[SPEAKER_01]: when you're looking at the number one prospects in each and every organization, there are a few that I would think of that are more interesting, more intriguing, more difficult, maybe to analyze, than giants number one prospect, first space bin Bryce Eldridge, who possesses some of the best power in the game.

[SPEAKER_01]: He is going to be today's Spaceball America Prospect profile, as we look at the number one prospect in each and every MLB organization,

[SPEAKER_01]: Jeff, when it comes to Bryce Aldridge, two-way player in high school who a lot of people thought, we were gonna be talking about the six foot seven, the massive pitcher, but then he just kept hitting home run after home run and after home run.

[SPEAKER_01]: And kind of wanted also to really wanted to hit.

[SPEAKER_01]: To his credit, he's kept on doing it, made the majors at the end of last year, not exactly the MOD debut that he would really want to remember,

[SPEAKER_01]: There's a very brief one, but when you look at Brice Elders and you look ahead, I feel like this is a guy who even though he's made the majors, the range of potential outcomes here, range everywhere from wins, you know, home run titles to, okay, it just didn't all seem to come together.

[SPEAKER_01]: How much risk and how much reward do you see in Brice Elders?

[SPEAKER_00]: We can start the conversation by just getting this out of the way.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it is one of the best power profiles in the minor leagues.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, high end exit velocities, of course, are very, very good.

[SPEAKER_00]: He hits the ball hard at exceptional angles.

[SPEAKER_00]: His hard hit launch angle was 18.2 degrees last year in the minors.

[SPEAKER_00]: That was across 433 plate appearances as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: Where I find it him to be really fascinating, it's like an Aaron judge-level average exit velocity last year in the minors, and a fairly large sample, too, is 95 degrees, 95 degrees, 95 miles per hour, was his average exit velocity.

[SPEAKER_00]: He hits the ball really, really hard consistently.

[SPEAKER_00]: His average contact is a hard hit ball, essentially.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I think you got to keep that in mind, that said there is quite a bit of swing and miss in the profile, it's kind of at that level where it can go either way, which is what I think makes it even more questionable.

[SPEAKER_00]: In the minor leagues, it was kind of at that level where this can get just incrementally better in the major leagues and health consistently gets a power, but we'll probably run you know high 20s to a low 30 strikeout rate from year to year.

[SPEAKER_00]: with decent swing decisions.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's not fully like a three true outcome kind of guy.

[SPEAKER_00]: That said, I think you sort of look at how young he is.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's had a lot of minor league time, but only across a couple of seasons really.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he moved really quickly.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think you've got to take some of the struggles and the major leagues with a grain assault.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's also, you know, a corner in field duo in San Francisco right now after the, the Raphael Devers trade a year ago that, you know, the urgency of Eldridge having to get up there in man first base for them.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, isn't quite as, you know, code read as it seemed to be a year ago.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I do think there's some time for Eldridge to kind of get some of the, you know, sort of kinks out in the swing, et cetera.

[SPEAKER_00]: But there is a fair amount of hit-soul risk here, but it does come along with exceptional power.

[SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes it just takes a little bit longer that it could look like it's a bus for a couple years.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then all of a sudden at 25, 26 years old,

[SPEAKER_00]: Eldridge just breaks out.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, it could be a little bit longer road here, but I also don't want to write out that right off that he could make those incremental improvements within, you know, the next six to 12 months and, you know, all of a sudden has a, has a massive year in 27.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think it would be unlikely, JJ, that he would have a big year in 26.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if you disagree with that or not.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, I think that that makes a lot of sense.

[SPEAKER_01]: So this is where this is fascinating, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: You just said, like, we're not saying he's Aaron Judge.

[SPEAKER_01]: No one's Aaron Judge.

[SPEAKER_01]: Aaron Judge is just wrapping up in the last couple of years.

[SPEAKER_01]: And obviously, he probably could continue it for a while longer.

[SPEAKER_01]: But he's been one of the best hitters in baseball history in recent years.

[SPEAKER_01]: But he is also instructive for Bryce Eldred.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do think Aaron Judge is a better athlete.

[SPEAKER_01]: Even though as we said, Eldred was a true two-way player and a prospect both as a pitcher and a hitter.

[SPEAKER_01]: never slugged 500 in the minors and did not graduate as a rookie until he was 25.

[SPEAKER_01]: Bryce Eldridge is 21, so

[SPEAKER_01]: When you talk about someone with long levers like this, when you talk about someone with the strikes on the size that Bryce Eldridge has, there is some swing and miss here, a 29% K rate last year, while high is not absurd for the level of production, for what we've seen power wise from him.

[SPEAKER_01]: The other part that's going to be interesting to watch here is you mentioned it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Devours is now there.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think that that could be very helpful for Ed Elders now that Deborah says he's willing to play first base because the other question for Eldridge in the short term he made improvements last year in 2024.

