The Buzziest Minor League Baseball Prospects

Happy Wednesday, folks. Sorry for the delay in the release of the article. My son had swim lessons this morning and my one-year-old daughter is struggling with a few teeth popping through, so I did not have the whole morning to watch the video and write like usual.

But here we are, the article is complete and there are a ton of good nuggets in here. I hope you enjoy!

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Each day, I will pick a hitter and pitcher who stand out and deserve the top spot on the sheet. Those players’ reports will be free for all to read. The rest will be paywalled for Dynasty Dugout Subscribers. The article is around 3000 words, giving you detailed player reports to encapsulate everything you need to know.

Aroon Escobar, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies, 20, A

Get this guy to High-A already! It is a shame it has not happened yet, especially since I just sat on Jersey Shore's lineup for five games last week when they were in Greenville, and they won’t come back anywhere near me.

A two-homer day on Tuesday extended Escobar’s hit streak to 11 games and pushed his home run total to 10 to pair with eight doubles. The slash is impressive: .324/.421/.533.

The home runs had modest exit velocities of 102.1 and 104 mph, but still hit at ideal angles. The 90th percentile exit velocity sits at 105 mph, showing plus power when we adjust for age. He pairs that with a 46 percent hard-hit rate and a 32 percent sweet spot rate, which helps create barrels.

From a contact and approach perspective, the chase rate is close to average at 28 percent, but the zone swing rate of 80 percent paired with an 83 percent heart swing rate is going to play. The zone contact rate of 85 percent is also strong.

I know Escobar is 20, but Single-A is no challenge for him. Aroon is a dude!

Khal Stephen, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays, 22, A+

We might be on dude alert with Stephen at this point. After dominating in Single-A, Stephen was promoted to High-A Vancouver alongside Trey Yesavage and Gage Stanifer. After just looking okay in his first two High-A starts, Stephen dominated last night, tossing six innings of one-run ball with 11 strikeouts and zero walks. Stephen generated an impressive 17 whiffs on the start and has his swinging strike rate near 16 percent, a strong mark.

While the fastball sits 93-94 mph, it plays up thanks to IVB north of 20 inches from a 6’0” release height. The -5 VAA, in comparison to his release height, is pretty impressive, and Stephen creates solid extension on the pitch. He used the fastball 65 percent of the time in 2024, and after relying on it heavily early in the year, he used it just 53 percent of the time on Saturday.

Stephen did differentiate his slider and cutter more than when I saw him in March. The cutter sat 85-86 mph with more carry and 4 inches of horizontal break; the slider ranged from 83-85 mph with 6-7 inches of glove-side movement and more depth.

Stephen will mix his upper-70s curveball with heavy sweep and good depth, but it is part of his arsenal. The changeup sits 83-86 with carry and fade.

Want to know the buzziest prospect in the minors right now? Someone who is not being talked about in public circles but will probably soon? Subscribe below and add this prospect now!

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