, the other thing is that this is a pure shortstop defensively.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's obviously a key part of this as well.
[SPEAKER_01]: But that's one of the things I think that we want to make sure that we both emphasize, but also don't over emphasize, because if George Lombard's going to draw Junior's going to live up to these expectations, the defense we kind of are taking us for granted, it's the bat that has to, you can't, he's not going to reach our projection just based on being a good glob.
[SPEAKER_01]: I would assume, is that, is that a fair way to put it?
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, it's, you know, I think if you're someone who's in the top 50 of the top 100, we're expecting you to be, you can contribute on both sides of the ball.
[SPEAKER_05]: And the scouts that really like Lombard, they think he's a note-out short stop.
[SPEAKER_05]: And that's something that can carry you so far.
[SPEAKER_05]: But we've seen that there's a, there's a limit or there's a cap if you're just a glove first player.
[SPEAKER_05]: You know, it's hard to reach his potential, which I think is, you know,
[SPEAKER_05]: potential first division regular talking the scouts if he can hit and that's the big question.
[SPEAKER_05]: The defense is there.
[SPEAKER_05]: He's got the range, he's got the army, he's got the athleticism, it's just now can he translate that raw ability at the plate that he's shown in spurts and with the underlying data can that translate to a sustained period of success at the plate for the Yankees?
[SPEAKER_01]: So
[SPEAKER_01]: He's George Lombard Jr.'s fascinating from a standpoint of what we see projection, the production match the projection.
[SPEAKER_01]: Twins left hand or Connor pre-lept is fascinating because every time he gets on the mound, he's been really good.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just a question of how often is he going to get on the mound, right?
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, he's he's a really interesting pitcher to me and so someone I've seen live multiple times and then very impressed, but that's, you know, he's just not on the Mount very much he he 382 and two third settings in 25 between double an AAA and that total is more than he had thrown in the previous five seasons combined to give you some context of how much time he's missed guys at Tommy John surgery he's at internal pray surgery.
[SPEAKER_05]: And the twins have been very cautious in bringing him back.
[SPEAKER_05]: But I think that this is the year finally that the kind of the breaks are going to come off.
[SPEAKER_05]: I think he could get up to, I've heard 125, 150 innings potentially this year.
[SPEAKER_05]: And I think that now that he's in AAA, he's MLB depth.
[SPEAKER_05]: And you can't be as cautious with a guy when you, in the, once they get to the big leagues, because, you know, you'll be of a set number of pitchers on those rosters, and everyone's got to be available and in their certain windows.
[SPEAKER_05]: And I think with pre-lip that this is a pretty big season for him, because there are some concerns and at why I think he's on the back end of the hundred, because I think his raw stuff could be commensurate with someone who's more in the middle of the list, but the injury concerns gives him some reliever risk.
[SPEAKER_05]: And I think this season will be a big one in determining that future outcome for him, whether it's as a multi-ning reliever or a leverature lever or as a starter.
[SPEAKER_05]: Because you're talking about a guy with three potential above average applause pitches.
[SPEAKER_05]: whether I think a second breaking ball is the most likely outcome there, whether it be a slider or excuse me, a curve ball, cuttersweep or something, one of those to kind of round out his arsenal, because I think the twins know that for him to be a starter, he's going to need another offering to give hitters a different look.
[SPEAKER_05]: And if he can do that, especially given how successful his other pitches are, if he can even develop a fringy average second breaking ball, that can just be a show me pitch.
[SPEAKER_05]: That's a pure starter's arsenal right there, but the lack of track record is kind of scary.
[SPEAKER_05]: Availability is the name of the game with starting pitchers and they're just so few starters anymore that even can go 160 innings in the season, but pre looks never done even close to that and I think that's what makes them so fascinating is can he stay on the mountain if he does can he sustain the raw stuff that he's shown in shorter spurts for an extended period of time is a big question mark.
[SPEAKER_01]: other type of thing I'm fascinated to see.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're kind of putting the top 100 thinking that there's still a decent chance he's a starter.
[SPEAKER_01]: The other thing there has been talked about maybe he goes into the pen as well.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm not even sure necessarily when you're from a durability standpoint, which would be better for him because obviously to be a major league reliever, yes, you will throw fewer ittings, but the wear and tear of getting up and getting down and getting
[SPEAKER_01]: Again, this is a fascinating, this will be a fascinating development process to watch.
[SPEAKER_01]: I would imagine that's the end point.
[SPEAKER_01]: Do you see like starter, we see starter traits, but you see, when you come on the durability question, when you come starter versus reliever, what is your sense of what, you know, when you were reporting on the Twins top 30, what sense did you get of kind of how they look at this?
[SPEAKER_05]: I think they think of him as a starter, but I think with the way their roster is constructed right now, I could see them kind of breaking him in in the majors in a bullpen role with the eye towards building him up to as a starter.
[SPEAKER_05]: The problem with that though is what you said, you know, you only have 13 pitcher slots.
[SPEAKER_05]: You figure eight relievers and you can't have multiple guys who are unable to pitch on back to back days and with someone like three lips injury history, he doesn't strike me as someone you want.
[SPEAKER_05]: You're going to be overly taxing or you're going to be throwing four times in a week out of the gate.
[SPEAKER_05]: So that just limits when you have one of those spots.
[SPEAKER_05]: devoted to a pitcher who can only pitch on a very strict schedule.
[SPEAKER_05]: It's just a lot harder to do that at the major level.
[SPEAKER_05]: Let it in this and minor level when you have the bigger rosters.
[SPEAKER_05]: And so I think that there's a chance for that.
[SPEAKER_05]: But I think he continues to develop as a starter for the reasons I said earlier, where there's an expectation, I think, internally that he can get to maybe as high as 150 innings this year.
[SPEAKER_05]: And it's just you're not going to get to that total in the bullpen.
[SPEAKER_05]: And with where the twins are at in their kind of retooling process, they have
[SPEAKER_05]: I think the bandwidth to be able to try and out as a starter because there's just so much more upside in that role.
[SPEAKER_05]: It's just very hard for our peer reliever to make the top 100.
[SPEAKER_05]: And so if someone like pre-lip is on it, we gotta have a pretty high confidence level that he can start.
[SPEAKER_05]: And I think that internally in the talk and scouts also, I think there's a pretty high confidence he can do that as long as he can stay healthy.
[SPEAKER_01]: That is kind of pre-lip one of the more fascinating players in the baseball America top 100.
[SPEAKER_01]: So there you have it.
[SPEAKER_01]: There you have breakdowns of players up and down the list of the top 100.
[SPEAKER_01]: We hope you enjoyed that and hope you're enjoying many more videos on the baseball America YouTube page and podcast channel.