J's Trident Podcast comes on the show to help us break down what we think is the Seattle Mariners top 30 prospects! This is a 2 part episode with part 1 being prospects 30-16. Follow us on X @collinslikeitis and follow J's Trident Podcast @jtalkhawk!
Collins It Like It Is
33. Top 30 Prospects Ranking (Part 1)
J's Trident Podcast comes on the show to help us break down what we think is the Seattle Mariners top 30 prospects! This is a 2 part episode with part 1 being prospects 30-16. Follow us on X @collinslikeitis and follow J's Trident Podcast @jtalkhawk!
- Duration:
- 42m
- Broadcast on:
- 26 Jun 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
(upbeat music) - Welcome back into the Collins It Like It Is podcast. My name is Sean Collins and I got my dad here joining me. So thanks for joining, or thanks for coming on, dad. - Hey, glad to be here. - And we also got Jay from Jay's Trident podcast on. Say what's up, Jay. - On his hop, thanks for having me again guys. Appreciate it, always enjoyed coming on with you guys. - You gotta hit us up with what is up? What is going on? That's the way that-- - What is up? What is going on everybody? - There we go, now we're talking about it. - If you're subscribed to Jay's, then you know what we're talking about there. So yeah, today we're gonna do something a little bit different. We, on this podcast, usually do a little breakdown of the Mariners and kind of dive into each series, look at numbers, who was hot, who was not. And this episode is really gonna be all about prospects. Actually, the next two episodes are gonna be a prospect ranking show. So the three of us, we create our own rankings and then we combine all of our lists to create one top 30 list. So the way we kind of did that was averaging out the, yeah, averaging out, like for example, the number one prospect would get a rank of one in all of our lists, the average of that is one. So that's the easiest way to kind of break that down and then anybody that has a, or for tie breakers, it would go to whoever ranked the prospect the highest. So we're just gonna do a breakdown of the top 30. This episode is going to be players 30 through 16. So it's gonna be fun. We're gonna deep dive if this is an interest for you and you wanna learn more about our prospects, who we think is up and coming for the Mariners. Stay tuned for our next two episodes 'cause it's gonna be fun. So what I did wanna do is out the gate is just acknowledge Mariners aren't playing well. You know, it's 162, I've had a couple of people message me and say, "Hey, looking forward to you sounding off." That's not gonna happen this episode. It's 162, it happens. Ups and downs happen. And, you know, hopefully when we get back home, we can see this thing turn around. So anything you guys wanna say before we dive into our list here, I would just say I'm glad the Mariners are going home to the day off tomorrow. And then let's start fresh on Friday against the twins. Yeah, absolutely. And at least finish it up with the double you today. So at least-- At least an abysmal pro trip, but it feels good finishing with the win and a day off. Makes it feel a little bit better. Yeah, I agree, absolutely. So before we dive into our top 30, we got a couple of honorable mentions here. So when we created our list, there was a couple of players that just fell right outside of our top 30. And there's a few that I wanna highlight that are worth mentioning. One is Caleb Callie, we've mentioned him on this show. He started out the year in single A, just absolutely dominated. It ended up going up to Everett. And yeah, well, hopefully he can stay hot and he's been playing great third base. Another player that has been absolutely on fire this year is Victor Labrada. He actually just got sent up to AA and he's actually playing in his AA debut as we speak. So that's really exciting. He was, had a 945 OPS in Everett this year. So definitely worth mentioning just a couple of, just honorable mentions there. We also had Alberto Rodriguez and Dylan Wilson, just missed the cut. So those were kind of just the fringe guys. So we'll start off with number 30. Dad, let's kick it off to you. Number 30 was RJ Shrek. That's the guy. Now I was the only person that actually had him ranked. So there's a 31 and a 33, but hey, it's all right. So what could you tell us about RJ? Yeah, what could you tell us about RJ Shrek? We preface some things. So I'll preface, when I throw some numbers out at you, let me just calibrate what I'm talking about. So I have a slash line that's a little bit different than other people. So when I throw out a slash line, I'm talking about average, typical batting average, the on base percentage, which is typical of a slash line. And then I put the last number as the OPS, which is really on base plus the slug. I leave