MLB Top Ten Third Base Prospects For 2017
10. Ke’Bryan Hayes, Pittsburgh Pirates
Hayes is the son of former MLB third baseman Charlie Hayes, who played 14 MLB seasons for 7 different organizations, hitting .262/.316/.398 over his career.
Hayes was drafted in the first round by the Pirates in 2015, and they challenged Hayes with a promotion to full-season ball in his first full season.
He started his season on fire, hitting .343/.368/.457 in April, but he really struggled through May before starting to rebound in June before an injury ended his season. Originally thought to be something with his back, it came out this offseason that he actually had a rib fracture, so the injury should be nothing to worry about long-term.
Hayes is a big guy already at 6’1″, 210 pounds, and that listing could even be light for what he carries. He is really maxed out physically, so adding weight would come in the form of bad weight, so as long as he stays attentive to his conditioning, there’s no reason he can’t stay at third.
While Hayes is certainly a below-average runner, he has excellent feel for third base and tremendous hands that allow him to be a guy who could stick at the position long-term.
With his time at low-A being cut short in 2016, it will be something to watch to see if the Pirates move Hayes up to high-A this spring to open the year or have him open the year with low-A with an eye on a quick promotion as he shows well in a return to the level.
9. Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves
Riley had questions about his future position when he came out of high school, with a big arm on the mound and a feel for his secondary pitches that could translate to a career as a pitcher as well as raw power in the field.
The Braves drafted him in the supplemental first round, 41st overall, in the 2015 draft, and they chose to keep him as a hitter.
His 2015 season was impressive as he posted an OPS of .933 between two rookie league levels and flashed big-time power, though he also flashed big-time strikeout ability as well.
There were questions about his ability to handle third base, and the Braves worked hard with him on the defensive end in the spring. He showed some progress on that end to open the season, but the problem was that his bat then disappeared to open the year as he hit .246/.291/.372 through the first two months of the year, striking out 1/3 of the time.
Around Memorial Day, Riley made some notable adjustments to his hand placement on the bat and his placement in the batter’s box. The results were notable as he was able to handle premium velocity and breaking stuff much better.
From June 1st through the end of the season, Riley looked the part of a legit power threat, hitting .285/.343/.542 with 25 doubles and 17 home runs, even drastically cutting his strikeout rate to 23.55%.
It was notable that Riley only had 13 plate appearances against pitchers younger than him in 2016, so he’s been facing older competition all along and making adjustments at the plate.
The issue that came was that as his hitting improved, it seemed that Riley’s defense backslid. He made 30 errors on the season at third base in 2016, and they seemed to pile up more and more as the year ran on, leaving legitimate concern to whether or not he could handle third base long-term.
If he does have to move, his excellent arm should allow for a transition to a corner outfield position, provided he keeps his big 6’3″ frame that has a listed 220 pounds on it right now, though it’s probably closer to 235ish.
The Braves will open Riley at high-A in 2017.
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