10. Kyle Tucker, OF, Houston Astros
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 1/17/1997 (21)
Likely 2018 opening level: AA
Info: Tucker was well known in high school for his power and approach at the plate. He displayed that early in his pro career with an excellent ability to make contact and take a walk. He adjusted his approach in 2017 and saw his batting average dip some, but also crushed balls to the tune of 25 home runs on the season.
Tucker is a player that gets overlooked often due to the fact that many have been hearing his name since he was about a high school sophomore, so there’s some prospect fatigue with him. He put up a 20/20 season in 2017 with 25 home runs and 21 stolen bases utilizing his average speed but above-average baseball acumen.
Tucker has played center field due to those excellent baseball instincts, but he will likely play better as a corner guy long-term. He’ll get some more time at AA to start 2018, but will likely finish the season at AAA at 21 with a chance to impress in Houston by the end of the year.
9. Bo Bichette, SS, Toronto Blue Jays
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 3/5/1998 (20)
Likely 2018 opening level: AA
Info: While the impressive performance of Guerrero in the Midwest League was somewhat expected based on his pedigree and signing bonus, the season that Bichette had blew everyone out of the water.
A second round pick who wasn’t near that high on a number of teams’ draft boards due to defensive concerns and concerns with his swing, Bichette simply went about nearly hitting .400 in the Midwest League before moving up to high-A and still hitting well. While he doesn’t offer huge power at the plate, he pounds the gaps with hard line drives that should lead to high doubles totals and 15-20 home run power as well.
Defensively, Bichette answered a lot of questions by not answering them. He didn’t show off great range, and at times his hands weren’t the greatest, but he showed excellent instincts, and I cannot recall the number of times that I noted Bichette taking a step or two in the direction of where a ball was eventually hit as the pitch was released. Those kind of instincts on the game could allow him to stick at short, but he’s certainly shown that he could handle an up-the-middle position.
Bichette will look to continue his breakout 2017 at AA in 2018.
8. Gleyber Torres, SS, New York Yankees
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 12/13/1996 (21)
Likely 2018 opening level: MLB
Info: Just as he was within a stone’s throw of his dream, Torres ended up popping his elbow, needing Tommy John surgery on his non-trowing elbow in June. After an offseason recovering, Torres reports he’s healthy.
Torres flashed the ability to hit for average and power before his surgery, continuing progress he showed in the Arizona Fall League in 2016 when he took the league by storm. Torres has the ability to put up average, power, patience at the plate, and still plenty of offensive ceiling to achieve.
Defensively, Torres could certainly handle shortstop, though the Yankees have a darned good one already in Didi Gregorius. He also showed before his surgery that his above-average arm would work at third base. His best route to the opening day roster could end up being second base in 2018.
7. Fernando Tatis, Jr., SS, San Diego Padres
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 1/2/1999 (19)
Likely 2018 opening level: AA
Info: Years from now, we could be looking at the deal that brought Tatis into the Padres system similarly to how we view the deal that sent Larry Anderson to the Red Sox and Jeff Bagwell to the Astros. Tatis has shown himself to be a complete talent, with both power and speed along with an impressive amount of bat speed.
Tatis showed incredible adjustments for an 18 year old in his first full season in 2017, as he truly developed pitch and zone recognition on the fly to the point where he was one of the more disciplined hitters in the Midwest League when he was promoted to AA for the playoffs.
Tatis primarily survives on baseball instincts both on the bases and in the field currently, which leads many to believe that he will eventually move to third base and be more of a guy who offers 5-10 stolen bases than 20, but the hit tool and power tool are such that they should more than make up for that, and he’s already displayed an excellent ability to grow within a season, so putting any sort of cap on him at this point would be foolish.
The Padres will likely decide between high-A and AA to open the season based on how Tatis performs this spring, but if his 2017 is any indication, he’ll be opening in the Texas League.
6. Nick Senzel, 3B, Cincinnati Reds
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 6/29/1995 (22)
Likely 2018 opening level: AAA
Info: When a player is drafted with an assumed mature hitting approach, he’s given a lot of expectation to move quickly. That pressure can sometimes unfairly tag a player who is performing very well with unfair tags, so when some who scout the stat line only viewed Senzel’s line against his reputation, they assumed he was not performing as well as his pre-draft reputation had led to believe.
Senzel could not have done much more on the field (in 2017)
In fact, Senzel could not have done much more on the field. Senzel has surprising speed on the bases, even though he’s only an average runner in any raw running test. He’s got an extremely high baseball acumen, with an incredible idea of what is going on at all times in the game and adjusting his approach at the plate and on the field to accommodate.
Senzel has been getting run at shortstop in spring training, and if he can be even adequate there, he could open the season in the majors. Otherwise, he should not need long in AAA to force the team’s hand at another infield position to get his ability and moxie both on the team.
Now to the final five…
Next: #1-5