off this lug. I just go straight to the OPS. Cool. Just because, I do. All right. So the average, so when I think of just an average player, the average that I would like them to see is 250. I know that the average of this year is 240. But so when I throw out a number, 250 average is my average. On base percentage, I think of average would be 320. So on base percentage, 320, for me, is average. And on base percentage, for those who don't know exactly, basically, when we know the slogan walk is as good as a hit, well, that's on base percentage. It's the walks and the hits per at bat. So walk is good as a hit when you get to on base percentage for played appearance. Yep. And the OPS combines the on base and the slugging. And slugging is basically just how many bases they get per at bat. The home run is worth four. The triple is worth three. But for me, an OPS of 720 is an average player. All right. What can you tell us about RJ Shrek? So I'm going to talk about RJ Shrek. So RJ Shrek, he was a draft pick from last year in 2023. He was the ninth rounder. He actually played one year at Vanderbilt. So we got him at Vanderbilt. He was a grad student. And he spent his first four years at Duke. So he's a veteran. He's a 23-year-old playing in Everett at the high A Everett ball club. And he's a left-handed hitter. And he's primarily a left fielder or a right fielder. He's not a center fielder, so he's a corner-out fielder. And when we signed him, they signed him for under slot value, which means they got a good deal. They got a good deal for him. And we can spend more money elsewhere. But basically, when I read around and reading, whether it's scouting reports, player profiles, I'll just throw out my-- just a one-time statement here is where I'm getting my information. Just give my sources. Is Brandon Goffson, who used to be at Seattle Sports writer. Basically, Brent Stecker. I get some material from lookout landing videos that I watch. M-I-L-B dot com, baseball reference, and so forth. So that's where my information's coming from. I don't sit there and scout the players. I get some-- I read and research. And if you're listening to the podcast, you've probably heard of Keith Law from the athletic also. So by R.J. Shrek, one common trait about R.J. Shrek that you hear about is that he is competitive, and he is a gamer. So competitive and a gamer. That's somebody who can come through in the clutch, somebody who is going to compete, and he's going to play at a high level, and he's the guy that you want on your team. So our number 30 prospect, R.J. Shrek. All right. Left-hander, 6-1, 2-0-5. So he's got a little bit of pop, and he's leading Everett with 9. I think he got a home run today. I think he might have 10 home runs. All right, so that's R.J. Shrek. All right, cool. So number 29, we got Will Schomburg. I actually had him ranked the highest out of anybody. One, because I was the only person that had him ranked, but I've actually got him ranked as my number 22 prospect. So Will Schomburg, I'm pretty excited about him. He's a right-handed pitcher in Modesto right now. He's actually drafted or undrafted out of Davison. So yeah, just picked him up. He wasn't drafted, but he was actually the pitcher of the month for the California League in May. So he's been on fire lately. He's got kind of a sinker slider combo, probably profiles as being a bullpen piece. But if you watch any of his videos, I've actually seen him in person a few times. He's got an absolutely wicked slider. He's got a 12K through 9 rate right now in Modesto. Only 23 years old, so I really like the profile of Will Schomburg. And I think he could profile as a back end reliever for us. So yeah, that's just kind of Will Schomburg. I'm way higher on him than anybody should be. But I've seen him in person. I've seen him pitch. And I'm really excited about this prospect. So yeah, that's Will Schomburg. Jay, what could you tell us about our number 28 prospect, Luis Swiespell? 21 years old, switch hitter, 6-1-1-90 playing in Modesto this year. Good numbers. 255 at bats, 2-6 of an average, 338 OBP, 750 OPS. He's played a little bit of first and third base. Scouting a port that I've seen in red. And from what I've watched, the arm is strong that he could stick at third base potentially. He does strike out a lot. That's kind of a bug a boo. With Swiespell, is you're going to get strikeouts. And I think that's the thing with a lot of the guys, they're going to be at 20 to 30 in our prospect rankings. There's going to be flaws with that. I'd probably defer to you guys on Upside for Swiespell. Putting up good numbers, though, in Modesto, which is 21, was signed as a minor legal free agent for Bayla. And I do have to say, it blows my mind. I look at these guys' birth dates, and I say 2003. It blows me away. I know, that's