Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from sunny Tempe, where the temps have begun to crank a bit. Check out the Orioles list if you haven’t yet. I’m working on Pirates next, Brendan on BoSox. Good systems, all.
12:03
Jeb: How long until Seth Hernandez is the #1 pitching prospect in baseball?
12:03
Eric A Longenhagen: I’d guess end of year he’s in the mix once he’s held this stuff for a whole season and hopefully thrown strikes against hitters who actually have a shot against him.
12:04
lukesingy: How are you feeling about Dylan Crews? Still a top prospect who just needs time in the minors?
12:04
Eric A Longenhagen: I still think he’s so talented that he’s going to be good. Will he be franchise-altering? That outcome is leaving the building.
12:06
giantsprospects: Have you seen anything like what Luis Hernandez and Josuar Gonzalez having been doing to start the ACL season?
Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Baltimore Orioles. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as our own observations. This is the sixth year we’re delineating between two anticipated relief roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see in the “position” column below: MIRP for multi-inning relief pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning relief pitchers. The ETAs listed generally correspond to the year a player has to be added to the 40-man roster to avoid being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Manual adjustments are made where they seem appropriate, but we use that as a rule of thumb.
A quick overview of what FV (Future Value) means can be found here. A much deeper overview can be found here.
All of the ranked prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. It has more details (and updated TrackMan data from various sources) than this article and integrates every team’s list so readers can compare prospects across farm systems. It can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »
Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from Tempe, where the temps are going to hit 100 and (it looks like) stay there for the foreseeable future. Brendan and I are working on the Orioles system writeup, I’m working on draft update. Enjoying another day in in the desert. Thanks for being here.
12:04
GB: Lonbard get a grade bump?
12:05
Eric A Longenhagen: Not just yet, it’s gonna be fascinating and instructive to see him and Volpe side by side for the next little bit.
12:05
Erick: not sure what you can do about this, but christian scott’s stuff+ numbers from last night aren’t showing on his page / game log despite last night’s showing for other players. just thought i’d pass it along
12:05
Eric A Longenhagen: What I’m looking at has them visible:
Cody Scanlan/The Register-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Jonathon Long has logged a shiny 137 wRC+ since he was selected in the ninth round of the 2023 draft out of Long Beach State. How bright of a future he has is a question not easily answered. Ranked 17th on our recently released 2026 Cubs Top Prospects list with a 40 FV, the 24-year-old first baseman has a profile that is promising, yet in some ways concerning.
Last season’s numbers were particularly strong. Playing at Triple-A Iowa, Long slashed a robust .305/404/.479 with 20 home runs and a 131 wRC+ over 607 plate appearances, which led to his being honored as the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year. His right-handed bat hasn’t been nearly as productive in the current campaign — a .294/.369/.405 slash line with a pair of round-trippers and a 101 wRC+ over 143 plate appearances — but he nonetheless remains a threat to opposing pitchers. Moreover, he has begun to warm up. Over his last nine games with Iowa, Long is 14-for-40 (.350).
A hyperextended elbow caused the Orange, California native to miss time in spring training, a period that coincided with my annual visit to Cactus League camps. Intrigued by his stat sheet and scouting reports alike, I asked Long if he considers himself more of a power hitter, or more of a contact hitter.
“I’m probably a little bit of both,” replied Long, whose 20.3% strikeout rate and 10.5% walk rate this season are slightly worse than last year’s respective marks of 19.7% and 13.2%. “I don’t like striking out, and I have pretty good exit-velocity numbers. If you combine those, you kind of get a high contact rate and a power hitter.”
Our recent prospect report on Long, put together by Eric Longenhagen and James Fegan, is largely in accord with that self-assessment. Bullish in agreement, it nevertheless came with a caveat: Read the rest of this entry »
Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Chicago Cubs. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as our own observations. This is the sixth year we’re delineating between two anticipated relief roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see in the “position” column below: MIRP for multi-inning relief pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning relief pitchers. The ETAs listed generally correspond to the year a player has to be added to the 40-man roster to avoid being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Manual adjustments are made where they seem appropriate, but we use that as a rule of thumb.