[SPEAKER_01]: He made 18 errors at first base.

[SPEAKER_01]: That is a number of errors that you simply cannot make it first base and play in the major leagues.

[SPEAKER_01]: He have that to nine last year.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's improved as a first base spin, but at the same time, it is not something that he's an exceptional first base spin.

[SPEAKER_01]: Big target, but not an exceptional first base spin by any stretch of the imagination.

[SPEAKER_01]: being able to DH when he comes up more days than he plays first base, probably a good thing right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do want to also acknowledge another thing that was impressive they did last year.

[SPEAKER_01]: Big lefty like that, you wouldn't be surprised at all to see him really struggle against left-handed pictures.

[SPEAKER_01]: Made real improvements to that in 2025.

[SPEAKER_01]: We saw some, you know, kind of concerns with that in 2024.

[SPEAKER_01]: Took a step forward in 2025 and really kind of

[SPEAKER_01]: I wouldn't say put that kind of concern behind him, but definitely improved it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the other thing that we do on acknowledge here, this is the guy who has hit for power wherever he's played.

[SPEAKER_01]: 23 homers in 116 games in 2024, 25 in 102 games in the miners in 25.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's while we're doing that while reaching levels,

[SPEAKER_01]: He reached Triple A in 24 as a teenager.

[SPEAKER_01]: He spent all of last year at Double A in Triple A.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's been one of the youngest players in every league he's ever played in.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's doing this while he was effectively learning to play a position because he really was more of a pitcher who also hit in high school.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot here to say like that

[SPEAKER_01]: He's 21.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let's see what this guy looks like at 23, 24, 25, but Jeff, like it's also not crazy to think.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you want to dream on the upside here.

[SPEAKER_01]: There aren't a whole lot of guys who play in San Francisco, especially in, you know, hitting to hitting to the bay.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's not a whole lot of guys who can get you to 30, 35 homers.

[SPEAKER_01]: We don't see that very often there.

[SPEAKER_01]: Bryce Eldridge is someone, there's not a park made.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's not a park that's been built that can hold him in when he really get connects with a baseball.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, I think you look at the power and just a true talent perspective, it's 50 home run upside.

[SPEAKER_00]: You really want to dream on it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think you can dream on this guy, you know, having 50 home run seasons and

[SPEAKER_00]: you know, leading the major leagues in home runs.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what the upside is.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just a matter of can he get to, you know, the power consistently enough to do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, I mean, it's a tough place to hit home runs, but you know, not unheard of.

[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, there's huge natural power here, and the ability to hit the ball to all parks of the ball park too.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, I think you look at all of your just somebody that, yeah, could definitely be feeding some some guys out in the in the kayaks in Macavico of looking to sell some baseballs.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, you mentioned his average EV, that was in the 100%ile of all minor league hitters last year.

[SPEAKER_01]: His 90 of EV was in the 95th percentile and his max EV was in the 93rd percentile.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is a guy who hits the ball's heart as anyone.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what makes him such an intriguing prospect.

[SPEAKER_01]: And someone has already reached the majors at a very young age, that is Bryce Aldridge, the number one prospect in the giant organization.

[SPEAKER_01]: And another of these baseball America prospect profiles,

[SPEAKER_01]: We're rolling out one of these today.

[SPEAKER_01]: Please like and subscribe.

[SPEAKER_01]: Do check out the baseball America podcast feed and YouTube channel for more of these because we're doing one for all 30 orgs.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you enjoyed this, I promise you also will enjoy the baseball America prospect podcast deep dives that we have done for each and every organization as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're taking a look at the state of every farm system as we head into the 20, 26 season for Jeff.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm JJ.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, everybody.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hello everybody, welcome to another of the baseball America prospect profiles.

[SPEAKER_01]: We are taking a look at the number one prospect in each and every organization, Jeff Ponds, JJ Cooper here and we are taking a look at Arizona downbacks outfielder number one prospect, Ryan watching it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jeff, I look at Ryan and I can't help but think that, you know, we're going to see him in the big league this year.

[SPEAKER_01]: Just the question is just going to be, is it going to be opening day?

[SPEAKER_01]: Is it going to be a little bit longer?

[SPEAKER_01]: But with special, when I look at that, that D-backs outfield, I feel very comfortable in thinking that he's going to get there.

[SPEAKER_01]: What are D-backs fans?

[SPEAKER_01]: What can they expect once he does arrive?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think it's just a really well-rounded profile.

[SPEAKER_00]: And a good athlete, a guy that's improved as a defender in the outfield, still not the most standout defender out there, but I think good enough to hold down a corner spot.

[SPEAKER_00]: pretty consistently.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's got legs to kind of make up on maybe some sub-par jumps at times.

[SPEAKER_00]: But it's really at the plate where Walter Mitt kind of makes his makes his noise.