crazy. If you're born in 2003, you should be 10 years old, not playing major league baseball, hitting the drink. But no, good profile. I like the fact that he could potentially stick at third. I'm always-- first base is great. But you've really got to hit and stick at the space. Third base is a little bit more wiggled potentially. So it'd be great if he could stick at third base long term. Yeah. Dad, you had Swiespell ranked 26. Jay, you had him ranked higher than that at 25. I actually did not have Swiespell ranked, and that's because of the 30% K rate. That just scares me. You're striking up 30% in low A. Like, I just don't know if that's ever going to-- I mean, he's 21. We'll see. I've seen him because I have MILB. And he does look good at first base. 30% K rate fits in perfectly in Seattle. There's nothing more. There you go. It sounds like a Seattle mayor to me. So Dad, that brings us to number 27. Our 27th ranked prospect is Brock Rodin. Rodin, I'm not-- Rodin, I'm sure I had to say that. Dad, you had him ranked 29th. I had him ranked 24th. Jay, you did not rank Brock Rodin. So-- Right out and dismissed the cut for us. But we had him-- We brought him up 27. But basically, Brock Rodin, he was-- He's out on Wichita State. He played shortstop for Wichita State. So he was a college draft pick. We got him in last year's draft, fifth round at number 160. He's 5'7", 170. He's a switch hitter. 5'7", 170. You're just glazed over that. Like, we're not going to talk about it. He's 5'7", 170. That is a slugger. He's a switch hitter. Basically, what his carrying trait is he's a good bat. So if you know the ratings, because prospects are rated on a 20-80 scale, and his bat can be a 60-grade. It's up to a 60-grade, which means he's above average bat. Average is a 50-grade. Below average is 40. And a future all-star would be ranked a score of 70 or higher. So Brock Rowden has a 60-grade bat. So he puts bat on the ball. Right now, he's at double A in Arkansas. And I think you might have just gone up recently, possibly. He projects more as a second baseman, but he also can play third. As a college draft choice, he's 24 years old. And so being there at Arkansas is appropriate. But he was the American Conference Player of the Year, and won commentary. He's in Everett, just so you know. He's not in double A. Rowden, well, I got a star. So I'm wondering if you just got promoted. I put a star by him. So that's what I'm saying. He maybe just got promoted to double A. Got it. I should have put a note why I got a star next to double A. What is that? We're just giving information here. Doesn't he be accurate? Nah. But basically, they got him again for underslop, because a college that they don't have anywhere else to go. So save your money for high school draftees. But his slash line for me is average of 302. So he hits for average. 413 is definitely above average for on base percentage. And then his OPS is 897. So that'll work. Got a good bat. Cool. All right. That brings us to number 26. Reed Van Skoder. I was the low man on Reed Van Skoder. Dad, you had him rank 24th. Jay, you had him rank 26th. I did not rank Reed Van Skoder. So I can't think of a better person to talk about him than me. So here's the thing. See, Dad, you talked about your philosophy for ranking prospects. Give my philosophy for ranking prospects. I want tools. I want guys that have special traits. Reed Van Skoder is the definition of vanilla. And you need vanilla in your system. Let's just be perfectly frank. You need guys that just have a really decent floor in their ceiling is right next to their floor. You know what I mean? And that's Reed Van Skoder. He's a lefty. He throws junk. He's going to pitch backwards. He's going to throw a slider in there. Sweeper, 79 miles an hour. As his primary pitch, he's going to throw a cutter. Sink her off of that. We've seen guys like that in our system. We've always used guys like that in our system. They all the way back to Jamie Moyer. He's cut from the Wade LeBlanc cloth. He's cut from the Marco Gonzalez cloth. And now we're seeing Diaz. We just traded Keiko. We've always had Reed Van Skoder profiles in our system. We've always used them. We will use Reed Van Skoder, maybe even as soon as next year. So that's who Reed Van Skoder is. Is it Skoder or Skoder? I kind of like Reed Van Skoder, but it's probably Skoder. I think it's Skoder. So that's Skoder too, but I like Sink's Skoder. Yeah, the Reed Van Skoder, what a name that would be. So I've seen him pitch a few times just randomly. M.I.L.B on TV. And when I turn it on, he's been on probably three times that I've watched this coincidentally. So yeah, he looks good. Yeah. So yeah, you need guys like that in your system. And he's going to profile just like those guys. So am I excited about him? Not even a little bit. Is he