MLB Prospects: Not Many Like Kris Bryant and Joc Pederson
By David Hill
Everyone is seemingly always looking for the next great thing, be it in baseball or in any other corner of life. With players like Kris Bryant and Joc Pederson performing at an All-Star level as rookies, and Bryant’s impressive power display, people are naturally wondering who the next rookie will be to come up and make that type of an impact. Which MLB prospects, looking forward to 2016 and possibly beyond, will be able to replicate the success that either Bryant or Pederson are having this season?
Trying to find that next great major league player is one of the joys of prospect hunting. There are those top draft picks who prove that they were worth that early selection, annihilating the minor leagues and carrying over that success to the majors. Then, there are those unheralded players, who, seemingly out of nowhere, become stars in their own right. Prospect hunting may be an inexact science, but it is certainly an enjoyable pastime.
The problem with trying to find the next Bryant or Pederson, players who could potentially get either 100 runs or 100 RBI, or both, in their rookie years, is that this is not a common occurrence. In fact, over the past dozen years, the only players to either have 100 RBI or 100 runs in their rookie years have been Jose Abreu, Mike Trout, Troy Tulowitzki, Hanely Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Hideki Matsui and Scott Podsednick. Quite the motley collection.
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In that collection of players, we have two who, even though they were technically considered rookies, really were not. Matsui and Abreu were both at the highest level in their countries before coming over, leaving five players who could really be considered rookies to reach just one of those milestones in the past dozen years. It certainly does not bode well for someone to be able to reach one of those marks next season.
If someone is to eclipse either the 100 run or 100 RBI mark next year, it may well be an international free agent. It may be that some player that has been tearing up either the Japanese League or the Cuban League will come over and be the next instant star. Or it could be that a can’t miss prospect like a Corey Seager or Kyle Schwarber will be that next impact rookie, carrying over their top prospect pedigree into the professional ranks and making the major leagues their own in short order.
What Kris Bryant and Joc Pederson have a chance to do, in either scoring 100 runs or driving in 100 baserunners as a rookie, is a fairly uncommon feat. The next Bryant or Pederson may still be some time in appearing at the major league level.