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[SPEAKER_04]: Hello, here on another of the Baseball America Prospect profiles.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Today, we are talking about Braves number one prospect.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Left hand or cam cam in it, I'm going to answer your question before you ask it.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He is a cousin of Ken Caminetti, the Astros, and Braves, you know, veteran third baseman.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Carlos, when you think about cam cam in it, the Braves have been producing pitching prospect after pitching prospect, that for pitching prospect.

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[SPEAKER_04]: They have a top 10 loaded with pitching prospects.

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[SPEAKER_04]: But among the high school arms that they have drafted recently, it does feel like the community kind of has a little bit higher ceiling than some of the others.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, Camini was the top rank high school pitcher in his draft class coming out of 2024.

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[SPEAKER_02]: The Braves have been one of the more aggressive teams in the industry and just targeting pitching at the top of their drafts in recent years.

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[SPEAKER_02]: They're also one of the teams that just doesn't seem afraid of high school pitchers in particular.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Camini is one of the best of that demographic that the team has acquired in a number of years.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And he ranks as their top overall prospect because of that.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I think the ability for Camini to

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[SPEAKER_02]: profile as a potential top of the rotation arm is maybe the separator for him there is a unique amount of power and polish in this left handed delivery here he throws from an uncomfortable low slot when I was talking to Scouts before the draft before he was taking them the first round I was getting a lot of future 70 evaluations on his fastball it's a mid 90s heater

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[SPEAKER_02]: he gets into the upper 90s consistently.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And I think he made some really impressive strides with his secondarys as well, and what was a really promising pro debut for him in the 2025 season.

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[SPEAKER_04]: When you talk about, so he did, he had a very strong debut Lowe Augusta.

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[SPEAKER_04]: saying he's obviously still far away.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That's low-way.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That is several steps away for the major leagues.

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[SPEAKER_04]: But the other thing I would say with that is we've always kind of known about the fastball.

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[SPEAKER_04]: How are the secondaries?

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[SPEAKER_04]: That's going to be kind of the key because he also throws strikes already.

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[SPEAKER_04]: But the key for Caminiti being that potentially front of the rotation arm is really about the development of the breaking ball, the change up and kind of how that fits with what's already a very impressive fastball.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, absolutely.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I think prior to the draft, Kim and Eddie's strength and the secondary department was this change up.

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[SPEAKER_02]: He's always had pretty natural feel for that pitch.

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[SPEAKER_02]: It looked like a rock solid weapon for him before he got into pro ball and the encouraging thing about Kim and Eddie's 2025 season is both this change up and his low 80s slider were consistent swing and miss pitches for him in the lower miners.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Like he said, it's not the most advanced competition in the world, but I do think for anyone

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[SPEAKER_02]: which was his biggest question.

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[SPEAKER_02]: He took a step forward in addressing that concern in his debut season.

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[SPEAKER_02]: It's this low 80s sweeping slider right now that was his go-to secondary pitch.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I think the fact that it was his go-to secondary.

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[SPEAKER_02]: He head of the change up is encouraging for anyone who was, it was questioning that pitch.

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[SPEAKER_02]: We've got above average grades on both his slider and his change up right now.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I think moving forward, maybe we're gonna see Camini.

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[SPEAKER_02]: tweak with the movement or the power of those pitches, there are some some thoughts that adding a gyroslider like a shorter braking ball that he can throw for strikes even more frequently Will be key.

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[SPEAKER_02]: He's worked on a kick change up as well that flashes splitter like depth.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So I think there's more in the tank for both of these second areas

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[SPEAKER_02]: And it's just going to be a matter of are they continuing to miss bats at higher levels as he progresses through the miners because he is far away, but between the fastball, the slider, the change up and the control, which we think is above average or has a chance to be above average, there's a lot to like here.

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[SPEAKER_04]: I do love this when we talk about high school picture power pitchers, right-handed power pitchers.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Almost always there's a sentence in their right up that first-year in ProBals, like he's working on a change-up but he's never really used it before.

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[SPEAKER_04]: It's very different story when we talk about a left-handed power picture because that change-up has been something that they've worked on as a weapon when they're facing

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[SPEAKER_04]: right handed hitters all the way coming up.

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[SPEAKER_04]: But do you you also touched on he's making a just piece working on a kick change?

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[SPEAKER_04]: Maybe adding a drier slider.

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[SPEAKER_04]: This is not a new development.

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[SPEAKER_04]: This is something we see with a lot of pictures these days.

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[SPEAKER_04]: But it also kind of gives a little bit of a hint that hopefully there's some adjustability, there's some ability to kind of add subtract mix and match to kind of

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[SPEAKER_04]: optimizes arsenal as he climbs the ladder.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That's kind of something also that stands out here is it's kind of could be key for him.

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[SPEAKER_04]: But what are you hearing as far as when you talk to not just braze officials but other evaluators about his ability kind of taking these adjustments and improve and kind of continue to build.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's a great athletic foundation to build on with Kim McKinney.

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[SPEAKER_02]: One of the things that Kim McKinney brings to the table is well that the braves have seemingly targeted in the past is his two-way background.

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[SPEAKER_02]: He was a pitcher and a hitter in high school the braves have had tremendous success with those profiles.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I think the athleticism that is inherent with being a two-way player on the baseball field,

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[SPEAKER_02]: means that maybe you're able to just make adjustments a little bit quicker or maybe there is a little bit more upside for you to reach once you focus on just one side of the game.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, baseball is such a specialized sport and doing either of these things, hitting or pitching at a high level just requires so much patience and work and focus.

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[SPEAKER_02]: And so I think what was encouraging to me about the season was his ability to, he did miss some time with forum 10 to 90s that

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[SPEAKER_02]: just how good all of his pitches worked at that level and the quality of strikes.