important? Yes. So that's kind of my thoughts on him. That brings us to number 25. Jay, you're the low man on the Ash and Izzy train. So why don't you tell us why? You didn't have him ranked. Yeah. Yeah, no. Oh, go ahead, sorry. I'll just say, Larry, you ranked him 28. I had him ranked all the way up at 20. So I had him ranked as a top 20 prospect for us. Jay, you didn't have him ranked at all. So what can you tell us about Ash and Izzy? Yeah, and just, you know, I know you kind of gave, you know, showing me some great points there about Ben Scooter with like how these guys project. And, you know, my kind of philosophy, you know, if you look at my top 30, I actually had like Jonathan Klase ranked over Johnny Farmello. It's not that I don't think-- I think Farmello has more upside. Like, I would rather keep Farmello. But I also put stock in how close these guys are to the big leagues. Right. So, you know, so for me, like Bliss, Lockley, or Pase, got a bump because they have made it to the major league level. A lot of these guys may not. You know, even we love Cole Emerson, Lazaro Montez. But we don't know until, you know, it gets to that point. But anyways, Ashton and Izzy, thing that stands out to me the most with Izzy, 63, 165. That is a tall, thin drink of water. Which the good news is, that is a stringing. But just 20 years old, so one thing I do like, if he can fill out that profile a little bit more, which he should still do, these 20 years old, so he can grow into that body a little bit. His fastball is touching, you know, can touch 96. So that's a good thing with Ashton. Izzy doesn't get a ton of strikeouts. That's my biggest concern. I'll go over his numbers here in a second. And also a really good change-up. He has to work off that fastball. Yeah. So I do think there is row, row, literally, and on the bait, literally room to grow with the 63-65. And then, you know, on the diamond as well. Good for us this year, he's got 2.69 ERA, standings pitch in Modesto, 49 strikeouts. And I believe the walks are, let me pull that up, 31 walks. So a little bit concerned, that's not a great strikeout to walk ratio. So that was kind of my thing with Izzy. Well, I kept them off my top 30. Doesn't mean I don't think there's some upside there. And I am curious if you can grow into that frame a little bit. He was a fourth round drag of the Mariners in 2022 out of high school, 120 picks pick overall. So definitely not, you know, and I think we can all agree just because we don't have a guy on a list doesn't mean we don't think there's some upside to him. I just like some of the numbers that I've seen from some of the other guys. But if he can grow into that frame a little bit, even add a little bit of VeeLo to that fastball, I'd like to see those strikeouts go up. But if they can, you know, you got something there. Yeah. It's interesting to go with your philosophy versus mine. It makes a lot of sense that you wouldn't have him ranked and I've got him ranked all the way up for 20. Because if you're looking at upside, I mean, Ash and Izzy, I mean, talk about tools, guys, a flamethrower, string bean, long, you know, stride, almost like a Logan Gilbert. So yeah. Yeah. Yep. I'm really high on Izzy. That's going to bring us to our 24th ranked prospect, Marcelo Perez. All right. Dad, you had him ranked 23rd, Jay. You had him all ranked all the way up at 21. I did not have Marcelo Perez ranked at all. So dad, tell us who Marcelo Perez is. All right, Marcelo Perez. He's a draft pick from 2022 out of TCU, 11th rounder. He's been starting, but he's probably more of a reliever. He's got a 93 mile an hour fastball. He's got a consistent slider that just misses bats. I think his fastball slider combination fits in really well for the Seattle Mariners, because that's what they like their relievers to throw. So he probably is projected more as a relief pitcher. He's 510, 195. He's 24 years old out of, as I already said, TCU. And right now he is at Everett at high A. So he is a mature arm. I would like to see him get moved up to Arkansas soon. So we'll see what happens there. But he did begin last year at Modesto and he then moved up to Everett last year. So he's there now again. So hopefully he can get moved up. He does have closer experience when he was at TCU. And he throws strikes. He throws his thrown 46 innings and he's has 46 strikeouts with only 14 baseball balls. So I think we got a reliever in the making, I think. Yeah, that's a pretty good, pretty good numbers there as far as, you know, strike out to walk ratio. So yeah, a lot to look, you know, I probably have him ranked too low. You know, for him to be outside of my top 30, that's probably not. I mean, if I looked at it a little bit closer, he probably should be somewhere in there. So yeah, any other thoughts with Marcelo