[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, good contact skills, elite swing decisions.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's a guy that, you know, really knows how to discern balls from strikes consistently.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's fairly aggressive in the zone despite chasing just 15.8% of the time this year.

[SPEAKER_00]: across all levels, which is a really impressive number.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's power here as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: Say it's more above average, the angles are good, not great.

[SPEAKER_00]: But he's a guy that knows how to hit, and I think has all the ingredients to kind of make things work at the plate.

[SPEAKER_00]: Once he gets up to the big leagues, might take a couple of years for him to really fully hit his stride.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's some probably some more strength gains that will come as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: But this is a guy that hit a ball last year, 116.

[SPEAKER_00]: So the top and exit velocities are there.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the hitting ingredients are there.

[SPEAKER_00]: He plays a position.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think he's a guy that can come up and right off the bat be an average regular with some ceiling for a little bit more.

[SPEAKER_00]: As he progresses in this major league career.

[SPEAKER_01]: The thing that does stand out to me is like you've mentioned the OBP, I mean, kind of he really does control the strikes on that is the part where I think that if you said how does he going to make the biggest impact, especially early on this is a guy some good parks that he's played in a little bit that some weeks are a little bit offensive, but

[SPEAKER_01]: He's never posted a sub 400 OBP at any stop in the minor leagues so far.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is a 426 career minor league on base percentage, 288 batting average, 460 slug.

[SPEAKER_01]: So like, again, everything's pretty well rounded there.

[SPEAKER_01]: But Jeff, like, when you look at the swing decisions, the thing that stands out to me is, this isn't a guy who's just kind of throwing the bat on his shoulder and saying, okay, bad pictures.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can take my walks.

[SPEAKER_01]: There is an awareness and ability and understanding of knowing what pitches to hit.

[SPEAKER_01]: And obviously that will diminish a little bit.

[SPEAKER_01]: I would say at the big league level because those pictures are better, the stuff is better.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I do think if you said, how is this guy going to make an offensive impact?

[SPEAKER_01]: Even if he's 10, 15 homers, he could be a pretty well-rounded offensive player because he can

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I think that's what kind of puts him into a prime position to project as a good lead off hitter potentially for the diamond backs for a whole lot of years.

[SPEAKER_00]: Guy that does get on base as you said, you know, he's not a base clogger at all.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think even if like those those walk rates drop down a little bit as we expect they will once he gets to the majors.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, if he gets a little bit more aggressive in zone, which he's pretty aggressive in zone now, you know, it's not as you said it's not like he's one of these passive guys where it's a really low in zone swing rate and he never chases it's not like he's keeping the bat and shoulder that freak, you know, and swinging that in frequently.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's a guy that does attack in his own, so as he sees more strikes, he sees more hitable pitches.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's going to lead to more impact more production as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it's kind of a given take there, but I think eventually over time, pitchers will have to respect, you know, how good his eyes are at the plate and his ability to establish the zone.

[SPEAKER_00]: And especially now that we're seeing the challenge system, this is a guy with a skill like this where

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, they're probably going to give them the green light to challenge balls and strikes consistently and that's a dangerous element and component of each at bat now.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think we're seeing that more and more in some of these spring training games.

[SPEAKER_01]: The other thing I'll note with this is the opportunities we said is kind of there, at least in the short term that kind of gives him a little bit of foot in the door.

[SPEAKER_01]: Laura Scoreals coming off of an injury kind of rehabbing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Although he looks like he may be a little bit ahead of schedule.

[SPEAKER_01]: Corbin Carroll obviously went down very early in spring training, although again, that expected to be out for that long, but opens up the opportunity.

[SPEAKER_01]: The other part here is is that with Walshmit, I would say though that like, don't be discouraged at all if he goes, he hasn't played Triple A yet.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is not something where if he goes to Triple A to start the season, that's perfectly fine and actually kind of almost makes some sense obviously.

[SPEAKER_01]: The D-backs are also trying to, uh, to make Jordan Loller into an outfielder and maybe, you know, a multi-position guy.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so maybe that kind of makes sense to say the guy who's spent more time on the IL but also more time in AAA that anyone wants to kind of get's the first shot while Walsh makes that first haste of AAA.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it is hard to imagine him not reaching the big leagues at some point this year.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I would say overall Jeff and I look at this D-back system.

[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of outfielders in this, you know, the top of this list.

[SPEAKER_01]: But

[SPEAKER_01]: The other thing I would say is it just feels like it is.

[SPEAKER_01]: They made a couple of astute trades last year at the deadline.

[SPEAKER_01]: Feels like a little deeper overall than it was at this time last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I do think that's true.

[SPEAKER_00]: Acquired some nice pitching pieces in the Merrill Kelly deal and then we're able to bring Merrill Kelly back in a free agent deal.

[SPEAKER_00]: So real, even Steven, well, that one.

[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, I think you look at some of the draft picks.

