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The Next Big Leaguer: Predicting superstars
- Updated: November 29, 2016
For a quarter-century, the Arizona Fall League has helped the top Minor League talent in the game get ready for the big leagues. It’s done so with remarkable consistency, sending more than 60 percent of its alumni to the highest level.
The AFL has produced 247 players who have earned roster spots in the All-Star Game, including 33 in last year’s Midsummer Classic. There have been 16 MVPs (Mike Trout is a two-time winner), seven Cy Young Award winners and 27 Rookies of the Year to come through the league since it started in 1992.
The recently concluded 2016 edition of the AFL will be no different. Graduates of this silver anniversary class could very well go on to become All-Stars and Hall of Famers, much like Mike Piazza (inaugural AFL Class of ’92) did. Who they’ll be is a matter of debate.
It is from that conversation that “The Next Big Leaguers” was born. As part of MLBPipeline.com’s coverage of all things prospect and the AFL in particular, a group of five experts was assembled to discuss a quintet of up-and-coming stars. Each prospect has lofty expectations and an argument can be made for all of them to have the brightest futures. Those arguments were hashed out in “The Next Big Leaguers.”
I was joined by fellow MLBPipeline.com reporter Jim Callis, Jesse Sanchez from MLB.com and LasMayores.com, D-backs broadcaster and SiriusXM host Mike Ferrin and MLB.com columnist and MLB Network Insider Tracy Ringlosby. Here are the five players we focused on in the first edition of “The Next Big Leaguers:”
Cody Bellinger, 1B/OF (Dodgers) Bellinger, who hit a long home run in the Fall Stars Game, brings both advanced hitting skills and MLB bloodlines to the table. The son of former Yankee Clay Bellinger, Cody has a sweet swing from the left side that generates a ton of power. He maintained his power in 2016 and continued to draw walks while cutting down his strikeout rate, all good signs for the future. A terrific first baseman defensively, he’s also athletic enough to handle an outfield corner if needed.
Ringlosbly’s take: “He understands how to make …
