Though his numbers were mostly the same as they were during a very impressive 2018 at Double-A San Antonio (.286/.355/.507, 16 HR, 16 SB), Tatis appeared to come of age during the offseason in the higher-stakes environment of the Dominican Winter League. Except for the sliver of our population who are both prospect hounds and savvy internet streamers, Tatis’ LIDOM brilliance was mostly obscured from American eyes, and may one day exist only as an oral history, the way John Lucas and Bernard King’s D.C. summer league cameos do for basketball fans today.

Nevertheless, major league scouts and teams are well-aware of Tatis’ all-world physical gifts, but the Padres knew first. Scouted and snatched away from the Camelback Ranch backfields by A.J. Preller himself, Tatis had barely worn a White Sox uniform before he was flipped to San Diego for James Shields during 2016 Extended spring. He wasn’t a highly-regarded amateur prospect when he signed the year before the trade, but he got better very quickly and essentially hasn’t stopped. He has Carlos Correa‘s frame, but is more agile and acrobatic a defender than Correa, and while there’s some risk that Tatis will eventually fill out beyond viability at shortstop, it probably won’t be for a while, and in the interim he’s going to be quite good there. He also has power that is rare for the big leagues generally, let alone for a middle infielder, and he has gotten to it in games thus far despite some issues with strikeouts. There’s a sizable gap between the low-end of Tatis’ possible outcomes (he moves to third quickly and always has contact issues) and the high end (he becomes a plus glove at short and has an offensive trajectory like George Springer‘s, whose contact issues suddenly went away) but right tail outcomes like this barely exist across baseball.

Strikeout-prone prospects often require some time to adjust and can take a little bit to perform, but we like Tatis’ chances to become a superstar, the crest of the Padres’ wave of young talent and a cornerstone of a burgeoning franchise.

Blisters and fingernail issues were a minor problem during Gore’s 2017 pro debut, and shelved him three separate times throughout 2018. His stuff was intact when he pitched, his fastball resting mostly in the 92-94 range and topping around 96 during most of his starts, though he has peaked at 98.

He is mechanically non-traditional, something Gore is able to maintain because he’s such a great athlete. As his front leg kicks up before he pedals toward the plate, so too does his glove and pitching hand, way up over his head, as if his mitt and knee are connected by an invisible wire. When Gore comes home, he drifts toward the first base side of the mound a bit, creating a unique angle on his pitches.

And those pitches are good. Though he doesn’t have great natural ability to spin the ball, Gore’s over-the-top arm slot enables him to get tumble on his curveball anyway, he has very advanced changeup feel, and his slider is firm. He’ll be able to locate what he wants, where he wants for as long as he retains his top-of-the-scale athleticism. He may be on a bit of an innings count this year just because he only threw 66 innings in 2018, but otherwise he’s quite advanced and could move through the minors fairly quickly.

Urias walked more than he struck out in every year of his pro career until 2018, when his K% rose all the way to 20%. Though he has always utilized a long, slow leg kick, Urias used to cut it down when he got into two-strike counts, something he didn’t do last year, probably in effort to hit for more power. He still managed to slash .296/.398/.447 as a 21-year-old in the hitter-friendly PCL and reached San Diego in September. Even with minor tweaks, Urias isn’t likely to hit for anything more than doubles power, but he should continue to be a plus bat who adds value on the bases and in the field à la Joey Wendle or Cesar Hernandez. Ian Kinsler‘s presence combined with Urias early-season struggles caused the Padres to demote Urias to Triple-A. He’s raking there and is still just the age of a college junior, so his initial numbers in the majors likely aren’t anything to worry about.

Amateur scouting heuristics would not have expected Paddack be here. He was a high school draftee who was 19 and a half on draft day (draft models like young players), and had no feel for spin (something modern pitching research has determined isn’t a malleable trait). The Marlins signed him for $400,000 as an eighth rounder and traded him to San Diego just over a year later in exchange for Fernando Rodney. The six starts Paddack made leading up to the deal were incredible. He had a 48:2 strikeout to walk ratio during that span, and he has continued to miss bats while filling up the strike zone since the Padres acquired him. He’d probably have been in the majors last year had Tommy John surgery not robbed him of more than a year of development (Paddack blew out in his third start as a Padres prospect).

His stuff was fine when he returned last year, with his fastball up to 95 in his first extended spring training start back from injury, and he topped out at 98 during the year. He’ll likely never have a great breaking ball, but as long as he locates it properly against righties, it will be enough. If there’s an 80 changeup in the minors, this is probably it, and plenty of starters with mediocre breaking balls have survived with heavy changeup use. Paddack’s fastball plays in the strike zone and he can make it sink if he wants to work down, so he shouldn’t run into any game theory-related issues due to a lack of repertoire depth because his stuff is just too good to hit when he locates it, even if you properly guess what’s coming. It’s rare for true aces to have such limited repertoires, and we think it’s more likely that Paddack develops into a 3-4 WAR starter than a demigod, the way his numbers might indicate.

Not long ago, Patiño was an undersized Colombian shortstop who would pitch once in a while. The Padres liked his athleticism enough to sign him and move him to the mound full-time. He’s added a full 10 ticks to his fastball over the last two and a half years, and now is not only one of the best on-mound athletes in the minors, but a hard worker and team leader with infectious charisma. Patiño’s velocity came as he got in the weight room and added about 25 pounds. He was so dominant during his first few pro starts in the DSL that the Padres quickly pushed him stateside for the remainder of 2017, then to the Midwest League at age 18 the following year.

Not only does Patiño have premium arm strength, he has natural feel for spin, and is a curious learner who quickly actualizes instruction on the mound. He has already begun to vary the cadence of his delivery to mess with hitters’ timing, and has mapped aspects of MacKenzie Gore’s delivery onto his own, just to see if it works for him. He’s still a little too confident with his breaking ball in the zone, but it’s hard not to expect an athlete with work habits like these (Patiño has already learned and is fluent in English) to get better at everything. You can go nuts projecting on his secondaries and command the same way scouts did with Hunter Greene when he was in high school, and Patiño’s breaking stuff is further along than Greene’s was at the same age. He likely won’t grow into more velo because the frame for that isn’t here, but he’s already got plenty of heat. Conservatively, Patiño has mid-rotation upside, but how the changeup and breaking ball command develop matter because that’s where there’s room for significant growth.

Acquired from Cleveland for Brad Hand, Mejia is one of the more entertaining hitters to watch in the minors, but he has a few flaws that need to be corrected for him to reach his substantial ceiling, and possibly for him to profile at all. He has a very aggressive approach and a funky, high-effort swing from both sides of the plate, and they’re only sustainable because Mejia has elite hand-eye coordination and bat control. His swing-happy approach could limit his on-base ability quite a bit, and possibly his power output, too, which would be less of a problem if Mejia could definitely stick as a catcher; he has an elite arm but is a below-average receiver currently.

Before they traded him, Cleveland tried Mejia at third base and the outfield corners. San Diego seems inclined to just let him catch, but if Wil Myers’ defensive movement is any indication, they’re open to trying new things. There are probably certain types of pitchers that Mejia can catch without much issue, and it seems logical to pair him and Austin Hedges in a way that hides Mejia’s issues while he can work on them and still gets reps. If he does have to move to, say, right field, the lack of plate discipline becomes an issue because the offensive bar out there is much higher. The scouting report reads much like Jorge Alfaro’s, except Mejia is a switch-hitter with better natural bat control.