[SPEAKER_00]: They have guys like Loller who at this point, you know, have not, like,

[SPEAKER_00]: We technically graduated, we're technically graduated, but still kind of feel like a prospect.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think you look at guys like that, you know, all right, there's a variety of prospects in this system and a variety of young players that could supplement the major league roster.

[SPEAKER_01]: other thing that kind of works out here as well, you know, we don't see we actually see a little bit of a a birth of right handed hitting out filters who are are really productive, you know, there's a little bit less of those.

[SPEAKER_01]: It seems like these days, then the usual and balshmit does fit that as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: Might fit into that lineup, uh, well, uh, you know, as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: And

[SPEAKER_01]: The other part of this is you hit on the the athleticism here, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: This is a guy who they're trying in center field.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think he probably like you probably hopefully have a guy long-term who's a better center fielder, but defensively there is kind of a lot of versatility here as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: I would say which kind of fits in this that it's also valuable from a standpoint of

[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, you have Corbin Carroll, you have a star there in the outfield, but this is a guy who can kind of fit for you if mid season.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's an opening because of injury or whatever.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, hey, we need a left fielder.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, Washington can do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, we need a center fielder.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, maybe not ideally, but yes, he could do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Need a right fielder.

[SPEAKER_01]: He could do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is guy who's got multi-position versatility as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: You put all that together and what you're talking about here is a guy who,

[SPEAKER_01]: higher up on the top under than Ryan mulch knit.

[SPEAKER_01]: But when you are talking about guys who we expect to see an impact from in 2026, there's not a ton that I would say that come to mind who we would say that are going to have much more chance to make an impact than Ryan mulch knit.

[SPEAKER_01]: on base percentage, you know, some power there that probably can develop athleticism as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that why is why he is the number one prospect in the Arizona Dynamics Farm System.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you enjoy this one, please do check it out.

[SPEAKER_01]: We are rolling out a prospect profile in each and every organization all through the spring training.

[SPEAKER_01]: And by the way, if you're watching this one, we've got a lot of them already up.

[SPEAKER_01]: So go check out the other prospect profiles.

[SPEAKER_01]: And please share this video and like and subscribe to the baseball market YouTube channel and check out all of our coverage also at baseballamerican.com for Jeff.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm JJ

[SPEAKER_01]: Hello, everybody.

[SPEAKER_01]: We are here another of the Baseball America Prospect profiles, Jeff Ponds, JJ Cooper, and we are taking a look today at Colorado Rockies number one prospect, Ethan Holiday.

[SPEAKER_01]: Ethan Holiday was considered the younger brother of Jackson Holiday, the son of Matt Holiday.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is a very distinguished baseball family that has had more first-round picks than obviously anyone else other than maybe, I guess that you could say the boons, but some of those were before the draft, I would say.

[SPEAKER_01]: So one of the most distinguished baseball families we've seen over the last 100 years, and we have in Ethan Holiday, also one of the premium power prospects from the 2025 high school draft class.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jeff, when you look at like I would also say though, you know, not a great debut.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I would say with that, though, this is an opportunity.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is why there kind of is a new regime in Colorado is the Rockies have struggled to help.

[SPEAKER_01]: I would say kind of the the the the power first prospects develop.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is I would say an opportunity for this new rookie Rockies front office and coaching staff

[SPEAKER_01]: Let's get Ethan Holiday really rolling after a little bit of a rough debut, but also it's say maybe one though kind of putting them a little bit further out than he needed to be in that first season instead of originally.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I think, you know, that's a big part of it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Right?

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, you look at a player like Howard A.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was obviously incredibly highly build, um, you know, all throughout, you know, his high school career.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think there were some some question marks that started to come in a little bit regarding the hit tool.

[SPEAKER_00]: No one's ever questioned the power.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think anyone's ever questioned the work ethic or any of that sort of thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I do think his profile was different from A, his brothers.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's probably not a guy who's going to stick in the middle and field.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's not a contactator with some speed, which is what Jackson is, really high baseball IQ.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think he's more like his dad.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's more like a...

[SPEAKER_00]: a corner in field or maybe a corner out field or because he does have a big arm and maybe moves you know there.

[SPEAKER_00]: But there's potential for this guy to hit, you know, 25 to 30 ohm runs and I think you really have to focus on developing him getting to enough bats of all ability.

[SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, keeping those swing decisions that you're pretty good in tact, so he can consistently get to his power.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because there is 30 home-run upside here, but I think we do need to adjust our expectations a little bit.

[SPEAKER_00]: This isn't necessarily a core receiver.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it might be more of, you know, your 30 home-run, you know, third baseman, that's maybe like a fringy defender at third, like a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, you know,

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a really good outcome.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's an MLB all star.

[SPEAKER_00]: I still think the potential is there, but there are hit tool questions here and I think that the new regime's job is to get those ironed out and to make sure that holidays in the best position to succeed because the older regime certainly did not put him in the best position to succeed following the draft.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we say that like a lot of the first round high school players went to Bridgley.

