MLB Prospects: 5 Possible Breakout Stars

Over the past couple seasons we have seen prospect graduates like Corey Seager, Kris Bryant, and Trea Turner break out in huge ways on the major league stage. Who is the next to join that group?

It’s no secret that young talent has been quickly making its way to the big leagues in recent years. We’ve seen incredible seasons from Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, and Kris Bryant in the past few years as a showcasing of incredible young talent. Before them it was Mike Trout and Bryce Harper doing something similar in 2012. There is never a shortage of young talent, but their seems to be quite a surplus at the top end right now.

This list contains players that have all had at least a cup of coffee in the big leagues. They are not, however, considered to be big league regulars yet. In fact, some of them may even start the season in the minor leagues. Regardless, all five of these players are primed to have a big impact on major league play during the coming season.

A couple of the players on this list are eligible to win the Rookie of the Year award, but such eligibility was not required to make this list. The purpose of this list is essentially to point out which players right on the cusp of being major league regulars will breakout during the 2017 season. While top prospects Kris Bryant and Corey Seager were able to make a clean entry to the big leagues and win Rookie of the Year awards, that’s not always the case. Other players of similar talent levels can breakout and have fantastic seasons without the ability to win a simple award.

As with any list narrowed down to five players, there were deserving players left out. Some notable players that were left off this list, but remained on the CBS Sports list of players that could win their respective Rookie of the Year awards include Yoan Moncada, Jharel Cotton, Dansby Swanson, and Jose De Leon. All four are bound to get major league playing time this coming season. All four are going to be very good players in the very near future. However, they were not included in this list of breakout players.

With that said, here is the list. They are ranked in order, although the order isn’t all that important. Regardless of where they lie on this list, they are likely going to all have very successful 2016 seasons and careers after that.