Morejon made three trips to the Injured List in 2018 and he’s had a few other issues that have caused the Padres to throttle down his activity during the spring and fall. He has plus velocity, but loses a tick of perceived velo due to lack of extension, and his arm angle and spin direction are more conducive of sink/run that bat-missing rise. He will flash a plus changeup, and that pitch will likely be his best at maturity. The breaking stuff is closer to average. He was mechanically inconsistent this spring and has once again been placed on the IL with shoulder/back issues. There are days when Morejon’s stuff and style of pitching resembles Jesus Luzardo’s, but the injury stuff might force a bullpen move.

Allen is a better athlete than one would likely surmise if they were just looking at him in the uniform. His fast-paced delivery is hard for hitters with a big leg kick to properly time the first time through the order, and once they’ve gotten a feel for his fastball, Allen pulls the string on his sinking, plus changeup. His strike-throwing has improved from slightly below-average to slightly above over the last 18 months or so, and Allen now comfortably projects as a No. 4 starter.

Acquired from Boston for Drew Pomeranz in July 2016, Espinoza has only thrown 32 innings of affiliated ball for the Padres since the deal. Espinoza was 94-97 and flashed a plus changeup and curveball during his final spring training start of 2017. Between that outing and his first regular season start for Hi-A Lake Elsinore, he felt discomfort in his elbow and was shut down. After several weeks of rest and rehab, it was decided that he needed Tommy John surgery, which he had early in August. The timing wasn’t great, and Espinoza missed all of 2018 working back from surgery, then re-tore his elbow during the spring of 2019 and needed a second TJ. He has been spotted in a cast on the Peoria backfields. Espinoza has front-end stuff but even if it returns, he’ll have missed three years of reps that he desperately needed to polish his below-average control, increasing the likelihood that he’s a reliever or backend starter.

Ornelas was the most polished of the teenage prospects the Padres pushed to the Midwest League last year, and while his raw numbers were only impressive if viewed with his age in mind, his peripherals (11% walk rate, 19% strikeout rate) were marvelous. Quite soft-bodied as an amateur, Ornelas has reshaped his physique and is now a svelte 6-foot-3 and an average runner underway, and it plays a little better than that on the bases because he is a max-effort player. Most amateur scouts had him projected to first base, but he now has a chance to not just stick in a corner outfield spot, but perhaps be above-average there.

Really what Ornelas is best at is hitting. He has terrific timing and feel for contact, as well as a growing idea of which pitches to attack to hit for power. His ground ball rate was down last year and while there’s still room for growth in this area, the fact that Ornelas has already shown movement here is a sign more will come. Unless the hit and power tools grow beyond what we expect, it’s unlikely that Ornelas becomes a star, but we consider him a strong bet to be an everyday big leaguer, and his makeup and polish make him an unusually high-probability bet in our estimation.

Naylor stood out as an underclassman on the Canadian Junior national teams that travel to Florida and Arizona each spring and fall, and was also a mainstay on the showcase circuit. It’s because of a sterling performance in his draft spring facing professional pitchers in spring training stadiums that clubs became confident he had a 50 or better bat to go with his easy plus raw power; the Marlins surprised many by taking him in the middle of the first round. His speed, defense, position, and thick frame have always been below average, but luckily Naylor’s bat has carried him this far and it appears it will carry him to a big league career of some consequence.

Miami traded Naylor to San Diego in the controversial Colin Rea deal, soon after also trading Chris Paddack to the Padres in a separate transaction. Naylor was involved in a bizarre accidental stabbing with teammate Stone Garrett just before the trade. San Diego has Eric Hosmer in his way, so you’d need to see a trade or the universal DH for Naylor to have a path to playing with his left field defense grading well below average. The MLB free agent market isn’t valuing Naylor-type players highly, but his first three seasons would interest any club with an opening for him.

Potts keeps trickling down the defensive spectrum — he was pretty good defensive shortstop in high school but is a bigger-bodied third baseman now, and may have to move to an outfield corner eventually — but with that weight has come substantial raw power, and he now has two consecutive 20-homer seasons on his resume. In the event that he does have to move off of third base, Potts’ lack of plate discipline makes his profile very risky, though he seemed to take a step forward in that regard last year. He turned 20 during his Arizona Fall League stint and should spend all year at Double-A. His low-end outcome is in the Juan Francisco/Matt Davidson realm, while a middle of the road projection is that of a big power/low on-base corner outfielder, a skillset Padres fans are familiar with because that’s what Hunter Renfroe is. But if Potts stays at third and continues to refine his approach, he could be an above-average everyday player.

After he shook off some initial rust in 2017, Baez’s stuff and strike-throwing quickly flourished, enabling him to post a 10:1 strikeout to walk ratio at Low-A Fort Wayne. His fastball was in the 94-97 range, and his changeup was consistently plus or better all summer. A back issue put Baez behind during 2018 spring training, and while the Padres sent him to Hi-A in late-April, his stuff and command were just not as good as they were the year before. Instead of 94-97, Baez’s fastball was more 92-95, and his walk rate tripled. We’re in wait-and-see mode with Baez now. He had a mid-rotation look in 2017, but fourth starter stuff and fringe command last year. After sitting 92-95 early in the spring, Baez was shut down with shoulder inflammation. In early May, he was again 93-95 with his trademark changeup.

A staple on the travel ball circuit for several years, Edwards has a long track record of performance against high-level pitching and his elite speed makes it likely that he plays a premium defensive position in pro ball, and plays it well. He faces questions about his size, and power doesn’t project to be a real part of what he ends up doing. Instead, Edwards is a high-effort offensive catalyst who knifes at defenses with line drives and well-placed bunts. He is twitchy, strong, has great feel for the strike zone, he’s short to the ball and tough to strike out, and has feel for all-fields contact. He has a traditional leadoff hitter’s skillset from a tools/stylistic standpoint, but a modern leadoff man’s approach and on base ability. Capable of playing a passable shortstop, Edwards is most likely to end up as an above-average defender at second, and his elite speed could make him a valuable defender in center field if needed.

DSL and AZL stats are almost meaningless but Marcano’s 60:25 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 2017 and ’18 combined is so exceptional that it almost certainly says something about his plate discipline. That notion is supported by in-person looks at Marcano, who not only has good feel for the strike zone, but also has the hand-eye coordination and bat control to spoil tough pitches, and barrel mistakes. He is very slight of build, so much so that there’s skepticism regarding his power projection that isn’t there for other players of similar age, skill, and level (like Brayan Rocchio with Cleveland), who have a better chance of developing pop.

Excellent at both middle infield spots, Marcano has a shot to be a plus glove at short or second at peak. Even without power, a defensive wizard with high-end feel for contact who runs well is at least a good utility guy. If some pop comes, even if it’s just a little, then there’s everyday upside here.

If your team of attractive thieves needs a grease man for The Big Heist, then consider Rosario, who is an acrobatic, top-of-the-scale athlete who has on-job robbery experience. A plus runner, Rosario’s speed and athleticism help hide some of the circuitous routes he takes to fly balls, and he has the physical talent to be a plus defender in center field as he refines those. He tracks pitches well, walks a lot, and has terrific bat control, which leads to low-lying, all-fields contact. He’s a potential leadoff hitter with a plus glove in center, a potential first-division regular. Some clubs think he’ll eventually hit for power, but that would require a drastically different approach/style of hitting than Rosario currently employs, and there are a host of other things to refine before the Padres tweak a thing Rosario currently does pretty well. He’ll be a 19-year-old at Hi-A all season, and could be a top 100 prospect by mid-summer.

The Padres seemed to have the top tier of prep pitching in their mix at pick No. 7 during last year’s draft. Though Weathers wasn’t universally considered to be part of that contingent, it seemed San Diego thought he was. We believed the gap between pick seven and where Weathers would otherwise have been picked was sizable enough that San Diego might be able to cut a deal, but instead Weathers signed for slot, about $5.2 million. He is the son of former big league reliever David Weathers, and has been a known prospect of interest since his sophomore year of high school.