[SPEAKER_01]: And again, holiday, you know, like was kind of thrown out, you know, went to the colleague, which not that I don't want to make it sound like that that's an absurd assignment for a top of the draft prep hitter.

[SPEAKER_01]: But at the same time, it was one that he was, you know, he did have some struggles with swing and miss there.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it's something where, you know, if that was happening in Bridgley, I think it would have been a little

[SPEAKER_01]: work through some of those swing decisions, work through some of kind of clearing up you kind of was adjusting his swing a lot during that time.

[SPEAKER_01]: The other part that you know here is when we've talked to a value, if we talk to scouts, like there's been kind of a consistent, like

[SPEAKER_01]: I know he's draft as a shortstop.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's really never been a part of this where the belief the general belief was that this was a shortstop.

[SPEAKER_01]: As you said, this is expected to be a corner down the road.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, you could say, is that a corner in-fielder?

[SPEAKER_01]: Is that a corner outfielder?

[SPEAKER_01]: But that's what he's long been expected to be.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a different body type than his older brother.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, this is not a up-the-middle body type long-term.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is

[SPEAKER_01]: a slugger.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is a guy who, if you say, as you said, kind of like what your good outcome is here, is that Ethan Holiday is going to be a guy who hits tanks, who hits a whole lot of home runs.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's something where, again, it's the swing decisions.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's getting him to a swing where he can do that very consistently.

[SPEAKER_01]: And

[SPEAKER_01]: you know, I think that this is also Jeff kind of worthy of bringing in Charlie Condon as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm very intrigued to see kind of

[SPEAKER_01]: how the Rockies kind of develop this year.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like it's gonna be one of the more fascinating kind of storylines that feel like of 2026 because let's just be straightforward about it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like take Condon and Holiday out of it for a minute.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is an organization that's really had a lot of top picks, top 10 picks over the last decade that have not really kind of come together.

[SPEAKER_01]: And,

[SPEAKER_01]: You can't keep missing on top 10 picks and have that not leave a mark.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, this is something where, you know, they don't have Drew Romo in the organization anymore.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're seeing Zach Veen trying to, you know, is admittedly kind of in a kind of a hopefully a bounce back season.

[SPEAKER_01]: They sure, Benny McGummery hasn't really dealt with.

[SPEAKER_01]: Riley Pint, you know, was a top pick who's now a podray.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's, there's a lot of these guys.

[SPEAKER_01]: What do you think with, let's say holiday and condon, like when you look at like what a new regime, what a new coaching staff, what a new development staff can do, what is it that most needs to kind of happen here?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I mean, not knowing the ins and outs of what the day-to-day and player development and backfield work and like all that sort of stuff is with the Rockies, but from what I've heard from covering the Rockies for several years and just obviously the conversations that we have with folks throughout the game.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think a lot of is just focusing on consistent processes and

[SPEAKER_00]: pillars of player development that you believe in.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that we saw big gains for the red socks on the pitching and hitting development side.

[SPEAKER_00]: When they really started to streamline their focus on certain qualities and that might be different from player to player and they've hired some folks in their player development group over the last few months since the new regime has come in.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's interesting because with both of these players, they're kind of similar profiles.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, you know, I think there's a chance that Condon could play a few different spots, probably ends up at first, based long term, just based on his body type, you know, being a little bit bigger than how it is.

[SPEAKER_00]: little bit less arm as well, but, you know, you're talking about guys with power over hit profiles with good-on-based skills that just need to make more consistent contact.

[SPEAKER_00]: There were some gains last year for Charlie Condon, he didn't have a terrible 2025 by any stretch of the imagination, but I do think getting to more contact for him and just getting his swing in a more consistent place, more repeatable place and just maybe getting some more adjustability between the two.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think so of it was timing for holiday just kind of breaking down the swing, talking to some swing coaches about it in recent days actually kind of looking at like where could holiday make some gains and I think a lot of it was just timing based and you know maybe just just not being necessarily ready to see the velocity or you know the spin that you was seeing.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I think this is all fixable stuff.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think for the organization it's going to depend from player to player.

[SPEAKER_00]: they do have talented players in this organization.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think it's a lack of talent, but I do think it's been a lack of modern processes and focus, and hopefully some of that stuff will kind of move closer to the median at this point.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think ultimately it could lead to much more consistent production from homegrown players for the Rockies.

[SPEAKER_01]: The other thing I'll kind of end it with this is that we saw with Jackson Holiday coming out of this summer showcase season before his senior year of high school where he kind of made some adjustments and really being kind of took off.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is a family where they have like they love to live in the they live in the batting cage.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know

[SPEAKER_01]: and expect that Ethan Holidays spend a lot of time and a lot of work this offseason, like no one okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: I've got it to do list for 2026, and now we'll get to see in the 2026 season kind of what emerges from that.