Perez before we move on to our 23rd ranked prospect? No, he's consistently ranked as a 50 grade, 50 grade his average and that's not a bad place to be. Yeah. So we're seeing a trend. I mean, we've gone through, you know, 30 through 24. We've only got one position player here and that's sweet spell. So, oh no, we got Rod. We had two of them. Yeah, Rod. We're just botching these rock. I can say his first name is Brock. Brock. So I mean, you know, there's a narrative out there that like, oh, we got a draft pitching. It's like not necessarily. I mean, if we look at, you know, a lot of our prospects, yeah, our high end prospects, which we'll get to, but I mean, we do have a decent amount of pitching in our system. It's not like we got to force pitching in our draft. So I'm going to continue the trend with our 23rd ranked prospect. We got Cole Phillips. This might be the first time we've all got this guy, you know, somebody ranked. So I've got him ranked or, yeah, dad, you got him ranked at 22. I've got him ranked at 25. Buzzkill over here has got him ranked at 28 J. So let me tell you what you're wrong. Well, here's the thing. He is injured. He's had two Tommy John surgeries, but here's the thing. You know, my philosophy, we've gone over it. I go for tools. I go for upside. I love the upside play of Cole Phillips. He's got two Tommy John's because he throws freaking a hundred miles an hour. So, you know, not too many 18 year old arms can throw a hundred and not require Tommy John surgery. So I actually really liked the play of Cole Phillips. We got him in the Jared Kellenock deal. Obviously that deal was a salary dump. Let's call a spade a spade. But we did get a pretty legit arm in Cole Phillips. Really, excuse me, really bummed. We haven't been able to see him. He hasn't played in the minor leagues yet. The last time he played baseball to my understanding was in high school, but he's got an absolutely electric arm, 70 grade fastball. When we start getting into 70 and 80 grade fastballs, we're starting to throw a hundred miles an hour. So that's what he profiles as. He's got a, let me actually look at my notes. I think he's got a slider change up. So in the, in the notes that MLB.com has, they've got him comped with Nathan Iovaldi. I see him as a reliever. I don't see him, you know, stretching. He's got four pitches though. That's the thing. He's got fastball curve ball slider and a change up. Yeah, two Tommy John surgeries though. Let it rip. Let it rip and see if you can mason miller your way into closing roll or something. So I'm going to botch this next name. So that's going to close the book on Phillips. I'm going to botch this next name, bring this to our 22 rank prospect. And Tyler, is it go? Or go, go, Tyler goes? Go or golf, go or golf would be my guess. I've heard a name on, I saw him play, might have been in this week. Yeah. But yeah, I would say go, but it could be golf. I just don't know. Maybe I talked myself into here and go. Could be a G-O-U-G-H. That's who we're talking about. Tyler, go. Dad, you've got him rank 27th. I've got him rank 23, Jay. Wow, he got him ranked at 20. So I guess you're a good person to talk about go. Why do you have him ranked 20th, Jay? Yeah, and I would have had cold films much higher for one for the time of Johnson. It was the only thing that probably kept him out of my top 20 because I do really like cold films. So I'm not that, I mean, I do like cold films. No, golf, six, two, two, five. What I love, read the scouting report and we'll watch them. Good fastball, but a lot of movement on it. Can move it up in the zone, down zone. Got a lot of, what's the word I'm looking for? Rise to it, it's got a lot of rise to it. So that impresses me when it's not just flat, fast ball, we've seen those get, you know, you can throw one pitch, but if you can move it around in different directions, makes it a much, much more valuable weapon. I feel like everybody I've covered's been in Modesto this year. He's been there this year as well. He started 14 games, 2.8 ERA, 67 innings, 70 strikes, 70 strikeouts. You know, one thing I read there is 70 strikes. Only 70 strikes, okay, we have a serious problem with him in 67 innings. It's impressive you log 67 innings, only throwing 70 strikes, but, you know, the scouting reports I read were concerned with the command a little bit. The walks aren't bad, 25. I mean, it's not great, but it's not a workable or anything like that. And the one thing that's impressed me, he made nine starts in Modesto in 2023 and a lot of the numbers just shot up. Last year he gave up a 759 OPS against, 594 OPS against this year. Last year, 1.2 Ks per nine, this year, 9.4 Ks per nine. Last year, 4.5 walks per nine, this year, 3.6. So I love, love, love the improvement that he's shown. Good change up as well. And I love the