Though he’s not built like most prep prospects, Weathers is remarkably athletic and was a dynamite high school basketball player. His stuff waxed and waned during his senior spring, but when it was good, he had arguably the best present three-pitch mix, and pitch usage, in the 2018 prep pitching class. He’s a short-strider, so the fastball is going to play down a bit due to poor extension, but otherwise he projects as a mid-rotation arm due to the quality of his secondaries, and, potentially, a quick-moving one. After 24 strong innings at Low-A to start the year, Weathers was shut down with a dead arm.

The Alfonso Soriano comps to Ruiz are actually quite apt. Like Soriano, Ruiz has pole-to-pole power and feel for striking the ball in the air to all fields, he is similarly built, and he shares some mechanical traits with Soriano, though not the signature, one-handed finish. He’s also not a good defensive infielder, and is so mistake-prone that there’s a real possibility that Ruiz eventually moves to the outfield. He runs well enough to give center field a go if that becomes the case, but such a move is probably premature until or unless Ruiz’s offensive performance forces a change so his glove can be ready when the bat is.

The Padres acquired Ruiz from Kansas City in a 2017 six-player swap (Strahm, Wood, Ruiz for Cahill, Maurer, Buchter) just 21 games into his stateside pro debut. Then they skipped him over advanced rookie ball and sent him to Low-A the following spring. The Midwest League is tough on hitters and Ruiz’s line was, in context, pretty good. His aggressive approach may start to be exploited at Hi-A, but once Ruiz gets his footing he could break out statistically.

Some teams moved off of Lawson when he had some injury issues as a high school senior, but the Padres found themselves flush with pool money after taking underslot prospects late in the first round (Hudson Potts and Eric Lauer), which enabled them to give Lawson $1.9 million in the second round, $1 million above slot. He has yet to spend any time on the IL as a pro.

Lawson’s velocity has climbed and his breaking ball, which was in the 68-72 mph range in high school, now has more power to it and rests in the mid-70s. He found a better changeup in 2018, quelling most concerns about him eventually winding up in the bullpen. His delivery isn’t as fluid as it was in high school, but while Lawson doesn’t have pinpoint, touch-and-feel command, his fastball lives in the zone and he throws enough strikes to start. He’s enduring a walk uptick at Double-A early in 2019 but his rate of strikes (63%) is the same as last year, so the walk totals are probably going to regress to Lawson’s career mean. He projects as a No. 4/5 starter, or a valuable reliever if he’s pushed to the bullpen by the depth of talent on the rest of San Diego’s staff.

Allen has faced questions about his long-term defensive home dating back to college, and those continued through last year after he struggled in front of pro scouts during the Arizona Fall League. The AFL is not a great place to evaluate catching, because guys are tired and forced to quickly learn an entirely new staff of pitchers, but independent of that qualifier, lots of teams simply don’t think Allen can play back there due a lack of arm strength and/or receiving ability. Others think Allen is serviceable, and would gladly give up what he lacks on defense for what he’d provide at the catching position on offense: huge power, rare for the position.

Allen elevates the ball with authority and has been doing so since college. He slugged .728 as a junior (while facing questions about competition quality in addition to the defensive stuff) and he has 50 or more extra base hits in each of the last two seasons. It’s All-Star offensive ability for a catcher, it’s just that most of the industry doesn’t like him at the position. Perhaps what San Diego has done with Francisco Mejia (let him catch pitchers he can handle) will serve as precedent for what they may try with Allen, whose issues are admittedly different than Mejia’s. They could let Allen catch pitchers who are adept at holding runners on their own, give him a start at first now and then, and let him take high-leverage at-bats off the bench against righties the rest of the time. That’s a valuable role player, one who’s arguably ready for prime time right now.

Arias is a flashy defensive shortstop who has already grown into sizable power for a sinewy 19-year-old. His hands are very powerful, explosive, and work in a tight, lift-friendly loop much like Carter Kieboom’s, but Arias doesn’t track pitches well, and makes poor choices about what he’s swinging at. He needs to refine his approach so more of that power plays in games, because he’ll likely always have a bit of a whiff problem due to his swing being so geared for power. There’s big ceiling here because of the pop and defensive profile, but the approach might make him a frustrating and streaky Tim Anderson-type of player.

Campusano was a bad-bodied, defense-first catcher on the summer showcase circuit, but then he completely remade his body for his senior spring. He showed above-average power, some bat control, and much improved agility behind the plate, leading to him going 39th overall in 2017. He didn’t catch much velocity in high school and struggled receiving pro arms at first. There’s still some work to be done on that end, but Campusano has gotten better on defense, he has plus raw power, plus arm strength, and some feel to hit. He’s a potential regular on tools, but the attrition rate of teenage catching prospects is pretty scary.

Margevicius got on the national scouting radar when he had a strong performance at Georgia early during his draft spring, during which he hit 95 mph. He was scouted the rest of the spring but often sat 88-91 and hit 93 mph, working with a solid average changeup as his out-pitch, and a fringy breaking ball that came and went with his arm speed, stuff befitting a seventh round selection.

Margevicius changed a bit in pro ball, switching from a curveball to slider, and making it his primary off-speed pitch. His performance, despite below average velocity, was excellent thereafter and he surprised many when he went from Hi-A to the big leagues to start 2019. He’s probably a back-end starter, a No. 4/5 at best, but the finished product came together much quicker than anyone expected and some of it happened with pitch development and adjustment, evidence Margevicius will be able to continue making relevant tweaks as it becomes pertinent.

Muñoz’s arm action evokes Joel Zumaya, Billy Wagner, and Craig Kimbrel. His limb whips around at such speed and with such flexibility that it almost skips right past enthralling and strikes one as grotesque. But the heat that emanates from him right arm is among the best in the minors. He’ll routinely sit 97-99 and has touched as high as 103 (the slo-mo pitch in the linked video was 100 mph). It’s a blistering, elite pitch that had upper-level hitters taking flaccid, defeated swings this spring, and has helped Muñoz strike out two hitters per inning early on in 2019.

He has yet to harness the fastball and throw consistent strikes (he’s walking a batter per inning, too) and his breaking ball quality is also inconsistent. If both of those issues improve, Muñoz will be an elite relief option. If one of them does, he’s probably still a high-leverage arm, just one who makes you sweat after surrendering a couple of walks. If neither do, then Muñoz will go the way of some other recent fastball-only prospects like this, such as Thyago Vieira and Mauricio Cabrera.

Up to 94 as a high school underclassman, Thompson was tracking like a traditional first round Texas high school arm until he had Tommy John and missed all but one game during his senior year. He was a wild card on draft day, but ended up going in the third round, and signing for early second round money ($1.7 million). During his first pro summer, Thompson’s fastball velocity climbed from the 88-91 range up to the 92-94 area. Then shoulder and biceps issues plagued his first two full pro seasons, and his stuff was down in 2018.

This spring, he was throwing harder than ever, sitting 94-97 at times, and showing better breaking stuff than he had previously. He’s struggling to harness the new stuff, but he hasn’t really pitched all that much due to all those injuries, and that he has a chance for four above-average pitches gives him more upside than a lot of the closer, safer prospects on this list. He could have a breakout summer, or it could be very bumpy.