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[SPEAKER_02]: If you're looking at areas for him to continue making strides in the future, I think it is probably going to be the command of the secondaries, because if you look at his fastball miss rate, it was his first fastball strike rate, excuse me, it was a 70% strike rate with the fastball, which for left hand a pitcher at his age, at that level, in his first day's approval, I think is an exceptional number.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Typically you're getting 70% fastball strike rates from sort of pitch ability type arms who maybe don't have a lot of power in the tank, but Caminadi is throwing a mid 90s fastball from the left side for strikes of a 70% clip.

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[SPEAKER_02]: That was not the same for about the slider and the change up.

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[SPEAKER_02]: So I think moving forward when he's going to face better hitters who are able to lay off the secondary is with a bit more frequency.

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[SPEAKER_02]: His ability to challenge those players in the zone with the

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[SPEAKER_04]: So we have JR Richie, another brave high school pitching prospect, high school draft D pitching prospect in our top 100 as well.

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[SPEAKER_04]: How big of a separation was there in your mind between the two, as far as at the top of this list?

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[SPEAKER_04]: You know, kind of what kind of put Kamenity, a little bit of a notch ahead?

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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think upside is probably the reason we have community at the top.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, if you really favor proximity and safety, Jared Richie, I think has a compelling case.

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[SPEAKER_02]: They're both top 100 tech prospects for us, the only two in the brave system who made our top 100.

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[SPEAKER_02]: Richie is this a very different pitcher from Kim and Eddie.

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[SPEAKER_02]: He's got a very diverse arsenal.

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[SPEAKER_02]: He throws seven different pitch shapes.

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[SPEAKER_02]: He's just coming off of 2025 season where he pitched a AA and AAA.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I think there's a chance that he could impact the Big League team in 2026.

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[SPEAKER_02]: We'll see how they're starting rotation shakes up.

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[SPEAKER_02]: But what kept me from putting Jerry on that number one spot was

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[SPEAKER_02]: As opposed to Caminiti, I don't know if you can point to a single pitch that he has right now that is definitely plus.

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[SPEAKER_02]: You want to see a little bit more from the fastball.

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[SPEAKER_02]: He's shown flashes of a plus slider in the past, but we really didn't see that in 2025 and for him it's a lot more about mixing and matching and keeping hitters up balance and attacking with good control.

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[SPEAKER_02]: I just think Caminiti has another gear that he can get to with his fastball and potentially a secondary as well and being left handed doesn't hurt either.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That is our prospect profile on Brave's No.

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[SPEAKER_04]: 1 prospect left-hander Cam Cam Kennedy for more prospect profiles check out Baseball Merck's YouTube channel.

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[SPEAKER_04]: We're releasing one of these each day during spring training.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And don't miss the next episode of Hot Sheet.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Two days at 3 p.m. East.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Hey everybody, JJ Cooper, Ian Cunderle, Jeff Ponds, joining you on another of the baseball America Prospect profiles.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Today we are taking a look at Philadelphia Philly's number one prospect, Aiden Miller, who unfortunately has had a little bit of news during spring training, which not the news you want to hear.

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[SPEAKER_04]: We know that Miller was held out of the AFL with a what was at the time termed a minor back issue.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That issue still bothering him.

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[SPEAKER_04]: We're not seeing him games in spring training.

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[SPEAKER_04]: We're not seeing him so far.

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[SPEAKER_04]: The hope is is that this will be a minor set back, but at the same time, Ian, any time I hear about a baseball player and a back injury, I get a little bit of worried.

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[SPEAKER_04]: How worried are you that this is something, you know, the aid miller was going to hopefully compete for basically, you know, if not on the opening day roster, a spot in Philly before long, how worried are you about this?

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[SPEAKER_01]: say right now it's moderate we still got to almost the month until just under a month until opening day and Miller's not someone who has a long track record of injuries yet he had one in high school but it was nothing to do with this back and as a minor league or he's been relatively healthy so far in his career so I think right now you're hoping you take the fillies word for it that it's minor and that you hope that he's back at some point in the next few weeks but if this is something that you know

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[SPEAKER_01]: We're getting into mid-March and he still is yet to appear in a game.

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[SPEAKER_01]: That's when I think, you know, the concern, you get a little more concern because as we've seen in the past with other players, back injuries or something that can linger and into the regular season and can, you know, really impact your ability at the plate end in the field.

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[SPEAKER_01]: So you never want to see that for someone like Miller who is just such a interesting and really talented player.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Jeff, we're here to praise Aiden Miller, though.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He's our number one prospect, not to bury him.

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[SPEAKER_04]: How are you, but more importantly, what is it that makes him our number one prospect, internal organization that has a couple of other guys who would have been solid candidates as well?

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I think there's other candidates, but I think when you look at the total player, regardless of this concern about the back and I think we just need to see how that sort of works itself out.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It could just be something that flares up from time to time

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[SPEAKER_00]: No, not necessarily something that is a long-term persistent issue, or it could be.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Backs are very funny, so, you know, it's not something that's an easy fix.

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[SPEAKER_00]: That said, I think when we look at the player on the field, he is no question for me the number one prospect in this Philly system.

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[SPEAKER_00]: an excellent defender at shortstop, that's only improved with each season as a professional.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Even when he was struggling at certain points in the first half of the season with double a rating, he was still playing great defense, providing really good base running, which is another asset and tool that he's kind of added.

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[SPEAKER_00]: In pro ball, it's not something he was necessarily known for as an amateur.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And last season was one of the best stolen base guys in the minors.