fastball and I love the movement on it. So I like, I'll call him T.G. We'll go. - T.G. - For real, there you go. - We're on the T.G. - And also 2020, 2020, Geesh 2022, oh my gosh. 2022 draft, 9th round, 276 overall. - All right, T.G., I like it. We all have a ranked too, so yeah, that's saying something. Okay, let's jump up to number 21. That's Jimmy Joyce. Dad, you got him ranked 19. I don't have him ranked. We're still, it weren't 31? - Yeah, we're at 31 or I'm at 31, which is outside of our, you know, rankings. And then J, you got him all the way up at 18. Let's go. So, Dad, Jimmy Joyce, what can you tell us about him? - Yeah, Jimmy Joyce, he's an older prospect. He's 25 years old. We drafted him in the 16th round in 2021 out of Hofstra. The baseball metropolis Hofstra. Right now he's at AA Arkansas. He is 62, 210, a right-handed pitcher. He actually was pretty slow in developing in A-ball. So, he didn't get off to a very fast start, but he took a big leap last year in AA, where he still is now. It's the last year he had a good season in AA. He has a very distinctive delivery, kind of a long-arm three-quarter slot. And his change-up, it just moves. So, he has a good change-up, which I think he had better control of last year. So, my rankings might be, because it is 19, is a little bit, because last year he took a big leap. And he is still improving. He's got a 12/6 curveball. He has a lot of swing and missing his pitches. But basically we wanna know, can he control the ball? 'Cause this year he's had trouble with walks, which is not a good place to be moving forward as a prospect. So, he's thrown 23 innings. He has 25 strikeouts and 17, based on ball. So, he's did a little regression with the walks, but he did take a big leap last year. But he does project as a starting pitcher, more of a pitching depth, kind of like, I don't think he'll ever be a number five starter, but he's just a pitching depth that we need in the organization. - All right, exciting. I'm really pumped on, you got me really pumped on Jimmy Joyce there. That's why, here's the thing, that's why I don't have him ranked. Like, we're seeing consistency in patterns. You're telling me that he profiles as like, maybe a number five starter? - He's making big leaps. He did a little bit of regression this year, but he just has a good swing and miss. And just needs to get back to his control that he did last year. - Yeah, I mean, yeah, I will say, you always have to have starting pitching depth. Not everyone's gonna develop in the Mason Miller, or sorry, Bryce Miller, Brian Wu and Kirby and Gilbert. You need guys that can just eat innings. Every year you're gonna need, probably about nine starting pitchers for you. Guys like Jimmy Joyce, guys like Reedman Skoder, they're important to have in your system. They just are, they're not flashy. Yeah, I don't have either of them ranked, but I'll acknowledge those types of pitchers are important. - Yep, they're important to an organization. - You know, who else is important to an organization? - Future closers, and that's who our number 20th ranked prospect is, that's Troy Taylor. I'm really excited about Troy Taylor. He is already seen to jump up in teams this year. So he started the year in Everett. He actually has better numbers in AA Arkansas than he did in Everett, which is crazy. He's got a fastball that can, you know, sit about 95, 96. It can jump up to 98 at times when he really needs to reach back and, you know, get a strike out. He also has a change up that sits, you know, 85, 86. A 10 mile an hour jump, or I should say 10 mile an hour difference between your fastball and change up is big. I mean, that's big league stuff there. And his ERA in AA is 2.45 with an 0.886 whip. I mean, if you're doing that in AA, you're knocking on the door of being a major league pitcher. So that's pretty exciting. And we all have rankings that prove it because he doesn't project as a starter. We're talking about strictly a reliever and we all have him ranked right around 20. I've got him ranked 21. Dad, you got him ranked 20th. Jay, you got him ranked 22nd. So I really think that Troy Taylor, honestly, we might, I mean, call me crazy. There's a world where he pitches for the Mariners this year. I know that might sound insane, but if you're dominating in AA, - I'll be insane. - I'm just, I mean, I don't think it's crazy. I don't think it's, no, I'm done. You're dominating in AA, you've got a shot. - So, I agree and that would be surprise, but. - I'd be surprised too. I'm just saying it's, I don't think it's impossible. - If we need arms. - Right. So that's who Troy Taylor is. The next prospect that we have, number 19, this is a fun one. Doll, Joseph, we've all got him ranked. Dad, you've got him ranked at 16. I've got him ranked at 18. Jay, you got him ranked at 23. You