After another week of action, a spate of strikeouts has cost Jakob Marsee his spot atop the hitter leaderboards. James Triantos has slipped in above him. Top pitcher status is harder to judge. Braden Nett, Davis Daniel, Ricky Tiedemann, and Jackson Jobe all have a case.
Let’s see who else merits a look.
Five Big Hype Prospects
Jake Eder, 25, SP, CWS
(A/AA) 56.2 IP, 11.1 K/9, 5.7 BB/9, 6.99 ERA
A southpaw pitching prospect who was once as blue chip as they come, Eder hasn’t recovered well from Tommy John surgery. While his elbow is healthy, he’s lost velocity, movement, and command since his prospect peak. The White Sox dealt Jake Burger for Eder at the trade deadline and likely wish they could ctrl-z that decision. Following the swap, Eder coughed up an 11.42 ERA in five starts for the Sox Double-A affiliate.
On a positive note, Eder has a 3.24 ERA in 8.1 AFL innings – good for ninth-best in the league. He’s coughed up a pair of home runs to go with eight walks and 10 strikeouts. The book isn’t closed on Eder, but he needs to take an active role in writing the next chapter. The current chapter is titled TINSTAAPP.
DJ Herz, 22, SP/RP, WSH
(AA) 94.1 IP, 12.7 K/9, 5.4 BB/9, 4.01 ERA
Another southpaw traded at the deadline, Herz is widely seen as a future reliever due to a below-average fastball and breaking ball. His command is also poor. Where he stands out is his changeup. It’s a carrying pitch that should yield a Major League future. Herz continues to work as a starter in the AFL where he’s posted 18 strikeouts in 11 innings. Alas, his command woes (six walks) continue to limit his ability to pitch deep into outings. We await to see if his stuff plays up out of the bullpen.
Gabriel Rincones Jr., 22, OF, PHI
(A/A+) 533 PA, 15 HR, 32 SB, .248/.351/.427
A third-rounder in the 2022 draft, Rincones Jr. is best known for high-caliber exit velocities. He’s expected to wind up at first base due to suspect corner outfield defense and poor speed. Despite a lack of wheels, Rincones has shown aptitude on the bases – a trait that can sometimes portend a gamer’s mentality. His bat should carry him to the Majors without any major adjustments. At the very highest levels, he might prove too susceptible to breaking stuff. With players of this profile, breaking ball recognition is usually the difference between a big leaguer and a Quad-A guy. Rincones is among the top 10 AFL hitters with a .327/.462/.577 triple-slash.
Benny Montgomery, 21, OF, COL
(A+) 497 PA, 10 HR, 18 SB, .251/.336/.370
A former eighth-overall pick, Montgomery has seen his prospect status rapidly erode since draft day. Speed remains his best trait, though he also demonstrates above-average power. His contact is held back by funky mechanics. Most organizations – the Rockies among them – aren’t adept at developing players with a non-standard approach. They’re often left to sink or swim on their own. Encouragingly, Montgomery has cut down on his swinging strike rate at every level. He needs to continue that growth while doing something about the extreme 62.6 percent ground ball rate he posted this season. He also needs to improve his outfield defense where his double-plus speed helps him to recover from poor jumps and routes. He’s slashing .373/.468/.510 in the AFL, albeit with 17 strikeouts in 60 plate appearances.
JT Schwartz, 23, 1B, NYM
(AA) 277 PA, 4 HR, 4 SB, .302/.383/.437
Schwartz doesn’t have much of a shot with the Mets. He’s likely in the AFL to showcase him in front of other teams. He has the look of a future big leaguer – the sort who helps rebuilding teams trudge through another season. While Schwartz has the physical size to hit for power, his current approach is built around batting average and OBP. He’d draw more attention in the pre-Moneyball era. In 45 plate appearances, he has six doubles and two home runs along with a 1.011 OPS.
Three More
Liam Hicks, TEX (24): Hicks has low-key paced the league on the hitting side including a six-hit day. Despite the heady results, he’s not particularly impactful with the bat. His catching is of the third-string variety – he’s struggled to control the running game throughout his entire career. Other aspects of his defense draw critiques. Without an obvious position, Hicks looks like a ‘tweener whose plus discipline and contact rate could hide his shortcomings.
Kyle Manzardo, CLE (23): Manzardo, who we’ve already discussed ad nauseam in past episodes, leads the league with five home runs and 11 extra base hits. The power adjustment he showed upon joining the Guardians remains in evidence.
Oliver Dunn, PHI (26): A Rule 5-eligible second baseman, Dunn is making a case for consideration. He popped 21 home runs with 16 steals this summer while showing plus plate discipline. He’s strikeout-prone, but the power breakout renders that more forgivable. In 46 AFL plate appearances, he’s swiped nine bases to go with a 1.076 OPS, three doubles, three triples, and a dinger.
Did I miss a detail or nuance? DM me on Twitter @BaseballATeam to suggest corrections.
Wyatt Langford deserves 50 posts by now. I do like how Huff and Hicks are good Garver replacements, though.
Langford’s overall minor league line now stands at a mere .360/.480/.677. Okay, it’s only 200 PAs but you’d think he’d get a mention somewhere in these posts. It’ll be interesting to see how soon the Rangers bring him up. A big spring training might force their hand, though the outfield would start to look a little crowded.
With Garver probably moving on, there might be some DH time available to handle the surplus.
These are AFL guys……
Good point
Wyatt Langford has already headlined a MLBTR prospect list in the past. It’s time for him to see what ST is like. He doesn’t need any additional and immaterial fanfare on here.
Langford, Carter, Taveras, Garcia is going to be an exciting OF for the next few years. The emergence of Langford and presence of guys like Huff, Duran and Foscue likely means the Rangers are moving on from Garver this winter. They should spend their money on pitching, as the offense looks to be well set for the foreseeable future.
Boy Brad—you turned the word “hype” into nothing more than “hope” with these guys. Lost velocity, poor command, not much of a shot aren’t exactly ringing endorsements for kids chasing their dreams.
Well, he did say “A southpaw pitching prospect who was once as blue chip as they come,”
Of course, for a guy drafted in the 4th round, and never ranked in the top-100, I am not sure about the “as blue chip as they get”.
This is what I get for relaxing the paragraph explaining that “these are AFL players. We are covering the AFL. This is a post about the AFL.”
Big Hype pitchers and they give up 5 BBs a game? Wow! I guess there is still potential but Wow!
Eder is going to have to figure it out himself or get outside coaching because White Sox player development sure isn’t something to grasp on….
across 13: I knew the Sox got fleeced on the Burger for Eder deal. It’s one thing to trade players in their final year of control, but they had Burger through 2025, if I’m not mistaken. And they trade him for a guy who can’t even pitch in AA after TJS. One reason not to try to have done all they could to keep Ng, who fleeced the easily fleeceable White Sox.
I have very little hope with Eder, as you said Burger should have gotten them something better than a TJS pitcher getting back into form. Oh I agree, Marlins got a steal from the White Sox.
Burger is controlled through 2028, which makes it even more of a fleece-job.
Herz is gonna be a beast.
…with a 1.80 WHIP
TINSTAAPP???
@jorge78: There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect. Get it?
Never underestimate the power of the Schwartz!
May the Schwartz be with you.
Well played
Get this in front of a live studio audience.
“Extra base hits” are additional singles. “Extra-base hits” are doubles, triples, and homers.
Not the Montgomery I expected to read about when I saw big-hype prospects.