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[SPEAKER_00]: There's good plate skills here, there's always been vats of ballability, there's always been a good balance of aggression and patience at the plate, and there's always been good underlying EVs, what I think we saw down the stretch over the last month plus, out of Miller last year, was he made some adjustments to his swing, and he really took off and started to get two more of that hard contact more consistently was pulling the ball in the air more.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We're just hitting the ball hard in the air more than he ever had in his career.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And that carried him to AAA where he had a lot of success to end the season and you know if it wasn't for this back injury I think he's a guy that you might be really pushing for a case to maybe break camp with the fillies though I don't think we see that happen now This is a guy that could come up and be a really important piece on a competitive winning team And I think when you're talking about a team like the fillies the Dodgers the Yankees etc

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[SPEAKER_00]: You need to be a prospect that's capable of handling, you know, stuff moments in a, in a big spot providing good defense and clutch hitting and I think that Miller is going to be able to do all that when fully healthy and on the field for the fillies.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Ian the other thing that stands out to me about a Miller is he is an example of player development and how when we are talking about amateurs.

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[SPEAKER_04]: you're writing in pencil, you're not writing in pen.

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[SPEAKER_04]: At the example, I'd say that's the premium in an example of the 21st century is no one here or not a who came out of high school and there were a lot of questions about whether he would be able to stay at third base to his credit.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He got in better shape.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He really worked at it and he became the pre-eminent defensive third baseman of the national league for a long time.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Aiden Miller was a guy who was thought coming out of high school, this guy would probably be a bat who would probably move off the position, and then he's gotten a lot better.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He's really kind of I feel like kind of reshaped kind of the evaluation of him as a pro.

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[SPEAKER_04]: What kind of like you take from something like that?

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[SPEAKER_04]: When you see a guy make the kind of improvements that Aiden Miller has, especially defensively.

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[SPEAKER_01]: I think it just elevates him as the talent he is that, you know, the guys who could, because not everyone can make that adjustment.

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[SPEAKER_01]: There are certain guys who get into pro ball and you move down the defensive spectrum.

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[SPEAKER_01]: It's rare that you see guys move up almost in a way which he basically did because there's a lot of people thought that he was, as you said, it was going to have to move to the corner.

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[SPEAKER_01]: But being able to stay at short stop shows the athleticism and I think that it also shows the instincts he has.

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[SPEAKER_01]: You know, this is a guy that he really

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[SPEAKER_01]: good range like everything is taken that step forward and yeah I just think it shows the certain kind of aptitude that you want to see from your top prospects and it's just really been impressive following his development as he's gone from someone who you know that first maybe a corner guy to now it's this is a guy who if you if you're factoring instincts into a speed is a five-tool talent.

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[SPEAKER_04]: The other thing that stands out, if a Miller can get healthy, you mentioned the impact he could potentially provide.

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[SPEAKER_04]: The other thing I love about this Jeff is, fear of the fillies is he's a short stop.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And so you could say, well, they're kind of set there.

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[SPEAKER_04]: They've got trade Turner.

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[SPEAKER_04]: But I would say that what he gives them is depth at every infield position, if healthy.

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[SPEAKER_04]: But also the ability to make moves like if they need to reorganize a little bit in season, I feel like this is significant what he can provide for them.

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[SPEAKER_04]: basically at some point or kind of provide almost like a trade asset at the trade deadline, not by trading him, but by bringing him up, much like an out of house acquisition.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I don't think that's wrong at all.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's a guy that can supplement this roster, provide defensive value at three spots, important spots in the infield, whether it's shortstop, third base, or second base.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's a really strong defender.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's also important just in terms of the fillies long-term plans to keep in mind that trade turner is 33 years old.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And could, you know, it's funny to say this with tray turn or could slow down a little bit, I don't think that's, you know, out of the realm of possibility.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Now the defense has been really good there and he's probably not someone you're going to move off.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But it's a good problem to have.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that there's been a lot of questions regarding out bomb and that third base position for a few years now.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And it could end up being eight in Miller's job and also affords the fillies, maybe some opportunities to make some moves at the deadline.

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[SPEAKER_00]: and be a little bit more flexible because they know they have a guy like Aiden Miller who can really hold down the fort at, you know, for a second, third or short stop.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He's going to be a very interesting piece.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Again, if healthy, we're hoping to see him basically break camp ready to go.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Hopefully this back injury is a minor blip.

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[SPEAKER_04]: But if it is, it is something where Aiden Miller, the number one prospect, in the Philly's organization, could be a key player to watch in 2026.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He is one of our 30 prospect profiles for profiling the number one prospect in each and every organization, check them out at Baseball America's YouTube channel and by the way we're organizing them into divisions and rolling them out on our podcast feed as well.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Check that out and check out so much more on Baseball America YouTube channel.

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[SPEAKER_04]: The podcast feed and of course most importantly at Baseball America.com.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Thank you Ian, thank you Jeff, it's a long everybody.

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[SPEAKER_04]: We are taking a look at the number one prospect.

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[SPEAKER_04]: In each and every organization with the baseball America prospect profiles, today, Jeff Ponds and myself, DJ Cooper are taking a look at Met's right-hander Nolan McClain, the number one prospect in the Met's organization.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And I'm just gonna start by saying, if someone's saying, wait a second, Dylan McClains, but in the big leagues, we saw him pitching at the front of the Met's rotation, being a key member of their rotation down the stretch.

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[SPEAKER_04]: All of that is true.

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[SPEAKER_04]: the rules are very straightforward when it comes to rookie.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Well, I shouldn't say straightforward.

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[SPEAKER_04]: The rules are convoluted, but here's what they are.

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[SPEAKER_04]: You have to have less than 50 innings and you have to have less than 45 days of active service time.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Nolan McLean had 48 innings.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He did not reach those barriers.