kind of explained your philosophy with ranking prospects. The closer you are to the big leagues, the higher you're going to rank them. So having Doll, Joseph, ranked 23 for you, you basically put him at number one. So, could you tell us a little bit about him? - Yeah, there's, I mean, really, I mean, you're a tools guy, Sean. This is your guy, 17 years old. I mean, 52 at bats, so nothing to really go off of. He's hitting 0.96 in rookie ball, 3.29 OPP. That's pretty impressive for an 0.96 average to be running that. Yes, it's 4.44, 17 years old, right handed shortstop, 6.2, 185, good build for 17 out of the Dominican Republic. You know, really, the thing that I noticed in the videos I watched of him, the swing is very fluid. It's a very major league swing. Like there's some, you see the mechanics look off. I like what I saw it. Honestly, I don't know a ton about Joseph, I, you know, from what I've seen and a little bit I've watched, very raw, still 17 years old. Again, that's what it is. I had him at 23, bumped down a little bit. It's just, you're talking about a guy that, when's he projected to be in the bigs, 2030? I mean, you know, I mean, honestly. - Yeah. - No, I mean, really, 2028. I mean, we're talking four or five years down the road here. So it's tough for me to project that, but I mean, you want a guy that's got all the tools. And honestly, this is someone that, you look at someone this young playing, making an impact with the swing he has, the tools he has. In a couple of years, this could easily be a number one prospect, easily, in my opinion. But just don't have enough on him yet to really bump him much higher, in my opinion. But like I said, your guy, Sean, Delphil out tools, I figure you're big on Joseph. - Oh, I'm in, yeah. Here's the thing. If I was six, two, 180, when I was 17 years old, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you guys, man. Let me tell you that. Instead, I got dealt the Brock Roddenhand when I was 17. So, yeah. - Five, seven, 170. - You win some, you lose some. - Yeah, I'm pretty excited about Joseph, that's for sure. So, let's jump up to number 18. We're almost done with this episode. This is a, I don't know if it went by quick or not. We'll have to see the time when it's done, but that brings us to number eight. - We're flying. - Eddie McGraw. - Dad, you got him ranked 17th. Jay and I have the same ranking, 19. So, what can you tell us about Teddy McGraw besides that he's got a great country singer name? - He does. Well, Teddy McGraw is, he's got a lot of information on him. I'll try to just pull out the important stuff, but basically he has a lot of tools, a lot of pitches, a lot of potential. The problem is he's had two Tommy John surgeries. One is senior year of high school, and then I think at the beginning of this year also. So, he's already had two arm surgeries, which is why we got him in the third round. So, he has first round potential, but we got him in the third round because of the surgeries. So, we got him in the last year's draft, third round pick out of Wake Forest. He's a right-handed pitcher. He's 22 years old, six, three, two, 10. So, nice size for a starting pitcher, but he hasn't pissed yet. There's no stats to report, but I think if you get him into the Mariners pitching lab, he's pretty much the prototype. He has the upper 90s fastball, moving sinker. He has a wicked slider. So, fastball sinker slider. He's just a perfect fit for Seattle. Basically, the four-seamer that he throws, it just moves. So, he could, once he gets started and healed up, he's gonna just rise up our charts, but he was a steal in the third round with first round potential. It was just hard to hit pitches. Yeah, and it was a good pick for us. Yeah, and our rankings prove it. So, you're just wanted clarification. You see, he projects as a starter. Yeah, he's a starting pitcher. Okay. Yeah, I mean, our rankings are all, you know, they all show that, that's for sure. Next up, we've got number 17 prospect, Jeter Martinez. So, Jeter Martinez is an international signing out of Mexico. He is another one of those, you know, kind of got, you know, a golden ticket with his jeans here. He's six foot four, 180. Another, you know, Logan Gilbert type, you know, just long strider to the plate. Throws, you know, can ramp up to 97 miles an hour as an 18-year-old. Right now, he's in the complex league, playing for the ACL Mariners. Got a 2.42 ERA, 12K through nine. I mean, I think, here's my bold per day, or here's my bold take. Now, I love, especially some of the prospects that we're about to talk about. Like, and I've obviously, you know, as far as rankings, he's not the highest ranked prospect that I have in our system. But I think he's got the highest ceiling. I think the Jeter Martinez, if you, you know, forced me to say, like, okay, who's