Reed was a lightly-scouted multi-sport high school athlete in Maryland who also played hockey before he arrived at the University of Florida. Soon after he stepped on campus, scouts saw and become enamored with the enormous athletic potential he had. He still hasn’t quite tapped into it, at least on offense. Reed has 70 speed and defensive ability in center field, along with a 60 arm and average raw power. As a 6-foot-4, 210 pound athletic specimen, he’ll probably play forever. There’s some bat control and feel for oppo gap contact here, but Reed’s approach and feel for hitting is lacking, holding back his everyday potential. Most scouts project him as a good fourth outfielder in the Jake Marisnick mold.

Quantrill was an early 2016 draft 1-1 candidate (mid-90s, plus changeup) before he tore his UCL as a sophomore and missed his entire junior year to rehab. His velocity and feel for locating his fastball both regressed in 2018, but they seem to have rebounded this spring. Quantrill has been up to 96, sitting 93-94 early in starts before settling into the low-90s later. It’s a two-seamer, one that probably pairs best with his changeup, Quantrill’s best chance of missing bats. He now has two fringe breaking balls, which is a player dev miracle considering there was a stretch when it was unclear if Quantrill would ever have just one. He profiles as a sinker/changeup backend starter.

Avila’s 2017 campaign — 170 strikeouts, 33 walks, 129 innings — had us wondering if we were missing something and he was an obvious top-100 arm. He carved up the lower levels by making heavy use of two good secondary pitches, a curveball and changeup. He came back down to earth in 2018, struggling to locate his low-90s fastball in the zone. He sits 90-94, and will touch 96. The long-term role may ultimately be in the bullpen, especially since three-pitch relievers may become more necessary due to forthcoming rule changes. He’ll likely be up and down this year, making spot starts when needed.

France was a contact-first hitter on a highly entertaining San Diego State team (Seby Zavala, Bubba Derby, Steven Pallares) but has found a way to get to more power in pro ball. Even if you think France is a capable third baseman (not all teams do, seeing him as first base-only), the Hosmer and Machado contracts almost certainly make France a burgeoning trade chip unless early-season trials at second base prove fruitful. He’s exactly the kind of hitter to whom the PCL is extra nice, but he’s hit at every level since college and, save for one season, has also hit for power, and his current SLG% (he was slugging .885 before San Diego gave him his first big league look in May) is more caricature than mirage. He could be a Kevin Kouzmanoff sequel.

SoCal always seems to have a sleeper catching prospect or two and Hunt, whose stock rose late in the spring, was the 2017 high school model. Most area scouts bought into his agility, hands, and arm enough to project him as a long-term catcher despite his size. He dealt with a shoulder issue throughout 2017 but arrived to camp in 2018 healthy, stronger, and with much more raw power than he had the year before.

Hunt’s swing remains somewhat unbalanced and he often dives in and loses posture that would enable him to pull the ball with power. His top hand doesn’t drive contact as much as it probably could. But he’s athletic, is going to catch, has a great frame, and his swing has an athletic foundation that should be refined over time. He projects as a backup if the bat doesn’t improve, but has more ceiling than that if it does.

Wingenter is a nasty, two-pitch reliever whose fastball plays up because of its movement, and because Wingenter is huge and generates big extension. His slider has horizontal movement, which isn’t great for missing bats, but he keeps it down near the bottom of the zone and it doesn’t get touched up very often. If the breaking ball were a little better, Wingenter would probably be in the 40+ FV tier, but we tend to think the only impact pitch here is the heater.

One of the best on-mound athletes in the 2018 AZL, Feliz is a converted shortstop with a delivery that looks an awful lot like Aroldis Chapman’s. The Padres acquired him on 40-man crunch day from Cleveland for depth starter Walker Lockett. Feliz sits only 88-92, but that should tick up as he physically matures. His fastball has natural cut, and at times, he throws what looks like a true cutter in the 84-87 range. He also has a 12-to-6 curveball that flashes plus.

Feliz could develop in a number of different ways. San Diego could make a concerted effort to alter his release so Feliz is more behind the ball, creating fastball life/rise that would probably play better with his curveball. Alternatively, they might nurture his natural proclivity for cut, and see what happens. Either way, this is an exciting athlete with workable stuff who’ll be 19 all summer. He has a chance to start, which is why he’s ahead of several other arms on this list who throw harder/are closer.

Quiroz was Team Mexico’s leadoff hitter during the 2017 WBC (he hit two homers and a double in six at-bats) and spent 2015-’17 crushing the Mexican League. He signed with Boston in November 2017, and was hot the following April at Double-A, but then missed three and a half months with an abdominal strain. He only played in 24 games at Double-A, then had 62 extra plate appearances in the Arizona Fall League. In Arizona, Quiroz looked pretty good. He’s a stocky and strong 5-foot-6, and he has average, all-fields power. He hit two full-extension, opposite field shots during the fall, including one that got out just left of center field at Sloan Park in Mesa. He’s patient and makes good decisions at the plate. He’s also fine at second base (below-average arm, below-average runner, above-average athlete, average hands) and played a lot of other positions while in Mexico. He’ll either need to be viable at other positions or just hit enough to play second base every day. It appears he has a chance to do the latter.

San Diego acquired him for fringe 40-man relief depth in the offseason. Quiroz presents rare 40-man flexibility because he’s arguably ready to contribute to a big league lineup right now, but because of how recently he signed, he doesn’t have to occupy a 40-man spot until the Padres need him on the active roster. They are log-jammed at second base at the moment, and haven’t asked Quiroz to play anywhere else yet. For now, he’s just a great depth option behind Ian Kinsler and Luis Urias, but if a rash of injuries or trades press Quiroz into action, he might be quite good.

As Guerra struck out more and more during his final few seasons as a shortstop, he frequently appeared despondent, sullen, and visibly affected by his struggles in ways that were often obvious and concerning. He struck out in at least 30% of his at-bats every year since the Padres acquired him from Boston as part of the Craig Kimbrel deal. While his defensive actions remained enticing (they were, especially around the bag, some of the smoothest and quickest some scouts had ever seen), Guerra also became error-prone. He seemed a mess, a potential DFA candidate.

This spring, Guerra has moved to the mound. His first bullpen session, which took place in front of a very small contingent of Padres front office folks, was electric. The first fastball was clocked by Rapsodo at 97 mph, and a few fastballs later, Guerra touched 100.4 mph. He has been working, an inning at a time, twice a week in extended spring training. Eric saw him shortly before publication, and he was 95-98 with natural cut at times (in the linked video you can see how his fastball’s spin axis is somewhat slidery) and had pretty impressive slider feel for someone who has only been pitching for a few weeks. He’ll likely head out to an affiliate in the next week or so (probably Lake Elsinore). Guerra seems comfortable and confident on the mound, and he’s going right at hitters with that fastball. He’ll move as quickly as his strike-throwing and slider allow him to, and San Diego has incentive to move him along because Guerra is on the 40-man. We may see him on the mound at Petco this season.

Little doesn’t have sexy tools, but he can hit and passably play a number of positions — all three outfield spots and maybe second base — because he has good baseball feel and instincts. We consider him a high-probability utility type who could approach a 100 wRC+ and enable lots of favorable matchups and defensive flexibility on the rest of the roster.

The wave of teenage talent currently at Hi-A drove San Diego to push Miller straight to Double-A to start his first full season, and he’s risen to the occasion, off to a pretty strong start, at least from a bat-to-ball standpoint. A minimalistic swing enables him to make high rates of contact while the strength in Miller’s hands generates doubles power. It’s not an exciting, athletic style of hitting but on an inoffensive, fundamentally sound defensive shortstop, it’s a pretty interesting skillset. Barring a significant swing change, Miller’s offensive output will likely cap his ceiling in the 40/45 FV range, but for a third round pick who moves quickly, that’s a great outcome.