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[SPEAKER_04]: So he is rookie of the eligible in 2026.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And Jeff, I would say that if you are

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[SPEAKER_04]: You wouldn't want to make mentioning too many players before you mention Nolan McLean's name.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, I would argue that he probably is the odds on favorite at this point to walk away as,

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[SPEAKER_00]: the NL rookie of the year, you know, if you're placing your bets, I think the smart money would probably be on McLean.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And I think he's a really interesting name to talk about beyond his ability, beyond all the stuff that we saw, you know, in the big leagues last year, he just barely qualifies, I think it's by just a couple of innings.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's still a rookie and prospect eligible for us.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But it gives us an opportunity to dig into his arsenal, and I think that's what makes McLean so unique.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's a guy that was a two-way player in college, really highly-built, a lot of power struck out a lot, hit little bit in his first professional season and then they scrapped it on the midpoint of 2024, since then he's really taken off now that he's been fully committed to pitching.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And we've seen the diversity in his arsenal, and I think this is something that, you know, there's trends that happen in the game.

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[SPEAKER_00]: A few years ago, it was a high-ride

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[SPEAKER_00]: Flatter vertical approach angles and then it was sweepers and cutters and you know, then it started to become a lot more sinkers.

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[SPEAKER_00]: I think the thing that we saw last season is varied arsenals Some of the who has five or six pitches can attack a variety of hitters Different ways depending upon what their strengths of weaknesses and hot zones and cold zones are

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[SPEAKER_00]: And McClain kind of fits that to a T. JJ, he throws six different pitches.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And when I say throws every single one of these six different pitches, was thrown 9% or more in game, which is pretty substantial.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's really mixing up that usage.

19:28.087 --> 19:32.213
[SPEAKER_00]: So you look at the sinker and the foreseamer, both move differently.

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[SPEAKER_00]: The sinker's a little better than the foreseamer, a little bit more traditional has better traits.

19:36.539 --> 19:39.502
[SPEAKER_00]: But he throws both them mid to high 90s.

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[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of velocity here as well.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's got a sweeper.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's got a curve ball.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's got a cutter.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So three different breaking ball shapes.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And then a pretty good change up as well.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And he's kind of mixing in between that like 96 down to like 80 mile per hour range with a pitch that kind of fits into each of those velocity bands between that delta.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's a really interesting arsenal and I think that's what makes McLean so unique and why I'm pretty comfortable despite him being a pitching prospect still kind of projecting him to have a great deal of success this year in the major leagues.

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[SPEAKER_04]: I love how you kind of laid that out because it really is true that this is someone who if you're a hit or there's so many things that you have to defend right he has pitches that can weather you are right handed or left handed yes pitches that can run in on you run away and he also can basically have that pitch.

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[SPEAKER_04]: pretty much straight down the middle, which sounds like okay, is that useful?

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[SPEAKER_04]: Well, yeah, it is because if you can always expect a way away away or in in in, you can kind of discard that.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He has bridge pitches as well as you said.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He also has the ability to challenge you with top in velocity, but also really mess with your timing because he can really slow down your bat as well.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And by the way, once he slows it down, then he goes back to that top in velocity.

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[SPEAKER_04]: prepare and have to see something so much slower than because some guys are hard hard hard with everything they throw.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He is every bit the embodiment of what you want to see in a front of the rotation starter.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And I would say that this is one of the things that really does stand out with him.

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[SPEAKER_04]: But the mats obviously they went out and they made a big move with Paralta.

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[SPEAKER_04]: They have a pretty

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[SPEAKER_04]: And despite the depth of that rotation, there's really not a question that this is a guy who is fronting this rotation, him in Paralta.

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[SPEAKER_04]: This is not, okay, he's a rookie.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Let's make him the number four of the number five.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He's kind of carried out a pretty decent workload already.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And if you said, well, who do you want to play, you know, pitching a game in the playoffs, start a game in the playoffs?

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[SPEAKER_04]: if the Metz can make it back to the postseason, which they did the last year, it's not on the client.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Like this is a guy who really does just stand out as someone who has everything you're looking for in a picture.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Jeff, are there anything here?

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[SPEAKER_04]: Are there any hiccups again?

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[SPEAKER_04]: Be other than he's a pitcher and so obviously, there can be injuries, but is there anything in his game that you're like, okay, this is what he's gonna have to probably improve in the long run to,

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think, you know, if we're really trying to pick nits here and it is the finest of homes that we're picking these with.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Um, but I think, you know, maybe some of the reliance upon contact.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He does miss bats, but it's not crazy with rates kind of across the board, a guy that does thrive on driving a really high rated ground balls was 54.7% across 113 winning point two innings in the minors last year.

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[SPEAKER_00]: in the majors, it was 61.1%.

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[SPEAKER_00]: We do know that ground balls, though they don't leave the park, do have a higher batting average on balls and play than fly balls.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So there might be times where he maybe gets babybipped a little bit to death, but overall, I think it's pretty tough because he did miss bats and the major leagues.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He throws a lot of strikes.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He really limits hard contact that does a lot of damage and has is going to have a good enough infield I believe this year defensively that getting those ground balls more often than not is going to lead to a high percentage out.

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[SPEAKER_00]: So it's kind of tough to dig in deep on him and really come up with something that you know you can pick apart or say I don't think he's going to be successful because of this.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe I'd like to see him miss a few more bats, but I think it's also one of the reasons he's really efficient and gets very deep into starts.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Right.

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[SPEAKER_04]: It is a very well-rounded.

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[SPEAKER_04]: This is a reason that he is our number one pitching prospect in the game.

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[SPEAKER_04]: I don't think that that was even to be honest, like tray of savage also had an exceptional, you know, into the season obviously was was key in the postseason as well.

