Is it just me or have MLB teams been hitting more than missing on young talent? It seems that more prospects have been living up to the title of "phenom" in the last few years. There's been a legit dozen game changers over the last two years and all could be the face of their franchise. Teams like the Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals, and Atlanta Braves have rebuilt the middle of their line up with prospects over the last 2 years.
I believe the best of the bunch is Mike Stanton. He's played exactly 162 games in his career and his numbers stack up with the best in baseball. Stanton is hitting .259/.332/.530 (avg/obp/slg) with 38 HR, 100RBI and 82 R. Add Logan Morrison (career .288/.388/.477 in 106 games) and Gaby Sanchez (career .284/.354/.469 in 242 games) to the mix and the Florida Marlins have 3 potential all-stars for the next 5-8 years.
Staying in the NL East, The Atlanta Braves have some young guns of their own. Jason Heyward is a power threat every time he comes to bat. Although he's dealt with a shoulder injury for the majority of this year, he put up great numbers his rookie campaign. At the plate, Heyward batted .277/.393/.456 with 18 HR 72 RBI in 142 games. He also had 11 stolen bases and 91 walks. He's joined by rookie Freddie Freeman who is starting to come on the last month of the season, batting .320 over that time. The Braves also have a young stud closer in Craig Kimbrell. Very few times a rookie gets thrown in the closer role but Kimbrell shown he was ready posting a 0.44 ERA over the final month of last season. This year he has 18 saves in 23 chances with an ERA of 3.38.
Moving to the AL, the Kansas City Royals actually have something to look forward to in two highly touted prospects. 1B Eric Hosmer was the first to be called up. In 35 games, he looks like the real deal batting .284/.335/.446 with 5 HR and 21 RBI. On the other side of the diamond, new call up Mike Moustakis is already making a splash. He is expected to have a big year after taking over the starting job at 3rd.
Seattle has a pitcher in Mike Pineda that will add a great one-two punch with Felix Hernandez. He is 6-4 with a 2.72 ERA 1.04 WHIP and hitters are only managing a .208 average against Pineda.
Tampa has their own phenom pitcher in Jeremy Hellickson. He is 7-4 with a 3.03 ERA 1.16 WHIP and batters are also only hitting .208 against him. Hellickson pitched in 10 games last year, started 4 of them and was 4-0.
There's a handful of other youngsters you have to look out for that are performing at a high rate for their teams. Starlin Castro of the Cubs, Zach Britton of the Orioles, Anthony Rizzo of the Padres, Brett Wallace and Bud Norris of the Astros, and although he was hurt in a freak collision at the plate, Buster Posey of the Giants is one of the brightest young stars.
I wasn't sure if I was going to add Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals because of his injury. Who knows how he will bounce back from Tommy John surgery but with his talent, he could be the best pitcher of this generation. The Nats are still well off with Ian Desmond, Danny Espinoza, and Bryce Harper, who has yet to be called up.
If you were ever worried about the state of baseball after the steroid era, this group of young talent puts those doubts to rest.
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