Olivares was acquired from the Blue Jays in the Yangervis Solarte deal and has loud tools, with all but the hit tool grading above average. The power may not play in games due to an indiscriminate approach, rather than poor bat control. That will be more palatable if Olivares can stay in center field, but the general consensus is that he’s a right fielder. He’s more of a low-end regular type in a corner.

It’s pronounced ‘Eggy’, which is appropriate considering Rosario is an ovular 5-foot-9. Though he was signed the prior year, Rosario is about the same age as the Latin American teenagers from San Diego’s big 2016 July 2 class, but had been playing a level ahead of that group until this year. He has a good swing, and is a viable defender at second and third who projects as a bench infielder. He’ll likely be Rule 5 eligible long before he’s ready to contribute to a big league club, just because he signed so young. He profiles as a utility infielder.

Miliano arrived in the U.S. for his first instructional league at age 16 and was immediately of interest to pro scouts because of his present velo (90-94), projectable body, loose, fluid delivery, and curveball feel. As his velocity has ticked up, Miliano’s control has regressed, and he had a walk-happy 2018 in the AZL. That should probably be remedied before things like changeup development are addressed. You could go kind of nuts projecting on Miliano’s command and changuep based on how graceful and athletic he is, and he has a good chance to start one day despite his lousy 2018, but it’ll probably take a while.

Texas-Brownsville shuttered their baseball program before Reyes was able to take the field for them, and he ended up transferring to Galveston College. He spent his sophomore year at Galveston injured, then went undrafted as a junior. He was discovered by the Rays at a workout near the U.S./Mexico border and later signed, then was traded to San Diego as part of the Wil Myers blockbuster. He’s a low-slot bullpen slinger with a tailing, upper-90s fastball, and his arm slot creates issues for righties. He needs to refine command of the breaking ball to better deal with lefties, but just on arm strength and fastball movement, he profiles as a fine middle relief option, at least.

The curvaceous Cuban outfielder has a perfectly fine collection of average tools, but the bat control is a little lacking and detracts enough from Ona’s production that he’ll likely max out as a low-end regular rather than an impact everyday hitter. Righty corner bats with fringe contact skills need to walk a lot and/or hit for huge power, and Ona doesn’t seem capable of that. He probably fits as a bench outfielder in the Aaron Altherr mold.

The barrel-chested Bednar has developed a good split in pro ball, making him an excellent three-pitch option for when relief usage minimums change in the future. He throws in the mid-90s (he was 89-92 as a starter in college) and has a snappy, 12-6 curveball. The curveball is probably what got him drafted, while the fastball/split development is driving a modern relief profile. He’s paving over Double-A and could reach the big leagues this year.

Zunica had an unusual amateur career, graduating early to get to Miami, then not playing much and transferring to a junior college, where the Padres drafted the behemoth late in 2015. He is a physical monster with huge raw power, and has a good enough approach to draw walks and pick out pitches he can drive. The bat control, defense, and long-term athletic ability are all behind and concerning, but there’s a platoon or bench bat future here if he keeps hitting.

Signed for just over $2 million late during the summer of 2016, Bolaños is a pretty standard fifth starter/middle relief prospect. His changeup and command both need to improve if he’s going to be a clean rotation fit, but if they don’t, his fastball (which lives 91-95 as a starter, but would hopefully tick up out of the bullpen) and slurvy breaking ball are typical of solid middle relievers. He’s repeating Hi-A and will likely be developed as a starter for a while yet, at least until he’s closer to when he needs to be added to the 40-man, two Novembers from now.

Coleman is a muscular 6-foot-6 righty who body comps to NBA wing players like Andre Iguodala more closely than he does others in baseball. He has plus velocity, hitting as high as 97 mph with his heater in college. He also has a 55 or 60-grade slider at times, though some of his breaking ball effectiveness is a product of his lower arm slot. As you might guess, the combination of power stuff and an XL frame can lead to feel issues and trouble repeating the release point, which leads to control problems. The change is also behind, and Coleman realistically projects as a reliever. After two Hi-A appearances during which his velo was way down, he was sent back to extended (but not put on the IL).

Our favorite of the $300,000 signees from the 2018 July period (San Diego’s final year in the penalty box for their 2016 spending spree), Aquino is a very twitchy shortstop with an explosive first step and plus defensive hands and actions. He’s lanky and has a projectable frame, but needs to add significant weight/strength if he’s going to hit at all. He has a good shot to stay at short and perhaps be very good there, but there’s a lot of variability projecting the bat, which may not even be viable.

An excellent example of why it’s important to scout frames/builds, Ruiz’s physical tools were all 40s and 45s when he signed. But as his body has matured, those tools have all improved, and done so without Ruiz losing mobility because his broad, square-shouldered frame had plenty of room for this new mass. At times he still appears to be uncoordinated, still growing into his body, but Ruiz is still just the age of some older, draft-eligible high school seniors and he’s already having statistical success at Low-A. He’s become a sleeper platoon/low-end regular prospect, at least.

The Padres acquired Vosler from the Cubs for conversion reliever Rowan Wick during the offseason. He’s a lefty corner bat with power who has reached base at about a .340 clip since 2017, and he has two consecutive 20-homer seasons (and sub-30% groundball rates) against upper-level pitching. The hit tool is below average (it’s a lift-heavy, pull-only approach, with some stiffness) and will prevent Vosler from a larger role, but he should be a 1B/3B lefty bench bat. We wish he could also play left field, but Vosler looked a little thicker and stiffer this spring and anticipation of defensive limitations is why he’s down from his 40 FV peak.

Built like a muscle car, Guilbe has electric bat speed and exciting pull-side power for a player his age. Already very muscular and strong, he needs to develop on defense (some scouts wanted to see him catch rather than see if he could become a viable infielder, and his hands aren’t great) and probably needs a swing overhaul (both the bat path and lower half usage were pretty rough in high school), but there’s a chance he’s a power-hitting up-the-middle player of some kind.

Barley has All-Star physical tools — plus run, range, arm, and power — but lots of teams/scouts are just out on him entirely because of how procedurally inept and reckless he can be. Signed in the same year as several of the teen prospects who have reached Hi- and Double-A, Barley remains back in extended spring training, likely ticketed for the Northwest League. He has the FV of a terrifyingly raw, but explosive, junior college hitter.

Built like an NFL running back, Williams-Sutton is a small school power/speed project who signed for $350,000 as a fifth rounder. He may have success at the lower levels just based on how much stronger than the typical A-ball prospect he is. We’d be encouraged by statistical success, but probably wouldn’t really buy in here until Williams-Sutton hits at the upper levels, especially if there are strikeout issues, since this is a corner-only defensive fit.

Throwing just 81-86 when he signed, Gonzalez has begun to enjoy a velocity spike and is now topping out around 93. He has polished secondaries and succeeded in the DSL last year mostly due to advanced pitchability. Now he’s suddenly coming into velocity, and somewhat unexpectedly because Gonzalez’s frame is not especially projectable. You could argue he belongs among the pitchability lefties in the honorable mentions section of this org list, and he’ll be relegated there if his velocity settles into the upper-80s this summer, but there’s a chance the velo will keep coming.

At times Nix has shown three above-average pitches and looked like a potential No. 4/5 starter, but his stuff was very hittable during his 2018 big league debut and he dealt with reduced stuff and elbow issues during the spring of 2019. He was shut down and given a PRP injection with hopes of avoiding Tommy John. He should start throwing again in May. Should he ultimately need TJ, we wouldn’t see Nix again until 2021.