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[SPEAKER_04]: but if you look at the difference between Nolan McClain, Treyus average, I do think that you can feel a little bit more comfortable that McClain is going to be able to sustain it and is good, you know, maybe even has a little bit more but top and I like how you put it Jeff, like this is a guy who also because he is efficient is able to work deeper into games than most young pitchers.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Yes, we do love strikeouts, we love missing bats.

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[SPEAKER_04]: at the same time, there is something that we also love about a guy who can turn over a line up to face, let's say, 30, 33, 36, you know, in his best days, batter's faced.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That's something not a whole lot of guys can do right now, but if you ask what's a delineation between a true ace and a guy who's an excellent number two, that's one of the aspects of it.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That's one of the just and verlanders of the world.

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[SPEAKER_04]: did for so many years.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That's what a Logan Web does over an over and over.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And by the way, Logan Web does not miss the same rate of bat to some of these other guys we're talking about, but he does throw 200 innings every year and there's value to that.

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[SPEAKER_04]: When you look at it, I will also say with this Jeff, like when you look at this Met's rotation, pitching development wise, they really have kind of taken a nice step here, haven't they?

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I think it's, you know, focus on depth of arsenal, uh, they just trade away a guy and bring it's sprout who has a very diverse arsenal as well.

25:32.861 --> 25:38.612
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think he's a guy like McClain with a college background, which is different than Jonah Tong in terms of their development paths.

25:39.031 --> 25:58.390
[SPEAKER_00]: They really focus and I think this is something you are hitting on on diversified out generation profiles like they have a lot of different ways to generate out with a lot of different pitches and it's a very cerebral approach so almost like a plan of approach at the plate for a hitter.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's the same thing with hitters having a game plan sticking to it and knowing when you're in trouble in certain spots runners on certain places whatever it is situationally you can go to this pitch to try to get this particular type of contact or this particular type of out and I think that's what the meds have done as well as anybody.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Nolan McClain is the number one pitching prospect in the game for us right now and the number one pitching prospect.

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[SPEAKER_04]: The number one prospect in the Met's organization.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He's the latest of the baseball America prospect profiles.

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[SPEAKER_04]: If you like to see more of these prospect profiles, check out baseball America's YouTube channel because we are rolling out.

26:33.200 --> 27:00.440
[SPEAKER_04]: A Prospect profile on every organization is no more in Prospect all through spring training Get you ready for each and every team and if you enjoyed this also, please do check out baseball American YouTube channel On Tuesdays we have the hot sheet show three PMEs turn every Tuesday talking all about everything going on in the world of Prospects and player development college baseball high school baseball minors and the majors Thank you to Jeff.

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[SPEAKER_04]: I'm Jay Jay.

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[SPEAKER_04]: It's along the way

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[SPEAKER_04]: Hello, everybody, JJ Cooper, Jacob Brudner, another of the baseball America Prospect profiles.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And today we are talking about Miami Marlins, number one prospect, left-hander Thomas White, one of the best pitching prospects in the game, part of a very deep now Marlins farm system.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Jacob, when you kind of were diving in on Thomas White and kind of where he is now, it's already intriguing, but I think what really gets exciting when you talk about Thomas White is what he could be down the road.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, this is a guy who is not even his biggest fan, which I think is always exciting when it comes to prospects.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He says himself that he has a really long way to go before he reaches his ceiling.

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[SPEAKER_03]: This was kind of a weird year because he was so great, statistically speaking, and the stuff is what the stuff is, and there's a reason why we have him ranked as the number one prospect in the system, and as highly as we do overall in the game.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But,

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[SPEAKER_03]: He would tell you and he told baseball America that his mechanics are not very refined.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He thinks that he can throw cleaner strikes.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And so to your point, there is a long way to go.

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[SPEAKER_03]: You're talking about a left handed picture with premium stuff and lots of untapped potential.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He's a young former high school commit, a high school draft.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He excuse me, and again, you know, there's not a lot of guys who fit in his bucket as far as the stuff because it's an excellent fastball.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He's got a really good slider and change up.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He's just a very intriguing prospect overall, especially as he makes refinements.

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[SPEAKER_04]: As you noted, he says himself, he needs to make a fine.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And there is evidence of that.

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[SPEAKER_04]: This is a guy who's walked right dig climb 13.6% last year at the same time was kind of dominating even if he was falling behind sometimes because he has bat missing stuff.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Is this the guy he reached Triple A?

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[SPEAKER_04]: Is there the possibility that some of these lessons are not really going to get the stuff so good that you might have to find some of these lessons and get taught them in the major leagues because until then, he might not really get punished as much for kind of what he's even perceiving as the slight flaws in his game.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Well, Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers are no longer Miami Marlins, and so it seems as though the organization has that intention, it does set up for Thomas White to be a big leader at the start or near the start of the 2026 season.

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[SPEAKER_03]: The stuff is ready to go.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Again, this is not somebody who has a lot of ground to make up as far as the stuff goes as far as the makeup and the competitiveness go, which is really important.

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[SPEAKER_03]: This is somebody who is close.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He was dominant in 2025 and even if the walk rate climbed, he did still show the bat missing ability, which is excellent.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He is still somebody who's going to go out and get a bunch of outs and look effective doing so, he doesn't need to be in the zone to win.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And I think that the marlins are ready to see that in the big leagues, whether that's immediately in 2022, is kind of something that remains to be seen.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, he's ready to rock and I think that a lot of the development will have to come at the major league level, which is something that the Marlons need to now prove that they can do effectively.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That slider.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That's kind of the weapon right now, like the fastballs really impressive that they're, you know, there are multiple secondaries here, but that slider is really going to be kind of the, if we see Thomas white dominate at times, you know, if in flash is at the big league level in 26, that slider is going to be what we're really what he probably is really going to hang his hat on out imagine.

