Miami Marlins: Isan Diaz, 2B
At least until JT Realmuto eventually gets traded and knocks him down a few spots, Isan Diaz is a consensus top prospect in the Marlins’ farm system., maybe the best next to recent signee Victor Victor Mesa. Diaz was acquired in a trade from Milwaukee for who is now the National League MVP in Christian Yelich when the Marlins went through a fire sale last winter. With another rebuilding season ahead of them, Diaz shouldn’t have a problem finding playing time. If they consider him to be MLB-ready, the Marlins will gladly start the young left-handed batter over the veteran Starlin Castro at 2nd base.
The 5-tool player did very well in 83 AA games, as he posted a 125 wRC+ without the help of an unsustainable BABIP. As he went onto AAA for a little over a month, however, he started to struggle. Over the course of his minor league career though, Diaz started to tap into his power more. If he can continue to do that and limit the strikeouts which have caused trouble in the past, but even if he doesn’t, his power and walking-ability should help him out long-term.
It’s unlikely that he starts the season in the MLB, as he hasn’t been able to do well in AAA yet, but with plus raw power also in his profile, the upside still makes his rookie season possibly intriguing. At the worst, Diaz still looks like a starter. Fangraphs.com believes “There’s some risk he underperforms with the bat and is a mediocre defensive second baseman, but because of his power and patience, his floor seems to look like Yoan Moncada’s 2018 season, which was good for 2 WAR. As such, it seems likely that Diaz will become a solid everyday player.”
New York Mets: Peter Alonso, 1B
With how the Mets offseason has gone, it’s not entirely clear how Peter Alonso will find playing time. But it is clear that he will find it in some way. Alonso’s long-awaited debut is sure to come sometime in the 1st half of 2019 as he’s already logged over 60 dominating games in the highest minor league level. The question is at whose expense will he get playing time? Todd Frazier, Robinson Cano, Jed Lowrie, Amed Rosario, and Jeff McNeil are already creating a bit of a logjam in the infield. Nonetheless, it seems certain that Alonso finds significant playing time in 2019.
It’s not very often that you see a right-handed 1st base-only prospect get ranked among the best in the game, so when you see Alonso get as much hype as he has, you know his bat must be special. MLBPipeline.com ranked him as the best 1st base prospect, along with a #51 ranking of all prospects. Fangraphs.com had him as the Mets #1 prospect, while Prospects Live and Keith Law both have him top 3 in the farm system. Alonso’s stand-out skill is his power. Fangraphs grades his raw power as an 80 with some numbers to back it up.
Alonso showed off his power on national TV a few times, once being when he launched a home run with a 113.6 mph exit velocity. After the season in the Arizona Fall League, Alonso showed off his bat speed and pure strength by hitting a dinger to the opposite field off of a 103 mph fastball, which is about as fast as anyone in the MLB will ever throw to him. The main question for Alonso’s future is if he will be able to hit enough to make everybody ignore the lack of baserunning speed or defensive ability. If he can hit as well as he did in the upper minors, that should be the case.
2018 Peter Alonso home run facts
Homered in first AB
Homered in last AB
Set Statcast record with HR in Futures Game launch angle of 46 degrees & exit velo of 113.6 MPH
Fall Stars homer off 103 MPH fastball (MLB record is 102.8)
AB per HR: 13.18 (would've ranked 5th in MLB) pic.twitter.com/kZTfYtLslb— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) November 23, 2018
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