[SPEAKER_01]: That is Ethan Holidays.

[SPEAKER_01]: Our number one prospect in the Colorado Rocky system and another of our baseball America, prospect profiles.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you enjoyed this one, we are doing one of these for each and every

[SPEAKER_01]: of all 30 MLB teams in our one prospect.

[SPEAKER_01]: Check it out at the Baseball America YouTube channel, and we're also rolling out podcasts of this, as we put the divisions together.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you want to hear it on the podcast feed, you can do that as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hear it in your car when you're driving around.

[SPEAKER_01]: And on top of that, do check out all the content over at BaseballAmerica.com.

[SPEAKER_01]: For Jeff, I'm JJ.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a long everybody.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hello everybody, JJ Cooper Jeff Ponce.

[SPEAKER_01]: Another of the baseball America Prospect profiles is we are taking a look at the number one prospect.

[SPEAKER_01]: Each and every organization, and today, we are looking at San Diego, Padres, Ketra, Ethan, South.

[SPEAKER_01]: Number one prospect in the Padres organization.

[SPEAKER_01]: The number one prospect, who's been that number one prospect for quite a while, a massive prospect coming out of the international market back in 2023,

[SPEAKER_01]: This is something the podries do, but Ethan saw us to his credit handle it was pushed to the big coming to the miners on the US very quickly.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was kind of the story of spring training in 2024.

[SPEAKER_01]: Never will forget that first video.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think Josh Nordist in us of him catching a bullpen.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think big league pitchers and it's like wait.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is this teenager who is catching Velo and it makes it look like his he's got the softest hands I've ever seen.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's kind of showed that defense for years, but the real kind of question is we have going into 26.

[SPEAKER_01]: The real wish that we have for Ethan Salas, I'm sure the podries do too, is for a healthy season, because he's coming off of a very injury plague 2025.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's been a while since Ethan Salas has kind of been able to get on a roll, get comfortable, and just hit.

[SPEAKER_01]: how important, how pivotal, I don't want to say too pivotal, Jeff, because he is still really young, but how important is this 2020, 60s, and then Ethan Salis getting back on, getting helped in getting back on track?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think it is paramount importance.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's been

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, ended up repeating some levels.

[SPEAKER_00]: Some of that was because he was kind of pushed to where there were some games at the end of the 2023 season, but really didn't show a whole lot at the plate was kind of underwhelming in AFL as well, and then got hurt last year and missed most of the seasons.

[SPEAKER_00]: So,

[SPEAKER_00]: I think when you look at saw us, you need him to come back, be fully healthy, and show that there's just average offensive production.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that kind of kicks things back into gear.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's never been much question around the receiving or the throwing or the blocking.

[SPEAKER_00]: the defense behind the plate is buttery smooth.

[SPEAKER_00]: This was a guy that actually got into big league spring training games before his 17th birthday.

[SPEAKER_00]: Has always played, you know, well above his age defensively.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think there's a lot of questions there.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's one of the reasons, despite two pretty difficult seasons in 24, then obviously the injury played campaign in 2025.

[SPEAKER_00]: He remains the number one prospect in this pottery system, even though it's not the deepest system.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is a guy I think you can still believe in because of how good the defense is behind the plate.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when it comes to catching prospects, defense honestly is what carries the most weight.

[SPEAKER_00]: We do want to see guys that can hit that's a differentiator that's often a sign that a guy can handle the majority of time.

[SPEAKER_00]: time share behind the plate.

[SPEAKER_00]: But if you can catch and you can catch at the level that Ethan Solis does, there's probably going to be a big league roll for you for a long time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just to matter of how outlier is the bat is it is it going to be a guy that's an average offence of contributor because if you can get to that point, JJ, I think this is a guy that's going to put up really big war seasons and be a really valuable player.

[SPEAKER_00]: whether it's for the podries or for somebody else.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I do have a great deal of belief in the player defensively.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just the question is the bat.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I would say with the bat, this has been one of the tougher evaluations out there.

[SPEAKER_01]: They kind of did this a little bit of Leo de Vries as well before they traded him to the ace because Salus has been when we say the youngest player at every league,

[SPEAKER_01]: almost a year or more than pretty much anyone else in the league.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's moved so quickly that that 2024 season was not great offensively.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's absolutely clear.

[SPEAKER_01]: He also was, you could argue probably a level or two higher than Rob probably he should have been as far as his hitting development.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so there are some tools here.

[SPEAKER_01]: There are some real tools.

[SPEAKER_01]: We have seen flashes of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: We are kind of, I think at some times at the plate, he's had to kind of go a little bit into survival mode.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he's gonna be really interesting to see what he does in 26.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do think that there's kind of more offensive potential here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I've seen if he can tap into it.

[SPEAKER_01]: But more potential than he showed, especially in 24, the real question kind of going forward is like just said, the defense is great.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's going to carry him to the big leagues kind of no matter what.

