Rookie Roots: Where were MLB's hottest rookies ranked back in high school?
April 8, 2024
We’re a couple weeks into the 2024 MLB season, and there’s some fresh faces making headlines across the game right away. Some new rules and incentives in recent years have made it so teams are more likely to promote their prospects as soon as they’re ready, which has helped bring about more Opening Day debuts than ever before.
Today, we’re highlighting some of the week’s brightest spots from those prospects debuting – and we recall our looks back on them as prep prospects seen by our state staffs back during their high school days.
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Jared Jones RHP / La Mirada, CA / 2020
Just over a week into the MLB season, Jones leads the league’s rookies in strikeouts. (Jones vs. Orange Lutheran HS; 2/19/20) Much was made of his 6-foot-1 stature in high school, especially inside the flamethrower right-handed prep pitcher profile, but Jones has been made huge strides developmentally in pro ball since the Pirates selected him in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft. He’s mostly harnessed his excellent pitch mix that includes a fastball that reached a 99.9 mph max in his debut, spinning at over 2,500 rpm on average. In front of our California staff, Jones was up to 94 mph as a sophomore, and 96 as a junior, and he climbed into the upper-90s in his draft spring.
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Mason Miller RHP / Bethel Park, PA / 2016
He transferred to Gardner-Webb for the 2021 season where he shined, throwing 92.2 innings with 121 Ks and a 3.30 ERA and he evolved himself into a third-round pick. Injuries significantly affected him in pro ball, which have likely confined him to the bullpen from this point forward, though he did start six games after debuting for the Athletics in 2023. Just barely rookie eligible still in 2024, Miller’s explosive stuff is looking elite from the ‘pen, and he has eight Ks in five innings this season so far – and his average four-seamer velocity is currently 100.2 mph.
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Masyn Winn SS / Kingwood, TX / 2020
Back at Kingwood HS, Winn finished ranked as the No. 6 player in Prep Baseball Texas' Class of 2020 rankings – though he was a top-30-ranked prep nationally. That was an espeically interesting batch of Texas prep talent ranked ahead of him in that class, though Winn has been the quickest to the big leagues all the while as the No. 54 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft – selected after fellow Texas preps Drew Romo (The Woodlands HS; Rockies) and Jared Kelley (Refugio HS; White Sox). (Winn; 3/10/20) |
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Jackson Merrill OF / SS / Severna Park, MD / 2021
(Merrill; Spring 2020) Back in high school, Merrill was a late-bloomer type, and especially as a pro prospect. He turned it on in his draft spring and became Prep Baseball Maryland’s Position Player of the Year.
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Michael Busch 1B / 3B / Simley, MN / 2016
(Busch; 6/16/15) Busch continued to hit across every level within the Dodgers’ system despite projecting more and more like a corner infielder, and more likely first baseman of the future. He was mostly blockaded positionally on the big league club and that prevented him from making his debut until 2023 after another fast start in Triple-A. Though, his time in L.A. was the first in which he didn’t thrive offensively right away, and the Dodgers opted to trade him in the offseason to the Cubs, which were seeking first base aid. Well, even in a new home, Busch is producing familiar stat lines, hitting .296 in nine games with three extra-base hits, reaching base at a .375 clip. At the time he graduated from Minnesota’s Simley HS, Busch was the No. 3 prospect on the state’s board, behind Nick Hanson (Prior Lake HS, 2016) and Matt Wallner (Forest Lake HS, 2016; Twins). Both those players earned pro opportunities in their own ways: Hanson, the top player in the class that year, was a third-round pick by the Reds out of high school and injuries hampered his development; Wallner was a two-way standout at Southern Miss and he hit 58 career homers there. Wallner was the No. 39 overall pick by the Twins, drafted just nine picks after Busch, and he’s since hit 16 career big league home runs. |
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Blaze Alexander SS / 2B / IMG Academy, FL / 2018
(Alexander; 3/26/18) Back in high school, Alexander was a top-20-ranked player in Florida’s Class of 2018, though of the 19 players ranked ahead of him, he’s the third to reach the big leagues, behind Triston Casas (American Heritage HS; Red Sox) and now-teammate Slade Cecconi (Trinity Prep HS; Diamondbacks). |
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Trey Lipscomb 3B / Urbana, MD / 2018
(Lipscomb; 3/29/18) This year, and without ever touching the Triple-A level, the Nationals decided to call on Lipscomb after injuries hampered their projected Opening Day roster. Thus, Lipscomb has six hits this season so far in his first eight games on the infield, and that includes a solo homer in his second big league start. |
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