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[SPEAKER_03]: absolutely 50% misrate 31% chase rate in 2025 on that pitch alone.

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[SPEAKER_03]: It is now standing offering.

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[SPEAKER_03]: We currently have it as a 70 grade slider, which is about as good as you're going to get.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Not a lot of 80 grades in the pitch department throughout the game right now.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He has that as an absolutely premium pitch there was not a single person who I spoke to throughout our prospect handbook process when we were getting evaluations and starting to understand how the industry views these players There was not a single person who I spoke with that did not put a double plus grade on his slider.

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[SPEAKER_03]: It is an outstanding pitch.

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[SPEAKER_03]: It has proven results.

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[SPEAKER_03]: It has worked in both double and AAA and the expectation is that it continues to be premium and he reaches the game's highest level

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[SPEAKER_04]: But even when you're talking about as much of a power lefty is like, I like Thomas White, he's going to face a lot of right handed hitters.

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[SPEAKER_04]: The question then becomes okay.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Well, what about the change up?

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[SPEAKER_04]: And the good news for Thomas White is, this is why he's one of the top pitching prospects in the game.

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[SPEAKER_04]: This isn't like, oh, he's trying to add one.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He's trying to learn one, kind of describe his change up a few words to us Jacob.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it's got a lot of fade and tumble and it was particularly effective against right handers, which I think is important to state.

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[SPEAKER_03]: So he does have that equalizing offering when he can't go to the slider, he does have an extra pitch here.

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[SPEAKER_03]: We put it into 65.

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[SPEAKER_03]: So it doesn't exactly lag to far behind that slider that he throws that we like so much.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Again, it has movement in two different directions.

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[SPEAKER_03]: It is an extremely effective pitch in the mid 80s.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He's able to use it outside of the strike zone to get swings and misses, which is where it's most effective, but he does throw it for strikes at times, kind of the same thing that he does with his slider.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He's very, very good at using his pair of off-speed pitches to compliment that fastball.

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[SPEAKER_03]: I think the other thing that's really important, I mentioned here, he said to himself and has talked about this before, his change of kind of helps him when he doesn't have his best command in certain outings.

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[SPEAKER_03]: The fastball isn't locating well.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He is able to place this change up to get swings and misses.

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[SPEAKER_03]: And so in addition to the movement profile, I think that it pairs really nicely with his arsenal, and at times it pairs really nicely with the arsenal when it's not that it's best.

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[SPEAKER_04]: So we've got him and then the number two prospect, also a top hunter prospect is another picture.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Robby's telling, was there a debate here?

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[SPEAKER_04]: When you talk about the quality of white stuff, I don't know if there was that much of the debate, but was there a debate at number one?

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[SPEAKER_04]: And more than that, like this does seem like that we now have these two guys who we can expect to see in that bigly rotation in 2026.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, the expectation absolutely is that Robbie Stilling will be a major league or very early on in 2026.

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[SPEAKER_03]: Maybe even earlier than Thomas White.

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[SPEAKER_03]: This is somebody who is older.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He's got an arsenal of above average to plus pitches.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He does throw better strikes more consistently than Thomas White, which I think is something the organization really values when you ask was it hard to, you know, decipher between number one and number two.

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[SPEAKER_03]: The answer is kind of no.

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[SPEAKER_03]: I think that Thomas White stood out very clearly as the top pitching prospect in this organization, and as you have said now multiple times, one of the top pitching prospects in the game.

33:35.444 --> 33:42.318
[SPEAKER_03]: I don't know that Robbie Snelling really had the push into that territory, but he is a very exciting prospect in his own right.

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[SPEAKER_03]: The biggest thing for Robbie Snelling from 2025 was the

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[SPEAKER_03]: kind of the resurgence of his fastball.

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[SPEAKER_03]: He had a major velocity dip in 2024 that saw his results trend in the wrong direction.

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[SPEAKER_03]: All of a sudden he regains some strength and mechanical clarity and he's back up into the bid 90s, the fastball plays, even into the upper 90s and his getting swings and misses again, the rest of his arsenal has played off of that and was always kind of pretty good.

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[SPEAKER_03]: But rediscovering that fastball was key for him and now we just need to see it hold and that's why he ended up at number two and doesn't exactly have that same cache

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[SPEAKER_04]: They're very possibly be throwing in the big leagues to another prospect top hundred prospect in the Maryland system because Joe Mac the catcher is also expected to make a twenty twenty six arrival.

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[SPEAKER_04]: This is a system filled with guys who we can expect to see make big league they abuse or kind of settle into the major leagues in twenty twenty six and let me tell you.

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[SPEAKER_04]: We could also go on for a long time about some of the arms at the lower levels, especially the Dominican Summer League rotation that the Marlins had last year was filled with very intriguing power arms.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Some guys who just are monsters of men for teenagers, there's a lot kind of developing in this Marlin system.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That is our Prospect profile.

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[SPEAKER_04]: On Marlin's number one Prospect, left-hand or Thomas White, for more Prospect profiles, please check out the Baseball America YouTube page.

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[SPEAKER_04]: We are trying to put up one of these everyday during spring training, so we'll have Prospect profile in the number one Prospect for all 30 organizations.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And please don't make sure that you check out the Hot Sheet Show as well every Tuesday at 3 p.m.e.

35:35.917 --> 35:45.749
[SPEAKER_04]: When we were prepping on Eli Willets a few years ago, it's like, okay, this is going to be one of the best draft prospects, one of the best short-stop prospects in the 2026 class.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And then in his draft year, we always, we had to kind of reassess because Eli Willets reclassified, and at the time it was like, okay, this guy's going to be an intriguing guy to watch, kept getting better and better, and ends up being the youngest number one pick.