[SPEAKER_01]: The ceiling is going to be dependent on how his bat develops.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think the defense also gives him a little bit more kind of time to do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think that the defense

[SPEAKER_01]: is going to, at that point where you kind of make it at your decision point.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, you're going to feel very comfortable with what he's doing behind the plate, which didn't give you a chance to say, okay, let's see how he develops at the plate, but I wouldn't be shocked.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you said, if you asked me like a list of bounce back candidates in the miners prospect wise for 2026, even south, we'd pretty high up there because really.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's an injury plague 25 and that 24 season that was at a level that he was really a very advanced level for where he was age wise and and really development wise.

[SPEAKER_01]: If he goes back to double a this year, which doesn't seem crazy, but at the same time is not I do think you know, if he could just get on a roll kind of get rolling along offensively I think there's more potential than what we saw especially in 24 I think the other part of that Jeff is.

[SPEAKER_01]: We are not seeing him fully tap into the power so far.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think as much as maybe we thought you would going back to say 23, 23, 23, 23.

[SPEAKER_01]: Is there power in there, do you think?

[SPEAKER_01]: Is that something where it's more of kind of using the lower half?

[SPEAKER_01]: It's more about getting the ball there, or are we not seeing the EVs that you need to see to think that there's real power there?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's tough to know, because they were above average for his age.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I do think there's probably a certain level of development that probably came a little bit early with solace, which is why, you know, he was as advanced as he was at 16, 17 years old, frankly.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I don't think he's without power.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not the type of EVs that I look at and immediately shutter and think it's 20 power unless this guy really knows how to backspin it.

[SPEAKER_00]: or adds a significant amount of weight.

[SPEAKER_00]: But it's probably more somewhere between 40 to 50 power.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it could be that he's a 12 to 13 home run guy.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's maybe a chance that there's a 20-ish home run guy lurking in there.

[SPEAKER_00]: They get somewhere in that range.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's not without power.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I think how it tracks what the swing looks like this year, what he's producing is a 20-year-old in terms of outputs.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if that's improved at all now that he's healthy,

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's all stuff to watch before we really can come to any final conclusions regarding what the true power upside is with solace because it's as you said, it's been a little bit of a tricky evaluation because he's been so much younger than everybody else and then we had an injured year worked in there.

[SPEAKER_01]: I want to see in 2026 going to see how he handles changeups, how he handles spin, because those have been some things that have been a little bit of an issue.

[SPEAKER_01]: Although he does have some solid context skills as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be a very interesting year for the podries.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be a very interesting year for Ethan Salas.

[SPEAKER_01]: Number one prospect in the podries organization.

[SPEAKER_01]: And today's prospect profile.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you enjoy this, we have prospect profiles for.

[SPEAKER_01]: all 30 organizations and one prospect in each temporary organization.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you enjoyed this also, we have deep dives also on the Baseball America YouTube page and on the podcast feed where we have also wrapped up taking looks at the farm systems for all 30 organizations.

[SPEAKER_01]: Check that out and check out Baseballamerica.com.

[SPEAKER_01]: For Jeff, I'm JJ Selong, everybody.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hello, everybody.

[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to another of the Baseball America Prospect profiles.

[SPEAKER_01]: Today, we are taking a look at the number one prospect in the organization.

[SPEAKER_01]: What do you get an organization that has everything?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, you get them call Tucker in a free agency.

[SPEAKER_01]: But what you also get them is one of the best groups of outfield prospects that we have in the game.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's led and our list by number one prospect Eduardo Contero, which

[SPEAKER_01]: leads, I would say this was one of the more interesting discussions to baits because you could make a case for four different outfielders to be number one on this Dodgers list.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jeff, what helped Quintaro do you think rise above those way to Paula?

[SPEAKER_01]: Mike Cerotas, you're here hope.

[SPEAKER_01]: Great talented group of prospects here, but what put Quintaro at the top?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think he's got a few things going for him.

[SPEAKER_00]: First, I think is age.

[SPEAKER_00]: Second, I think all of those guys for the most part have fairly well rounded offensive profiles.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it was Quintero, so it's not necessarily a box that you could check in their favor over his.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's been healthy, consistently, unlike Serota unfortunately, so I think that's one strike against him and also being a little bit older.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then I think you look at his defensive profile and for me that puts him over a hostway to Paula because he's a guy that's going to stick in center field probably long term is a very good defender out there and then you look at the offensive skills and you know we put together all of our statistics and data and everything into a single spreadsheet JJ you know that I color coordinate all of the different columns.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's one of the few players where it's pretty consistently red and pink which is good across the board.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's not a whole lot this guy doesn't

[SPEAKER_00]: The contact is probably more average than above average, but it's well above average swing decisions, well above average power for his age really good angles, so all of the expected numbers are good and then he's an excellent base runner as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I think you look at it and he's really a true five tool prospect and one that might have even climbed higher in the miners last year had it not been for.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the amount of talent that they had, you know, at high A and then also at double A, because it's really just even beyond the four guys we mentioned, there's guys like Kindle George, etc, that are pretty good prospects in their own right.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're in on that that Dodger's prospect depth chart in the outfield.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you mentioned it.

