6. Jake Rogers, C
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 4/18/1995 (22)
2017 teams/levels played for: low-A Quad Cities River Bandits, high-A Buies Creek Astros, high-A Lakeland Flying Tigers
2017 Stats: .261/.350/.467, 491 PA, 18 HR, 14 SB, 54/102 BB/K
Info: Baseball in general is in search of a new kind of catcher, one that makes defense his priority and can add a league average bat or better to add to his value. The 2016 draft has shown to have added a load of those players into professional baseball, and Rogers has shown as well as anyone in the class.
Known best for his glove work in college, Rogers has a solid arm with the ability to move well to block pitches, though he could use some polish in his framing and his lateral movement. That very likely will be the only thing that slows his progress as his bat took a giant leap forward in 2017 to match his advanced glove.
Rogers could swing a big bat at Tulane, but it was difficult to project how that power would play in the major leagues. While he was able to play 85 games behind the plate, his bat was such that he also saw 27 games at DH to keep his power bat in the lineup.
Rogers will be one to track closely in 2018, as he will likely open in AA, and if he can continue to show well with his bat, he could move up to the majors for a cup of coffee by the end of the season.
5. Beau Burrows, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 9/18/1996 (21)
2017 teams/levels played for: high-A Lakeland Flying Tigers, AA Erie SeaWolves
2017 Stats: 26 GS, 135 IP, 3.20 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 8% BB, 24.9% K
Info: The Detroit Tigers made Burrows the 22nd overall selection in 2015 out of high school in Texas. The Tigers handled him gently in his draft year and his first full pro year in 2016, though some questioned his future profile due to striking out just 67 in 97 innings.
Burrows stepped forward in 2017 in high-A and blew through the level with a 1.23 ERA over 11 starts before being promoted to AA. Once he got to AA, he was forced to lean more on his offspeed stuff, and hitters were able to take advantage of both the lesser quality of the offspeed stuff and his less polished command of those pitches.
Burrows features a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and also works with a high-spin action
Burrows features a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and also works with a high-spin action that makes the pitch a definite strikeout pitch. The key to his future will be how he works with his offspeed stuff. Different evaluators have different favorites among his three offspeed pitches. I personally am more a fan of his slider when thrown well, though his curve and slider tend to blend together, which may suggest a cutter/slider hybrid might be a better slider to utilize for him.
Burrows’ change sits close in velocity and movement to his fastball. To see the pitch pick up improved effectiveness, he’d need to find a grip to change the movement or create more velocity separation. He does have good arm deception on the pitch, but that’s it at this point.
With the work needed on his offspeed stuff, it makes sense that Burrows would likely spend the full season at AA in 2018 at just 21. If he can see some improvements over this season, it’s feasible he could see the Detroit Tigers rotation in 2019.
Next: #3 and #4