Harris had a tumultuous two-sport career at Rutgers. He led the football team in receptions as a redshirt freshman and had a very strong sophomore year on the diamond — .269/.377/.468 with 23 steals — before a back injury and suspension (he was suspended a few times while at Rutgers) sent him down the receiver depth chart (he played more safety as a redshirt sophomore). His junior baseball season was also discouraging. A plus-plus runner with above-average bat speed and a compact stroke, Harris is predictably raw in all facets of baseball, especially at the plate. A toolsy college lottery ticket, he signed for about $200,000.

Heredia grew up playing soccer in Spain before he moved to the Dominican Republic during adolescence, at which point he was introduced to baseball. He’s gotten stronger within the last year and now has above-average bat speed, though he’s a bit stiffer than he was during his first stateside instructs. He presents kind of an old school look; no batting gloves, choking up on the bat proactively, with an all-fields approach to contact. It’s pretty impressive considering how little Heredia has played throughout his life. He’s a frame/athlete developmental project with any number of possible outcomes, the most realistically positive of which involve him either staying in center field, growing into power, or both. Based on how his body has developed over the last year, the middle scenario feels most likely.

Watching Ruiz catch is like watching video of Alan Shepard play golf on the moon. Things seem to be moving at a different pace for Keibert, especially on defense. He has a thick, unimpressive build and is a mediocre athlete, but almost all of his baseball skills are elite. He’s one of the better receivers in the minors and is a better ball blocker than one would expect given his lack of athleticism, as if he has wild pitch precognition. Despite average pure arm strength, Ruiz is going to snipe a lot of would-be base-stealers because his throws are almost always right on the bag.

The skills-over-tools coloration of Ruiz’s profile continues on offense, where his hand-eye coordination and bat control make him extraordinarily hard to strike out. He struck out in just 8% of his plate appearances last year as a 19/20-year-old at Double-A Tulsa. Because Ruiz can make contact with just about anything, he tries to, and his lack of selectivity will likely limit his big league power output and perhaps his ability to reach base. But he has a very rare skillset for a catcher and a good chance to be an All-Star.

May’s flamboyant ginger curls and Bronson Arroyo-esque leg kick are maybe the third and fourth most visually captivating aspects of his on-mound presence once you’ve gotten a look at his stuff. His mid-90s fastball plays up due to great extension, and further incorporation of a running two-seamer has given May’s heater enough tail to miss bats in the strike zone. His vertically-breaking slider (May calls it a slider, but it has curveball shape) has one of the better spin rates in the minors and enough vertical depth to miss bats against both left and right-handed hitters. It’s May’s out pitch, but he also has a developing cutter and its movement is a great foil for his two-seamer. After trying several different changeup grips in 2017, it seems like May is still searching for a good cambio, but his fastball and breaking ball command should suffice against lefties for now.

The leg kick makes May slow to home and he may be vulnerable to the stolen base because of it, which forces him to vary his cadence home in an attempt to stymie runners. Now at Double-A, what was once a prospect with mid-rotation upside has become one with mid-rotation likelihood.

Lux has become almost the inverse of what he was in high school. Drafted as a glove-first shortstop, he has developed throwing issues that we believe will push him to second base. His early-season onslaught at Rancho Cucamonga could have been interpreted as a Cal League mirage, but Lux continued to hit and hit for power at Double-A Tulsa after promotion and scouts have future plus grades on his raw power.

Now much more physical and strong than he was when he was drafted, Lux is the latest Dodgers player to enjoy a beneficial swing change. His hands have become more active before they fire, and his swing has more lift now, resulting in a ground ball rate that fell from 52% in 2017 to 42% in 2018. His bat is quick enough to catch velocity up in the zone and Lux is strong enough to punish it. The changes haven’t had a negative impact on his feel for contact and he remains a selective hitter, as well. We’re somewhat concerned about the throwing issues but there’s middle infield speed and athletic ability here, and we hope those get ironed out because if they do, Lux could be an All-Star.

In the 2016 draft, Smith was a scout’s favorite on a loaded Louisville club that had eventual top-10 overall picks Corey Ray and Brendan McKay as the headliners. At that point, he was a 55 runner with a 55 glove behind the plate and a plus arm, but didn’t offer much offensive impact due to a gap-to-gap approach. He made a late charge and rose from a third round pick to eventually being taken by the Dodgers in the compensation round.

In the pros, the Dodgers did with Smith what they’ve done with many other hitters, teaching him how to properly lift the ball and be aggressive in his swing mechanics. This agreed with Smith, unlocking dormant raw and game power while lifting the ball much more often. His contact rate was about the same until a late 2018 promotion to Triple-A, where he was exposed a bit. Scouts think there’s an exploitable hole in his swing and that he’s more of a .240-type hitter if he wants to keep hitting for power in games. He’s still the same runner, defender, and thrower, and can reasonably play almost any position on the field, so even .240 with 20 homers would be a very valuable piece to a contending team, even more so than Austin Barnes.

Verdugo has spent the bulk of each of the last two seasons at Triple-A, a victim of the Dodgers terrific outfield depth. So excellent is his natural feel to hit that it’s amazing many scouts preferred him on the mound while Verdugo was in high school. He’s a career 12% strikeout hitter, whose rates haven’t really moved even as the Dodgers have altered his swing to make it more explosive and try to get Verdugo to hit for more power. His stance is super wide open, the way Justin Turner’s is, before Verdugo takes a long, slow stride toward the pitcher, leading with his heel, and then uncorks a max-effort hack that sometimes sends him reeling into the ground.

It’s incredible that Verdugo is athletic enough to make so much contact with this swing, but he still doesn’t lift the ball very much, and probably maxes out with doubles power. We don’t think he fits in center field, and the lack of power is largely why he’s down here, though it also sounds like part of the reason teams have been asking for other Dodgers prospects in trades is due to some past off-field stuff.

A two-way college player, Gonsolin was a ninth round senior sign whose velocity spiked in pro ball when he focused on pitching, moved to the bullpen (he has since moved back into the rotation, after he was yo-yo’d back and forth in college), and was touched by the Dodgers excellent player dev group. At times his fastball has been in the upper-90s, cresting 100, but it was in the low-90s this spring and he was placed on he injured list thereafter with an oblique issue.

Gonsolin’s four-pitch mix looks like it was designed in a lab and considering the way his stuff works together, it may have been. He’s an extreme overhand, backspinning four-seam guy, and he works up at the letters with it. It’s complemented by a deep-diving, 12-6 curveball. He’ll also work a slider to his glove side and it has shocking, horizontal length considering Gonsonlin’s arm slot. But the headline offering here is the changeup, a split-action cambio that bottoms out as it reaches the plate. Gonsolin uses it against both left and right-handed hitters and it’s one of the best changeups in the minors. It’s a non-traditional style of pitching for a starter, so some eyeball scouts think he ends up in the bullpen. If so, it’s probably in a valuable multi-inning role. Age and some relief risk just barely kept him off our top 100.

He was just 19 for most of the season, but Downs had a strong 2018 at Low-A Dayton, where he hit .257/.351/.402 with 37 steals (a 78% success rate) and 35 extra-base hits. He’s a bat-first middle infielder who has a non-zero chance to stick at shortstop, and he’s likely to continue to see time there until he reaches the upper levels of the minors, at which point the Dodgers will make a decision as to where he fits best. Scouts in other orgs think it will be second base or the outfield. Most of Downs’ physical abilities hover near average but he does a little bit of everything, which, so long as he stays on the middle infield, gives him a good chance to be an average everyday player.

Gray is an athletic, undersized conversion arm with big time arm-acceleration. His arm action is a little stiff, but it’s fast, and generates a fastball in the 92-96 mph range (mostly 3s and 4s) with riding life. Gray’s size and the drop and drive nature of his delivery combine to create flat plane that plays well up in the zone. He’ll miss bats at the letters with his heater. Thanks to his athleticism, Gray repeats, and throws more strikes than is typical for someone fairly new to pitching who has this kind of stuff, with a notable proclivity for locating his fastball to his arm side.