A quick overview of what FV (Future Value) means can be found here. A much deeper overview can be found here.
All of the ranked prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. It has more details (and updated TrackMan data from various sources) than this article and integrates every team’s list so readers can compare prospects across farm systems. It can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »
Eric A Longenhagen: Morning, readers, welcome back. Let’s hop to.
12:04
Stashin: Who comes up first – De Vries or Emerson? And who has a bigger impact this year and next?
12:06
Eric A Longenhagen: That’s a good one. Obviously, the Emerson extension makes him feel more proximate at the start of the discussion. JP Crawford has a .390 xwOBA right now and Cole Young has found his footing. So those two are holding serve at the moment. Emerson has been fine, he’s not kicking the door down…
12:08
Eric A Longenhagen: De Vries has now been at Double-A for a little over 200 plate appearances. He could justifiably be promoted soon. If he sustains this level of performance at Triple-A for another four-to-six weeks while Hernaiz continues to look like he has, there’s a more obvious vacuum there.
12:09
Eric A Longenhagen: I think De Vries will hit for power immediately. Emerson’s swing is less dangerous in ways and places that pitchers can access.
12:11
A dummy: As a prospect dummy, should I get excited over Pedro Ramirez or is it just a case of the cubs writers pumping up their guys?
Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the San Diego Padres. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as my own observations. This is the sixth year we’re delineating between two anticipated relief roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see in the “position” column below: MIRP for multi-inning relief pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning relief pitchers. The ETAs listed generally correspond to the year a player has to be added to the 40-man roster to avoid being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Manual adjustments are made where they seem appropriate, but we use that as a rule of thumb.
A quick overview of what FV (Future Value) means can be found here. A much deeper overview can be found here.
All of the ranked prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. It has more details (and updated TrackMan data from various sources) than this article and integrates every team’s list so readers can compare prospects across farm systems. It can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »
Eric A Longenhagen: Good morning from the kitchen island in Tempe, I’m happy to be home and chatting from my usual spot for the first time in a month. The Nats list ran today, so go check that out. Brendan published Royals Wednesday, enjoy that, too.
12:02
NFP: Victor Figueroa real or no real?
12:02
Eric A Longenhagen: Watched a bunch of him this week while tying loose ends on Nats and his swing does look different.
12:03
Eric A Longenhagen: More viable, actually accessing the power. Let’s see if the spray changed…
12:04
Eric A Longenhagen: Looks pretty similar. Contact rate actually down compared to last year, but it’s early… Needs more info.
12:04
Pirates: Talk me off the ledge regarding Konnor Griffin. Is this still adjusting? Right now nothings working for him
Eli Willits Photo: Sarah Phipps/The Oklahoman/USA Today Network via Imagn Images
Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Washington Nationals. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as my own observations. This is the sixth year we’re delineating between two anticipated relief roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see in the “position” column below: MIRP for multi-inning relief pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning relief pitchers. The ETAs listed generally correspond to the year a player has to be added to the 40-man roster to avoid being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Manual adjustments are made where they seem appropriate, but we use that as a rule of thumb.
A quick overview of what FV (Future Value) means can be found here. A much deeper overview can be found here.
All of the ranked prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. It has more details (and updated TrackMan data from various sources) than this article and integrates every team’s list so readers can compare prospects across farm systems. It can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »
Below is an analysis of the prospects in the farm system of the Kansas City Royals. Scouting reports were compiled with information provided by industry sources as well as my own observations. This is the sixth year we’re delineating between two anticipated relief roles, the abbreviations for which you’ll see in the “position” column below: MIRP for multi-inning relief pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning relief pitchers. The ETAs listed generally correspond to the year a player has to be added to the 40-man roster to avoid being made eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Manual adjustments are made where they seem appropriate, but we use that as a rule of thumb.
A quick overview of what FV (Future Value) means can be found here. A much deeper overview can be found here.
All of the ranked prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. It has more details (and updated TrackMan data from various sources) than this article and integrates every team’s list so readers can compare prospects across farm systems. It can be found here. Read the rest of this entry »