got, you know, Hall of Fame, you know, like, not to put that on anybody. But I'm just saying, like, who's got the highest ceiling perennial All-Star stuff? It's Jeter Martinez. I think that that's the pitcher that has the highest, you know, ceiling of any of our pitching prospects. So I'm pretty stoked on Jeter Martinez. Long way to go, he's another one of those prospects that I'll see in 2030. But, you know, just has absolutely dominant stuff and he's already showing it. So I love Jeter Martinez. You guys have anything else to say about Jeter Martinez other than he's got an awesome name. - Right. - I mean, man. - His parents had a good two years in our system. - Yeah. All right, so this is going to bring us to our finale for this half of our prospect ranking show. Take us home. This next prospect, I'm pretty excited about. Actually, I don't think I said Jeter Martinez or ranking. I had him 16, Dad, Adam, 18, J, you had him 17. Let's bring it home with Brody Hopkins. I love me some Brody Hopkins. I've got him ranked 13th. Dad, you got to rank 21st. What the heck is that about? And then J, you got him ranked 15th. So J and I were pretty close to being on the same wave length here. I love Brody Hopkins. Seen him pitch actually a couple of times in person. I don't want to steal your thunder, but man, he reminds me of a right-handed Madison bum gardener. What do you think of Brody Hopkins, J? - I liked that comp, actually. I hadn't thought of that, but now after watching him, I totally get it. I gave him a little bit of a boost since he was blocked on Mariner. So I gave him an extra bump up the prospect line. Six, four, two years old in Modesto. I mean, we talk about how loaded Modesto is. I mean, that roster is just absolutely insane. 93, 96 fastballs, got a slider that can miss bats. Maybe some command question so far in Modesto this year. And 13 starts 3.41 ERA. 58 innings pitched. 29 walks, 60 strikeouts. What I really love the most about Brody Hopkins. And here's where, yeah, maybe the command, the walks are a little high. He's getting one run all year. And if you can keep the ball in the ballpark, you can get away with your command not being as good. 'Cause he put guys on base, keep the ball in the ground. He's got a 587 OPS against here. 9.31 case per nine, 4.5 walks. And like I said, the home run rate in saying 0.16. You can get away with it a little bit more. You can get out of innings. I'm not saying I want to watch guys walk bases load and have to wiggle out of it every time, but it does help tremendously. So, and the frame is just perfect. Six, four, 200. I'm high on Brody Hopkins. I think he's a guy. And actually, the next guy I'm going to talk about, we get around to it. Both pitchers that I think, you know, project to be major league level starters. I can easily see these guys, maybe even next year, you know, and end of 2023, if not 2024. I think we could see, you know, it's going to be tough with the mayor's rotation. It's so good. It's hard to say when we'll see these guys necessarily, but yeah, I'm pretty high on Brody Hopkins. I love that map comparison, a right-handed Madison bum gardener. I think that's a really cool comp. - Yeah, yeah, the first time I saw him pitch, I was like, oh, he looks like he's skipping rocks out there. This reminds me of Madison bum gardener. It clicked for me the first time I saw him. So, yeah, this was a fun episode to record. Thanks for doing it with me. And we're about to, spoiler alert, we're about to record the second half of this episode. So, be on the lookout for that. It's going to be dropping, if you're listening to this, it's going to be dropping tomorrow. So, just be on the lookout for the next half of this rankings. Follow us on X, call 'em like it is. And like I said, just be tuning in for the next episode of this. And, you know, the last thing I'll say before we head off on this episode is, you know, the last half of this, or I should say, like the prospects, you know, kind of 30 through 25, we're talking about guys that kind of project as, you know, back-end starters, you know, maybe, you know, platoon type hitters, you know, things that gotta break right. You could tell as we're getting into the 20th, you know, 1918, now we're starting to get into Brody Hopkins, where these guys really start to project as impact players. And we haven't even broken into the top 15. The Mariners have one of the top systems in baseball. And this next episode, I think you're really gonna start to feel the weight of that. Nothing against this list here, but the next list that we're about to dive into is going to be a whole different vibe. It's gonna be a whole different feel. So tune into that. So, yeah, thanks for listening, and we'll catch you on the next one. 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