The slider can slurve out and even get kind of short and cuttery at times, but when it’s well-located and Gray is on top of the ball, it’s a plus pitch. His changeup, which he seldom uses at the moment, is easy to identify out of the hand due to arm deceleration, and is comfortably below average.

Because of the strike throwing, fastball efficacy, and ability to spin the breaking ball give him a good shot to play a big league role, and we’ve moved Gray up beyond where we had him pre-draft. The athleticism, small school pedigree, and position player conversion aspect of the profile indicates there’s significant potential for growth as Gray gets on-mound experience. He projects as No. 4 starter, with a chance to be more because of his late-bloomer qualities.

Estevez was a resounding success repeating Hi-A while still just 20, and coupled it with moments of brilliance with the big league club during the spring of 2019. He continues to split time at both middle infield spots and he’s fine at both positions, but what’s exciting about Estevez is the bat. He’s very short to the ball, but his swing still has natural lift to his pull side, and he can pull most anything because of how short the swing is. He’s probably going to get to his raw power in games because of this, which makes him a potential everyday middle infielder despite a lack of physical explosiveness in other areas.

It’s rare for a player with this toolset to fall to the fourth round, even if it is a junior college hitter with strikeout issues. Peters has continued to perform amid his swing and miss red flags. He’s homered 28 times on average during each of his full seasons despite striking out in roughly a third of his at-bats. There’s little precedent for hitters who K this much to have consistent success in the big leagues. Michael Taylor, Keon Broxton, Lewis Brinson, and Ian Happ are some examples of center fielders with power who strike out about that much, and they’ve had periods of ineffectiveness.

Of course, Peters’ upside is enticing if he gets to his mammoth raw power anyway, which to this point, he has. This is predicated on him playing center field, which considering Peters is built like a young Adam Dunn, is no guarantee. He’s a plus runner underway but it takes a while for him to reach top speed. Right now, that is more detrimental from home to first than it is roaming the outfield, but it’s likely that a frame like this moves to a corner eventually. The Dodgers, who love Peters’ work ethic, sent him back to Double-A for the second straight year. He may have hot stretches where he hits for tons of power, and ice ages when he strikes out a ton. We think it’s a high-variance profile with a shot to make some All-Star teams while other years will be lean, and closer to replacement level.

This is a very physical teenager with some of the best present raw power in his signing class and a good chance to play a premium defensive position at catcher. Cartaya has a strong, physically mature build that inspires Salvador Perez comparisons. He has excellent lateral mobility despite his size, and his receiving was alright, but not great, when he caught pro-quality stuff at showcases.

He checks all the other beloved catcher skillset boxes: Cartaya is poised and engaged with his pitchers, he has a great arm, he looks built to meet the position’s physical demands, and makes an attempt to frame pitches when he can. There’s a chance he outgrows the position but he’s deceptively athletic for his size, and we’d call it unlikely. There’s not as much room for power projection here as there is for most others this age, but there’s enough to profile at catcher. Cartaya’s approach is geared for well-timed, pull-side gap contact. He’s a potential regular who’ll likely spend his first pro season in Arizona, as he’s too physical for the DSL.

A conversion arm whose command took a significant step forward in 2017, his fourth year devoted to pitching, Santana made his major league debut in 2018 before succumbing to a rotator cuff injury for the rest of the season. He began 2019 in the bullpen, throwing about 45 pitches per outing, but his last two appearances were starts.

His changeup and command have developed enough to consider him a long-term starter but the power curveball, which suffered a stark downtick in spin rate before he was shut down last year, is his best pitch. The shoulder stuff, a short stride, and early-season deployment in the bullpen have us somewhat concerned about Santana’s long term health and role, but on stuff he’s a potential No. 4 starter.

An athletic, multi-positional player who spent his early college career at shortstop, Wong now sees time behind the plate, as he did throughout most of college, and at second and third base. Like most of the hitters in this org, he hits the ball in the air a lot and strikes out at a concerning rate. That, along with a few defensive flaws that may still be corrected with time, especially as he learns to handle upper-level stuff in the dirt, probably limit Wong to a unique kind of utility role or a backup catcher and infielder role similar to Austin Barnes’, which is a bit better than just a flat 40 FV prospect.

A $250,000 11th rounder from a high school east of Los Angeles, Amaya is a diminutive infielder with excellent secondary skills and sneaky power for his size. Though not especially rangy at shortstop, Amaya has plus hands and actions and enough arm strength to stay on the left side of the infield. A lack of power and physical projection makes him appear, on the surface, like he’ll max out as a utility guy, but he makes up some offensive ground because his eye for the strike zone is so good. Instinctive and fundamentally sound, even if Amaya is only a utility type, his chances of getting there are high, and if his secondary skills hold water into the upper levels of the minors perhaps he’ll be more than that.

Wielding uncommon tools for a college prospect, perhaps the most explosive since George Springer was at UConn, Kendall was on the short list of 2017 1-1 candidates when his college season began. Then he didn’t hit during his junior year and slid toward the back half of the first round, where the Dodgers couldn’t pass on his tools. Badly in need of a swing change, Kendall’s cut still isn’t quite dialed in and he’s struggling to make contact at Hi-A. He’s a high-risk, high-variance prospect, the kind who might have a 4 WAR season in him because of the power and speed, but not be playable at other times. 2019 is a big year for Kendall and his stock, and it is off to an inauspicious start.

Injured (Tommy John) and in the bullpen for much of college, several teams were out on White when the Dodgers made him a 2016 second rounder. He has had fits and starts of injury in pro ball, and his velocity has waxed and waned. It was back up this spring, in the 93-95 range, but the lost reps have robbed White of changeup and command refinement. His stuff is good, though. The cutter/slider and curveball are both impact pitches, and just on stuff White belongs a half grade higher on this list, because he has No. 4/5 starter or high-leverage relief stuff. But the injury history and velo fluctuation are bothersome, and so too is the way White’s strike-throwing has plateaued. He may have some years as a high-leverage reliever or mid-rotation starter, but there’s a good chance for some leaner years, as well.

Several of the next few hitters on this list are talented, if flawed, corner infield bats. Santana’s flaw is his approach, as he’s posting near bottom-of-the-scale walk rates of about 3%. There’s little to no recent precedent for a third baseman who is this aggressive having sustained success as a regular unless they have elite bat-to-ball skills, and while Santana has big time bat speed, he’s not a contact savant. He has shown some ability to make mechanical adjustments, though, much to the chagrin of those entertained by his former cut, which looked like a Vaudeville comedian was miming a baseball swing.

Santana has started to see time at first base and he profiles as a corner bench bat or platoon partner. He’s ahead of Rios and Beaty because he’s a good deal younger and has the best glove of the three, but if you think handedness is of more significant importance, then you could argue Santana should be at the back of the group.

Grove was working 92-96 with a good slider when he blew out his elbow two months into his sophomore season at West Virginia. He didn’t pitch as a junior, but clearly the Dodgers stayed on him, scouted the bullpen sessions he threw as the draft approached, and liked what they saw; they popped him in the second round. He spent the rest of the year finishing rehab and working on a changeup in the bullpen.

Back in games this spring, Grove has been 93-95, up to 96.6, with a 12:30 spin axis, which teams like LA and Houston seem to prefer, as 12:30 is almost pure backspin, a component of fastball rise. Grove has two different breaking balls, a low-80s curveball and an upper-80s slider, but it’s clear changeup development is the priority right now. The Dodgers sent Grove straight to Hi-A and it appears he’ll be on an innings limit and throw shorter outings so he can pitch all year rather than go six or seven innings at a shot and be shut down sometime during the summer. He’s well-built, athletic, throws hard, and has good measurable spin, and the Dodgers have a pretty good track record of developing arms, including several with college injuries. Though scouts we spoke with who saw Grove this spring thought he lacked feel, that could be chalked up to rust, and we like Grove as a riser.

