RotoProspects announces its list of the best prospects at each position as spring training begins. We have a player at each position, along with two left-handed and two right-handed starting pitchers.
Taking a look at the diamond, we start with catcher, where Francisco Alvarez takes the spot. Alvarez sits near the top of many preseason prospect lists (He’s No. 31 on our preseason Top 500 rankings). Alvarez slugged his way to an .885 OPS with 27 home runs across two levels last season.
Francisco Alvarez 2022 Statistics
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 20 | NYM-min | AA,AAA | 112 | 495 | 411 | 74 | 107 | 27 | 78 | 0 | .374 | .511 | .885 |
| 2022 | 20 | NYM | NL | 5 | 14 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .286 | .500 | .786 |
| 1 Yr | 1 Yr | 1 Yr | 1 Yr | 5 | 14 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .286 | .500 | .786 |
| 162 | 162 | 162 | 162 | 162 | 454 | 389 | 97 | 65 | 32 | 32 | 0 | .286 | .500 | .786 |
Kyle Manzardo of the Rays takes the first base spot, putting together a phenomenal season in 2022 (1.046 OPS with 22 HRs). He walked nearly as much as he struck out and clearly has a great hit tool and batting eye. The Rays are working on improving his strength to access even more power.
Miguel Vargas of the Dodgers has little experience at second base, having played just 28 games at the position throughout his four years in the minors. He had a .915 OPS with 17 HRs and 16 SBs at Triple-A last season.
Elly De La Cruz will probably be our No. 1 overall prospect in a matter of weeks, as the two in front of him will graduate soon. He put up massive counting numbers in the minors last year (28 HRs, 47 SBs across Hi-A and Double-A) and there isn’t much he can’t do on the field.
Gunnar Henderson sits atop many preseason prospect lists — we have only one guy ahead of him on ours — due to his excellent minor-league profile and how well he debuted last August. He could be the Orioles’ best hitter already, and should play third base and some shortstop this year.
Our outfield of Corbin Carroll, Jackson Chourio and James Wood all have power and speed and are must haves for your dynasty leagues. Carroll will likely graduate as our No. 1 prospect, and both Chourio and Wood have a great chance to be No. 1 at some point as well.
Finishing up with the pitchers, our top left-handers are Kyle Harrison and Ricky Tiedemann, who both finished with sub-3.00 ERAs and incredible K/9s (14.8 and 13.4 respectively). Our right-handers are no slouches either, as Andrew Painter had a 1.56 ERA and 13.5 K/9 across three levels as a 19-year-old and Grayson Rodriguez reached Triple-A with a 2.62 ERA and 13.0 K/9. Painter has paused his throwing due to a sore elbow, so we’ll have to see what happens there.