30 MLB Prospects Who Improved Their Stock In 2021
With the minor league season nearly over (all that is left are the playoffs and the extra series tacked on to the end of both Triple-A leagues), it’s time to take a look at the prospects who made names for themselves in 2021.
We’re not talking about players like Riley Greene or Grayson Rodriguez or Bobby Witt Jr., who began the year with high pedigrees and then lived up to the billing. Instead, we’re looking at guys who vaulted from mid-tier prospects or lower—some, frankly, were practically anonymous entering the season—into the conversations for the best prospects in their system, or at least consideration for the forthcoming Top 30s.
Some of these players, like Kansas City’s M.J. Melendez, used 2021 to rebound from slow starts to their career. Others, like Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz, tore up the lowest levels of the minor leagues and now sit on the precipice of Top 100 consideration.
Watching the best of the best before they reach the big leagues is only part of the fun of the minor leagues. An even bigger chunk lies in watching players emerge from relative obscurity to join their more celebrated peers.
With that in mind, here are 30 players—one from each organization—who really improved their stock in 2021.
Boston
Nick Yorke, 2B
A surprise selection in the 2020 draft, Yorke has proved the Red Sox’s selection very astute. He’s done nothing but hit all season long at both levels of Class A. He’s shown power, hittability and patience this season, and finished the year as one of just two players with 20-plus doubles, 10-plus homers and a swinging-strike rate below 11%.
New York (AL)
Ken Waldichuk, LHP
There are plenty of candidates here, but we’ll go with Waldichuk, who finished the year with the fourth-most strikeouts in the minor leagues. He comes by his whiffs with a healthy dose of funk in his delivery, and finished the year with the fourth-most punchouts in the Double-A Northeast despite not debuting in the league until June 17.
Pittsburgh
Matt Fraizer, OF
Fraizer has improved his approach this year, and the result has been a heap more power. He dominated for most of the season with High-A Greensboro, then finished strong at Double-A Altoona in his first test at the upper levels. He finished the year as one of just two players in the minor leagues with 25 or more doubles, five or more triples, 20 or more homers and 15 or more stolen bases.
Arizona
Brandon Pfaadt, RHP
The D-backs are stocked with high-end pitching prospects like Ryne Nelson, Blake Walston and Drey Jameson, just to name a few, but Pfaadt has quietly pitched his way into that mix this season. The righthander’s mix of stuff and pitchability has helped him whiff 155 hitters this year, second in the system behind only Nelson.
Atlanta
Spencer Strider, RHP
From Opening Day, the noise on Strider was loud. The Clemson product chewed through the lower minors with an electric fastball that often reached the upper 90s and made it all the way to Double-A in his professional debut. Strider’s slider is promising, too, but his changeup needs to develop further to help him solidify a spot as a rotation piece.
Baltimore
Jean Pinto, RHP
The top end of Baltimore’s system is loaded—Adley Rutschman and Grayson Rodriguez each rank among the game’s 10 best prospects, and DL Hall was on the same track before injury—but Pinto has quietly made a name for himself. The 20-year-old was acquired from the Angels in the Dylan Bundy deal and finished the year with 82 strikeouts in 62.2 innings and produced the best WHIP (0.78) of any pitcher in the system with 60 or more innings pitched.