At a hulking 6-foot-3, Rios body comps better to taller NFL running backs like Eddie George than your typical baseball player. He has arguably the most raw power in this system but has struggled to get to it in games because his swing is grooved and he’s a bit of a free swinger. Of this little corner bat triumvirate, Rios has the most concerning peripherals, but he also has the most power and experience at multiple positions as he’s played first, third and both corner outfield spots. 2019 is his first option year, and he’ll be a powerful bench bat/corner depth option for the next half decade but likely won’t hit enough to be a regular.

Coming off a strong 2017 during which he was named Texas League Player of the Year, Beaty only played 34 games in 2018 due to a torn thumb ligament that required surgery. Of this 3B/1B group, Beaty has the most modest physical ability but the best feel fo hit. His lateral mobility issues arguably limit him to first base alone, but he continues to get reps at third and in left field. He’s a swing change candidate who might benefit from more lift but, at age 26, that seems unlikely. He’s a lefty bench bat option.

The first draft of this list left Alvarez off entirely until we sourced Trackman data for this org and felt compelled to reinsert him in a prominent spot. The World Team starter in the 2017 Futures Game (and the owner of some of the most dastardly stuff in the minors, which he generates with absurd ease), Alvarez spent 2018 injured, disgruntled, and ineffective. He walked nearly a batter per inning. His 2019 still hasn’t really gotten off the ground. He was added to the 40-man in November but had arm soreness in the spring and didn’t pitch in a big league spring game while he worked on his mechanics in minor league camp. His first start of the year was a disaster, and he was shut down and put on the IL immediately after. This situation is officially mess, but a supremely talented one.

Carrillo generated a lot of scout interest around the trade deadline, with some of his starts on the Arizona backfields very well-attended at the end of July. He was maintaining velocity deep into games and has nasty breaking stuff. He’s physically mature, a little bit stiff, and struggled with fastball control this spring. There’s relief risk here, but Carrillo’s stuff is essentially what Grove’s was when he was the same age, so he’s tracking like a second round college arm.

A biceps strain limited Sheffield to just 34 innings in Rancho Cucamonga and another nine in the Fall League, so he’s back in Hi-A as a 23-year-old, and officially in the bullpen. But the stuff is good. It seems as though the upper-90s velocity is gone, but it’s still plenty hard and Sheffield has three quality pitches, even if the changeup just acts as a ground ball inducer. He could be a late-inning guy, and pretty quickly now.

So conservative was Vargas’ swing when he first arrived in the states that Dodgers coaches were trying to make adjustments to his lower-half use in the middle of games in the hopes that it would unlock power that was clearly dormant in his hands. He has good control of the strike zone and feel to hit for a teenager but despite playing some second and third, he may ultimately wind up at first base. If that’s the case, a change that enables the power is necessary.

After posting an uninspiring line over three months of Midwest League play, Rincon went to the Cal League for the season’s final month and went nuts. He hit 15 homers in just 29 games, slugging .818 during that span. The hitting environment in California caricatured his pop, but there’s impact power here if Rincon can get to enough of it to profile in right. He’s posted above-average walk rates over his last 600 plate appearances, which takes some pressure off the hit tool. This is a traditional, power/whiff right field profile who is starting to prove he has an approach.

A teenage leviathan, Duran has present arm strength (he’ll bump 96) and spins the occasional plus curveball. His arm slot creates movement on his fastball, which should pair well with his sinking change once it becomes more consistent. Duran threw a lot of strikes last year and only walked three hitters in 42 innings. His body, even at 6-foot-7, is already maxed out and he may not grow into more velocity, but his secondary stuff and control are already fairly well in place. The fastball plane doesn’t pair well with Duran’s breaking ball, but he otherwise has pretty safe starter traits.

Ortiz didn’t make a leap in 2018. His arm swing sometimes causes his fastballs to sail or makes it tough for him to get on top of his curveball, but there’s a fairly advanced three-pitch mix on a teenage lefty here. He is not all that physically projectable, so don’t anticipate him adding significant zip on his fastball. Command and secondary pitch refinement are likely to dictate his ceiling.

Sborz is your typical middle relief prospect. He sits in mid-90s and benefits from mechanical deception. His breaking ball doesn’t spin a lot but it’s spin-efficient and has depth and effectual movement. Sborz has better control than most relievers and spent time developing as a starter.

Signed late during the 2017-2018 international amateur calendar year, Pages hit for power in the DSL, came to the states toward the end of the summer, and stood out to scouts. He does indeed have impressive raw power for his age and size and, for whatever it’s worth, his early-career peripherals are strong. The defensive limitations will make it a tough profile but Pages’ career is off to a good start considering he’s not physically remarkable.

Walker Buehler is the most prominent example of a Dodgers prospect throwing harder upon returning from Tommy John surgery but Willeman is the latest, as he was sitting 95 or better when he finally threw pro innings in 2018. His repertoire is pretty deep but his pitch quality is inconsistent, a bi-product of two college seasons in the bullpen and time lost due to surgery. He has a cutter, curveball, and changeup and the latter two could each be above-average at peak. Willeman is stocky and his delivery has some effort. He stayed back in extended to start 2019 and is a 23-year-old with just 19 affiliated pro innings, so he belongs in a FV tier below other, similarly-aged, relief prospects.

A two-sport athlete in college, Thomas has really only been playing baseball full time since 2016, so while he’s advanced in age he isn’t in experience. With that in mind, Thomas’ 20 annual homers despite sky-high strikeout rates are pretty impressive. He has power, he runs well, he throws well. It’s a traditional right field profile on its face, just one that is behind the developmental curve and of high risk because of the strikeouts. Thomas has to be added to the 40-man this offseason or risk being Rule 5 eligible, making him a trade candidate if a team likes his physical tools and has the 40-man space to let him simmer at Triple-A for another year or so.

An atypical Venezuelan shortstop prospect, Valera has a big, projectable frame, plus bat speed, and a laser arm. His feel to hit is lacking in a way that may be fatal to his profile, but he has the physical tools to be an everyday player if it develops.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Dodgers player dev staff molds Rooney into, because there is indeed interesting raw material to work with. Rooney doesn’t throw all that hard, but his fastball plays up a bit thanks to good angle and extension, he has impressive changeup feel (and an incredible pickoff move) for a cold-weather, small school prospect. His curveball is hard, has good shape, but lacks bite and raw spin. On stuff, he looks like a depth arm, but there are some late-bloomer traits here. Realistically, he could grow into a backend starter.

A very young righty who signed for $600,000 last July, Rosario has a fastball in the 88-91 range and spins a good breaking ball on occasion. He’s mechanically inconsistent, which impacts his fastball command and causes the shape of his curveball to vary, but Rosario is the age of a high school junior and it’s unreasonable to expect more polish at this time. There’s debate about whether or not his frame is actually projectable as, while his measurables indicate that it is, he’s slight of build.

Jackson has plenty in the way of pure tools: he’s a plus runner with a plus-plus arm who’s average defensively at shortstop. He can play all over and has some raw power and lift to his swing, which the Dodgers added over the past few seasons. There isn’t a ton of feel to hit and scouts who were betting that getting away from Stanford, combined with his athleticism, would unlock more offensive potential are running out of time to be proven right, but Jackson is still a useful 25th man type of ballplayer.