MLB: 10 prospects ready to play in the big leagues
. Shortstop. Los Angeles Dodgers. Corey Seager. 8. player. 71
Through June 1, the Los Angeles Dodgers were in first place with a 30-20 record. Only two teams in the big leagues had more wins. That success has come despite an injury-plagued pitching staff, as well as a thin outfield because of injuries to Carl Crawford and superstar Yasiel Puig. The Dodgers have also relied on 36-year old Jimmy Rollins at shortstop, who was hitting just .209/.277/.358 as of Monday.
Simply, LA’s been good, but they can be even better – and probably will need to be in order to get over the postseason hump and make it to the World Series. One potential improvement would be inserting stud shortstop prospect Corey Seager into the everyday lineup.
Seager is currently ranked as the fifth best prospect in baseball according to Baseball America and is No. 6 on the MLB.com Top 100. He’s a 21-year old, 6-foot-4, 215-pound left-handed hitter that can hit for power and average and should be an immediate upgrade over the aging Rollins at the plate.
In 28 games this season split between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City, Seager is hitting .326/.367/.539 with eight homers, 30 RBI and 32 runs scored. He doesn’t have Rollins’ speed, but he’s no base-clogger and though Seager’s probably better suited for third base in the long run (Rollins is also a better fielder), he’s capable of playing short at the big league level.
In addition to Seager, another Dodgers prospect to watch is left-handed pitcher Julio Urias. Because he’s just 18 years old, Urias isn’t likely to make it to Dodger Stadium in 2015, but he’s already in Double-A and has allowed just a .194 batting average and has a 0.94 WHIP in seven starts across 36 innings.
Next: Jon Gray