AL East potential breakout prospects to watch

Cavan Biggio, 2B/3B – Toronto Blue Jays

You’ve probably heard of Cavan’s father, Craig, who was a Hall of Fame player for the Houston Astros. However, Cavan is making a name for himself on the field.

In 563 at bats for Double-A New Hampshire, Biggio slashed .252./.388/.499. He hit 26 homers, while driving in 99, as well as slashing 23 doubles and swiping 20 bags. One of the more impressive things about his season, was that even though he struck out 148 times, he walked 100.

Defensively, he can play all over the place, not the second and third base. Those are his best positions, where he isn’t the best defender, with MLB Pipeline putting it as, “solid, if unspectacular.” The Jays have been putting him at the outfield corners, allowing him to be more versatile. This could possibly make his road to the majors easier.

Of course, he’ll be blocked at his two main positions by two other prospects. One is the best prospect in baseball, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The other is MLB Pipeline’s number 11 overall prospect, Bo Bichette. Guerrero will play third, and in order for Biggio to come up, Bichette will have to play shortstop, which is one of two positions that is listed for him.

It’s not a guarantee Biggio will see action in Toronto this year, even if they bring up Guerrero and Bichette later in the year. If he doesn’t this year, he could open the season with the big league club next season.

Brendan McKay, LHP/1B – Tampa Bay Rays

Can someone who was drafted in the top five, and a top 25 prospect really be a breakout?

McKay was the talk of the two-way player town before Shohei Ohtani come around. However, he struggled a bit at the plate in 2018. Despite his good plate discipline, walking 48 times and striking 52 times, he hit just .214 with a .757 OPS across three levels.

Across those three levels on the mound, McKay posted a 2.41 ERA and 11.8 K/9 in 78.1 innings.

Keith Law, ESPN’s prospect insider, recently put out his top 100, in which he praises McKay’s arm. Saying that McKay’s arm is major league ready, but his bat is behind in the developing process.

Though he was drafted as a two-way player, and has played all of his professional ball as a two-way player, there were concerns that it wouldn’t stick.

All current signs point to McKay sticking with just pitching for now, and he’ll likely need to stay another year in the minors, unless the Rays need him for a stretch run, or, as an opener.

DL Hall, LHP – Baltimore Orioles

The 20-year-old lefty was Baltimore’s first round pick in 2017. While MLB Pipeline had him as the number three prospect in the Orioles system in 2018, he moved into their new top 100 list that came out in January.

In 2018, Hall pitched in 94.1 innings with a 2.10 ERA and and 100 strikeouts in Single-A.

Hall is still a couple years away from the majors, but his 2018 season boosted him on prospect lists. He is now the ninth rated left handed prospect on MLB pipeline and 90 overall on the Top 100.

MLB Pipeline has his ETA at 2021, so we won’t see him for a few years, but he has the skillset to be a top of the line starter for Baltimore.

Of course, Baltimore is in the middle of a rebuilding period after trading Manny  Machado, but as soon as Hall can contribute, he will be a crucial piece for the team.

Michael Chavis, 3B – Boston Red Sox

Chavis has been on most third base rankings for the past couple of years.

He is currently the number 10 third baseman and 79 overall prospect on MLB Pipeline.

He will able to contribute to the major league team this year, after being a stud in the minors for the past few years. He played across the top two levels in 2018. In Double-A, he hit .303 with a .897 OPS in 122 at-bats, with six home runs.

At Triple-A, he hit .273 with an .840 OPS with two homers.

Defensively, he has played third base, but with Bobby Dalbelc coming up, the Red Sox have been putting him at first base. Mitch Moreland is currently occupying first base for the Sox.

With most positions occupied, Chavis will struggle to find a place to contribute with the Red Sox, but hit hitting ability is too far along to keep him out of the lineup for too long. Boston will struggle to keep him out of the lineup for too long, and we could see Chavis split time at first in 2019.

Estevan Florial, OF – New York Yankees

This was tough. The Yankees are stacked across the major league roster. However, Brett Gardner is getting older, and that leaves an opening for Florial, and he could be ready to contribute in New York within a year or two.

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In Rookie Ball and High-A in 2018, Florial hit .283 with a .779 OPS, but he struckout 92 times in 325 at bats.

Although he strikes out quite a bit, he has the speed to be a top of the order hitter and steal some bags. He stole 16 in 2018.

Not only that, but he showed some extra base power in 2018, hitting 19 doubles across both levels.

He has the speed and the arm to play multiple positions in the outfield, so if the Yankees need him for a stretch run next season, it’s possible that we can see him contribute at the end of the season.

If not, Florial will be a big piece for New York in 2020, and can contribute right away at a couple positions in the outfield, even if he doesn’t come along as a hitter right away.