[SPEAKER_01]: But one of the things that really stood out to me that we saw last year is like, contiro coming into 2025, there was a, again, there was real juice in the bat, but it was a lot of stinging ground balls, some line drives too.

[SPEAKER_01]: What he did last year, and the Dodgers kind of worked with him on this, is to get to kind of, you know, get his swing,

[SPEAKER_01]: Without kind of really sacrificing a whole lot of contact, he added some loft there.

[SPEAKER_01]: So what we saw is instead of hitting a really well-struct single that basically screamed down the line or went over the shortstop or whatever.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some of those turn into driving the ball to the outfield, driving the ball over the fence in a lot of cases.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so a tweak like that, he's still quite young, but we are seeing him already start to tap into the power.

[SPEAKER_01]: The thing that you mentioned here also is that this is a player, we're not going to say, I'm not saying like he's going to be the best defensive centerfielder in the general organization because they've got some guys were really impressive, but of this group at the top, of these four kind of elite outfield prospects.

[SPEAKER_01]: He is the most true center-fielder I would say, and probably has the most offensive value where that kind of does give him a very well-rounded, kind of, a lot of different paths to the big leagues.

[SPEAKER_01]: Again, whether that's in with the Dodgers or as a trade chip down the road, you said like, when you look at him, like the one thing we'll say though is is, as good as Cantaro is,

[SPEAKER_01]: There is a pretty good chance, like if Mike Sarota is fully healthy in 2026 or if host way to Paula, who probably has the most offensive upside, kind of takes another step forward, it's going to be hard to hold onto this crown as the number one prospect in the Dodgers organization, not because Cantaro is not really good, but because this is an organization where there is a lot of competition kind of

[SPEAKER_01]: That's going to be kind of really in spring training we're seeing it like just figuring out how this all fits together because they have a law as you noted they have more outfielders especially in that kind of high AA range than they have spots.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean, they were DH and outfielders a lot last year at Great Lakes because they had four legitimate top 30 prospect outfield prospects on that roster.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it was kind of, you know, uh, who is in the hot seat, who needed a day a day off in terms of in the field.

[SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, I mean, it's, it's a lot of depth and I think that's something that the Dodgers are famous for.

[SPEAKER_00]: It hasn't always been outfielders.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it's pictures.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it's infielders.

[SPEAKER_00]: But if you look back on the annuals of, of all of their top 30 rankings and

[SPEAKER_00]: most of them, it's been in the soft season typically rank in the top half of the league almost without fail sometimes or most of the time in the top 10.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's always a lot of depth among certain positional groups, certain types of players and you know, I don't know if that's just a Dodger's flavor thing at certain periods of time.

[SPEAKER_00]: Or if they feel like there may be identifying areas of that are, you know, a little bit underscouted or underappreciated.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, you talk about this group.

[SPEAKER_00]: Two of those players were, you know, acquired in trades and desire hope from the Cubs.

[SPEAKER_00]: Almost as a throw in Jackson Ferris at the time, we thought was the bigger name prospect that got moved in that Michael Bush trade.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then you look at Mike Sorota who never stepped on the field for the reds and was

[SPEAKER_00]: We do know that Sarota was someone that was drafted out of high school before he ended up matriculating to Northeastern by the Dodgers.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I do think that they have certain types of players, certain player types they've gone after.

[SPEAKER_00]: And recently it's been really tooled up athletic outfielders and they got quite a few of them in the system.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you're a great lake's looms fan in the Midwest league, you are living right because this Jeff just noted you had that was last year one of the best outfields we will ever see like not again you can have an outfielder but to have four outfielders like the heck is Kendall George by the way stole a hundred bags and then you had to Paula you had sorotta you had hope and then you say this year and you're like okay well

[SPEAKER_01]: Here you go, you're going to have the number one prospecting container.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then you're also going to have Charles Davelin, probably, who is another outfield prospect, and another name to know here, just as Jeff said, the Dodgers really too like their outfielders who can hit and can provide other value as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: they're going to be loaded at double a they're going to be loaded at high a check them out and also check out more of the base ball America prospect profiles over on the base ball America YouTube age but also on podcast feed because we are rolling out one of these for all 30 MLB organizations all through spring training we are almost done with this we are rolling along on this

[SPEAKER_01]: So check those out and please also check out baseballamerica.com for all of your prospect coverage fantasy coverage college covers, draft coverage, everything you need in baseball.

[SPEAKER_01]: We want to give it all to you at baseballamerica.com.

[SPEAKER_01]: For Jeff, I'm JJ, it's a long everybody.