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[SPEAKER_04]: in draft history going back to 1965, the nationals picked Eli Willett's first overall.

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[SPEAKER_04]: He is a subject of today's baseball America prospect profiles.

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[SPEAKER_04]: We look at the number one prospect in each and every organization in the major leagues.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And Willett is kind of the next the the key member of the next wave.

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[SPEAKER_04]: We've kind of seen the nationals.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Not that they're generating the, what they got in the last rebuild, the James Woods, the Dylan cruises, the Josiah Grace, but they did trade McKenzie Gore.

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[SPEAKER_04]: They did start to admit, it's probably going to be a little bit longer.

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[SPEAKER_04]: That's why Paul Toboni is taking over a new regime, a new front office.

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[SPEAKER_04]: And Jeff, what, how important should Eli will?

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[SPEAKER_04]: It's B2 rebuild 2.0 in DC.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Probably, you know, fairly important.

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[SPEAKER_00]: This was a number one overall pick.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's somebody who's, you know, an advanced switchhitter with, you know, I think an easy hit tool to project as, as plus, or maybe even a little bit better.

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[SPEAKER_00]: Yep, right into professional baseball.

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[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, as a 17 year old, one of the youngest players, you know, American board players and, you know, a full season level at the end of the year.

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[SPEAKER_00]: and ran really, really high contact rates, rarely expanded the zone, showed a balance of aggression and patience that I think is very rare for any young player kind of under the age of 20.

37:36.723 --> 37:44.794
[SPEAKER_00]: But particularly for a guy who's the same age as high school juniors going into their senior year at that point in time.

37:44.774 --> 38:01.348
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, so yeah, I think Willis is a guy when you think about the fact that he's a switch hitting high contact somewhat, you know, projectible shortstop who's a pretty solid defender as well above average to maybe plus if things all click the right way.

38:01.328 --> 38:05.457
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you look at a player like this as a major sort of blue chip.

38:05.477 --> 38:09.285
[SPEAKER_00]: It might take a few years for it all to sort of materialize.

38:09.806 --> 38:11.811
[SPEAKER_00]: But there's pretty big upside here.

38:11.851 --> 38:14.316
[SPEAKER_00]: I think the only question mark you really have with Will.

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[SPEAKER_00]: It's is how much power he ends up developing.

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[SPEAKER_00]: But everything else is above average to plus.

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[SPEAKER_04]: So I will say, will it's would he went one one?

38:24.381 --> 38:28.311
[SPEAKER_04]: We kind of started highlighting the possibility that he could go first of overall.

38:28.371 --> 38:30.737
[SPEAKER_04]: Is early, as I think it was like March or April.

38:30.777 --> 38:35.288
[SPEAKER_04]: Like this was not a case of a team just saying, A were just trying to save money here.

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[SPEAKER_04]: However,

38:36.732 --> 38:44.784
[SPEAKER_04]: It also is something where they were able to buy, getting him to agree to an underslaught deal, which was probably gonna be the case with anyone that they took one one.

38:45.105 --> 38:57.043
[SPEAKER_04]: But by doing so, they were able to get guys like when in Harmon, Quay James, Miguel C. May Jr., like there was a number of other guys who kind of become part of this package because they saved money that they could spend elsewhere.

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[SPEAKER_04]: But you hit on it with Willitz.

38:59.547 --> 39:11.920
[SPEAKER_04]: I would say if there's a, a knock is a little strong because again, this guy's so young that there's a lot of, a lot of kind of paths that this could develop, but, but Jeff, when I look at him, it's like, if you wanted to,

39:12.237 --> 39:21.912
[SPEAKER_04]: I don't say want to have enough, but if you had a concern here, I do feel like that there's a chance that if the power doesn't develop, you're talking about more of a solid player than a star.

39:22.633 --> 39:29.824
[SPEAKER_04]: It feels like that power development is really going to be the key about how much impact Eli Willis makes down the road, isn't it?

39:30.968 --> 39:38.424
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I think for me, it's not necessarily about will it's developing into any sort of impressive home run header.

39:38.464 --> 39:42.713
[SPEAKER_00]: This guy doesn't have to hit 20 home runs to be an all star and above average player.

39:43.074 --> 39:47.624
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I think we saw that with a Jacob Wilson last year with the athletics.

39:47.704 --> 39:51.272
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, I do think will it's in some regards, um,

39:51.252 --> 40:02.705
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, has a hit tool that that probably ends up more polished, maybe than even Wilson's just based on some of the swing decisions and similar sort of contact ability, especially when you consider how young will it's was.

40:03.606 --> 40:06.229
[SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, you know, does he get much bigger?

40:06.489 --> 40:07.751
[SPEAKER_00]: I think you look at the engine.

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[SPEAKER_00]: You look at his dad who was a professional baseball player did not hit many home runs his brother as a college player and a draft prospect in in 2026.

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[SPEAKER_00]: not a guy that's known for hitting a lot of home runs.

40:20.726 --> 40:24.290
[SPEAKER_00]: So you sort of just look at his family and just sort of the build, et cetera.

40:24.330 --> 40:28.675
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, I don't think home runs is necessarily what we're looking for.

40:29.096 --> 40:36.204
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm looking for hard liners and him being able to sort of make somebody pay an mistake over the plate.

40:36.224 --> 40:45.255
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a guy that could hit 12 home runs, but hit 300 every year with a

40:45.235 --> 40:46.617
[SPEAKER_00]: and score a ton of runs.

40:46.978 --> 40:51.065
[SPEAKER_00]: That's really the type of profile that I'm looking for from an Eli willot.

