Nineteen players from my Top 100 prospects ranking made Opening Day rosters, and one more has since been recalled, which seems like a strong showing given how many of the top 100 didn’t play above A-ball in 2019, the last time we had a minor-league season. Here’s a quick rundown of those 19 players, which doesn’t include Top 100 guys currently on the injured list (Nate Pearson, Forrest Whitley, Clarke Schmidt) or who’ve debuted but are currently not in the majors (Sixto Sánchez, Brendan McKay, Deivi García).
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3. Cristian Pache, OF, Atlanta
No big surprise here, as Pache’s elite defense in center has him starting there for Atlanta, although he’s punched out in eight of his 17 plate appearances to start the season.
9. Dylan Carlson, OF, St. Louis
Carlson won the Cardinals’ right field job, an admirable risk on the team’s part as they try to contend, and so far he’s shown more power (three home runs, matching his 2020 total from 35 games played) than the on-base skills that were his calling card.
10. Andrew Vaughn, OF, Chicago White Sox
I can’t fault the White Sox for trying to get Vaughn’s bat in the lineup after Eloy Jimenez’s injury, but Vaughn looks like Ryan Klesko out there right now. He hasn’t played the outfield at least since high school, and it’s not as if he set A-ball on fire back in 2019, so at the very least he may need some time to adjust at the plate, and I’m not sure left field is ever going to work.
11. Casey Mize, RHP, Detroit
Mize’s velocity was strong in his first outing, although his splitter wasn’t its usual plus-plus self. Health is the biggest concern with Mize after his 2019 season ended early due to a sore shoulder, but it’s a positive sign that his fastball is where it is now.
12. Triston McKenzie, RHP, Cleveland
McKenzie has pitched once so far, in long relief, and if that’s the plan to break him into the majors, I’m all for it. He averaged 92.1 mph in that outing, which is about where I’d like him to sit, better than where he ended last season, but walking a quarter of the guys he faced with a 55 percent strike rate is not who he typically is as a pitcher.
13. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Pittsburgh
Hayes started with a bang, homering on Opening Day, then hit the injured list with a strained wrist. The wrist could sap his strength and power going forward, but his best skill has always been his defense, and I don’t think that will be affected at all when he returns.
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15. Ian Anderson, RHP, Atlanta
One interesting thing from Anderson’s first start is that batters squared him up, especially his fastball, more than they did last year. That could be nothing, of course, but it’s worth watching because he was so hard to square up in 2020.
22. Tarik Skubal, LHP, Detroit
Skubal’s biggest issue in the majors in 2020 was the longball, with batters hitting nine homers in 32 innings, and just generally barreling the ball up against him because his command was far worse than it was in the minors in 2019. That wasn’t the case in his first start, at least.
26. Jazz Chisholm, SS/2B, Miami
Chisholm’s debut last year was a surprise, since he’d struggled for most of 2019, leading Arizona to trade him at the deadline, but in a small sample in 2020 he fared better than I expected given his history with swing-and-miss. So far in 2021, he’s been better across the board, hitting the ball harder and more often, positive signs with his prior track record.
38. Luis Campusano, C, San Diego
Campusano has split catching duties with Victor Caratini, going 1-for-11 with five strikeouts and playing more or less every other day. It’s not a straight platoon, however, even though Caratini’s a switch-hitter, as Campusano has started exclusively against right-handed pitchers.
44. Leody Taveras, OF, Texas
Tough sledding so far for Taveras, who leads the AL in strikeouts with 12 (in 20 plate appearances). He was a solid hitter for contact in the minors, but struggled with the jump to the majors last year, with a 33 percent strikeout rate. We really don’t want to see that go backward, even though he’s still young and inexperienced.
45. Randy Arozarena, OF, Tampa Bay
Arozarena has not homered this year through five games, so obviously he’s a bust.
53. Michael Kopech, RHP, Chicago White Sox
Kopech has pitched twice already this year, both in relief, striking out eight of the 15 batters he’s faced, reaching 99.4 on his fastball. Hitters have swung at his slider six times and whiffed five of them. He hasn’t pitched since September 2018, when he underwent Tommy John surgery, and it is really great to see him back and healthy.
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67. Luis Garcia, RHP, Houston
Garcia walked too many guys in his first outing this year, but his stuff was pretty close to where it was in 2020 and I’m still optimistic about him in the long-term.
77. Ryan Weathers, LHP, San Diego
Weathers over Mackenzie Gore was a bit of a surprise, and perhaps a reaction to Gore walking too many guys this spring while Weathers has never had any issues with control. He’s looked great in two relief outings, and if this keeps up he’ll be a candidate for the rotation if they have an opening.
84. A.J. Puk, LHP, Oakland
It’s a trivial observation on a single relief outing, but Puk punched out half the lefties he faced (4 of 8) and walked none, yet walked half the righties he faced (3 of 6) and struck out none. It does look like he’s lost some velocity after elbow and shoulder surgeries, but he can still show a plus fastball. He’s now on the 10-day IL with a biceps strain; one thing to watch when he returns is whether he goes more often to his changeup, which was his best offspeed pitch when last we saw him in the majors, especially against right-handed batters.
88. Jonathan India, 3B, Cincinnati
India is off to a great start, which is heartening given how bad he was in 2019 while trying to play through a wrist injury, and he’s hitting the ball pretty hard again as he did in 2018 when he was one of the best hitters in Division 1.
91. Geraldo Perdomo, SS, Arizona
Perdomo was not on the Diamondbacks’ Opening Day roster, but was called up when Nick Ahmed hit the injured list. He’s probably not ready at the plate, but he can definitely handle shortstop and has a strong track record of putting the ball in play.
92. Alejandro Kirk, C, Toronto
Kirk has just eight plate appearances through seven games, as the Jays have given Danny Jansen a little more than half of the catching load so far. Kirk might be the better hitter right now, but I’d like to see him get more playing time to continue developing.
97. Taylor Trammell, OF, Seattle
Trammell seemed ticketed for Triple A at the start of spring, but Kyle Lewis’s injury and the team’s rather overt desire to keep Jarred Kelenic in the minors created the opportunity. One knock on him coming into the year was that he might not hit good velocity, but his main issue through 25 plate appearances so far has been changeups, whiffing on 28 percent of the ones he’s seen.
(Photo of Cristian Pache: Rich Graessle / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