40:51.085 --> 41:01.744
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's just a matter of getting to a little bit more power that he's hitting line drives and hard-hit ground balls and the occasional flyball to the pull side.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's hitting that stuff hard.

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[SPEAKER_00]: He's 17 years old.

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[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of time for him to add that good weight, get stronger, and develop that part of his game.

41:11.717 --> 41:19.086
[SPEAKER_00]: It's often an area where we see guys make big jumps in any year at any point between sort of 17 and 21, 22.

41:20.007 --> 41:23.672
[SPEAKER_00]: So there's a lot of runaway for Eli way, let's just sort of develop that part of his game.

41:23.992 --> 41:33.163
[SPEAKER_00]: But it is definitely the biggest question mark and sort of the lingering question that a lot of evaluators might have on will.

41:34.257 --> 41:38.582
[SPEAKER_04]: you touched on the flip side of that, which is what it comes to his understanding of the game.

41:38.602 --> 41:46.652
[SPEAKER_04]: When it comes to his ability to do those little things that shortstop that you want to see a player do, this is the guy who's growing up around the game.

41:46.692 --> 41:51.397
[SPEAKER_04]: His dad was a big league or his, you know, he's got a family of baseball players.

41:51.718 --> 41:53.800
[SPEAKER_04]: You see that when Eli will it's his on the field.

41:54.220 --> 41:56.383
[SPEAKER_04]: If you're looking at time table here,

41:56.363 --> 41:58.568
[SPEAKER_04]: We don't know if CJ Abrams is going to stick around.

41:58.608 --> 42:01.594
[SPEAKER_04]: We don't know if the Nationals are going to keep CJ Abrams or not.

42:01.614 --> 42:07.267
[SPEAKER_04]: But let's say they do this actually kind of syncs up reasonably well, potentially as we just mentioned.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Will it be so young?

42:08.650 --> 42:12.618
[SPEAKER_04]: We would not expect this is not a guy you're going to expect in 26 or even 27.

42:13.059 --> 42:15.705
[SPEAKER_04]: You're probably looking at 28 or

42:15.685 --> 42:22.391
[SPEAKER_04]: Maybe, you know, the end of 28, but that kind of ties into how much longer CJ Abrams is under team control.

42:22.771 --> 42:34.742
[SPEAKER_04]: So you do have the possibility that you could have a very good transition here where Abrams is your shortstop of the now and the near future and then will its is your shortstop of the more long-term.

42:35.062 --> 42:45.692
[SPEAKER_04]: Jeff, don't, you know, I want to ask you to kind of hang on this too long, but defensively when you look at the tools, this does feel to me like, you know, all the

42:45.672 --> 42:47.254
[SPEAKER_04]: pretty likely short stop.

42:47.274 --> 42:51.219
[SPEAKER_04]: Not a guy who's probably going to have to move out the position I would think.

42:51.239 --> 42:59.348
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I think everybody you speak with, you know, really likes the hands, the actions, the internal clock.

42:59.909 --> 43:07.798
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the stuff that I think is most important for a short stop, honestly, because there's plenty of guys with the tons of range that

43:07.778 --> 43:10.763
[SPEAKER_00]: don't have that element that sort of feel for the game.

43:11.565 --> 43:12.566
[SPEAKER_00]: He has that.

43:12.827 --> 43:16.573
[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe there's some questions about just how big the arm is.

43:17.194 --> 43:19.478
[SPEAKER_00]: I think he's got enough arm for shortstop.

43:19.498 --> 43:21.662
[SPEAKER_00]: The release is really quick.

43:21.882 --> 43:24.607
[SPEAKER_00]: Moves well, laterally, you know, right or left.

43:25.509 --> 43:27.933
[SPEAKER_00]: Makes, you know, some off balance, difficult throws.

43:27.973 --> 43:33.162
[SPEAKER_00]: That was something that we even saw in pro ball, following the draft when he did debut.

43:33.142 --> 43:44.661
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, so yeah, I don't think there's a lot of questions that he's going to stick at shortstop and, you know, if he has to move to second base or somewhere like that, he's going to have a valuable defensive position and he's going to contribute on that side.

43:45.042 --> 43:52.855
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, he's not, that's not an area of the of his game that I think a lot of people are going to have questions marks about, but certainly has the tools to stick it short long term.

43:53.932 --> 44:02.002
[SPEAKER_04]: the nationals are in another rebuild, but they are kind of adding the ingredients to pull this rebuild off potentially, hopefully a little better for them than the last one.

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[SPEAKER_04]: Harlan Susanna, Alex, Cleme, Travis, Sakura, we've got some arms, we're coming down the road, and then when you got like the Eli Willets, we're going to see what a Harry Ford, they've got one trade, they then got in Fiend, Devon Fitzgerald in other trades.

44:16.299 --> 44:20.344
[SPEAKER_04]: So they're building something here, we'll see what's coming, but that is our

44:20.324 --> 44:24.331
[SPEAKER_04]: Prospect Profile on National's Number One Prospect Eli Willets.

44:24.351 --> 44:27.857
[SPEAKER_04]: For more of these, please do check out the Baseball America YouTube channel.

44:28.137 --> 44:32.124
[SPEAKER_04]: We are rolling out one Prospect Profile for the Number One Prospect in each and every organization.

44:32.304 --> 44:37.232
[SPEAKER_04]: And by the way, if you want to hear more about this, we also have over at the YouTube channel Deep Dives.

44:37.272 --> 44:42.802
[SPEAKER_04]: And on the podcast, the Deep Dives, where we've taken an in-depth look at each and every organization as well.

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[SPEAKER_04]: For Jeff, I'm Jay Jay.

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[SPEAKER_04]: It's a long here, everybody.