Previewing the Freshman Hitters

The 2015 baseball season opened with some intriguing first-year names on the 25-man rosters fielded by the 30 MLB organizations. I began this miniseries by introducing the key freshman hurlers to know in the class of 2015 and I’m following up today with the top rookie hitters. This wave of first-year players is dominated by outfielders.

Micah Johnson/Carlos Sanchez, 2B, White Sox: Johnson is the favorite to start early in Chicago and has the base-running ability to be an impact player but Sanchez just might be the better player long term due to his natural hitting ability and better defence potential. Either way, the Sox are in a good position to have one of the two players run away with the gig. However, until that happens they’re likely to share the position, which will limit their value.

Joc Pederson, CF, Dodgers: The Dodgers are a veteran club with hefty expectations so you know a rookie has to be good to break into the 25-man roster. Pederson has impact potential in the field, at the plate and on the base paths but he’ll also hit at the bottom of the Dodgers’ order for now. Once he settles in, and perhaps gets some better protection around him than the pitcher, the first-year outfielder has 30-30 (HR-SB) potential.

Dalton Pompey, CF, Blue Jays: The Blue Jays are looking to compete in the American League East in 2015 with six rookies on the 25-man roster and Pompey will man center field. Left-fielder Michael Saunders is currently rehabbing a knee injury and when he returns in mid to late April either Pompey or Kevin Pillar will lose their starting gig and could be headed to the minors. Pompey has a much higher ceiling (30+ steals, above-average defence, developing hit tool) but Pillar might have the edge on current development. The good news for the two young players is that Saunders is injury prone and this probably won’t be his only visit to the disabled list in 2015.

Ryan Rua, LF/IF, Rangers: Previously an infielder, Rua has moved to fill a gap in left field for Texas but the good news is that he has the pop to be a solid player at the position after slugging 50 homers over the past two minor league seasons. His power might be more gap pop in the Majors but he also shown the ability to get on base at a strong clip over the past two years. His biggest competitions for playing time are fellow rookies (Rule 5 pick) Delino DeShields Jr. and Jake Smolinski.

Jorge Soler, OF Cubs: Signed the same year as the Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig, Soler needed a little bit more polish before reaching The Show. He was also slowed by a variety of injuries and suspension. He has a clear path to a starting outfield role in 2015, though, and his monster potential makes him a huge threat in the Rookie of the Year race for the Cubs. He could easily slug 20+ home runs in his rookie season, if he can manager to stay on the field. He might strikeout a little bit too much at this point in his career but the Cubs have him hitting second so he’ll have plenty of opportunity to score runs and hitting ahead of Anthony Rizzo should help him get fastballs to hit.

Devon Travis, 2B, Blue Jays: Another Toronto rookie, Travis won the second base gig with a strong spring — he was actually the team’s best hitter. However, we all know the regular season is a completely different beasts and small-sample sizes quickly fall by the wayside. Talent evaluators have a wide range of opinions on Travis but he hows a strong hit tool with a little splash of pop and the ability to steal the odd base (although more based on base running ability and less on pure speed). His defence is perhaps the biggest question mark but he’s looked reliable to date.

Michael Taylor, CF, Nationals: Injuries to both Denard Span and Jayson Werth ensured Taylor had an opportunity to play everyday for the Nationals in April. He’s a boom-or-bust kind of guy because there are questions over how much contact he’ll make against big league hurlers but he, like Pederson above, has potential to hit home runs and steal bases — although the power output might be more in the 15-20 range.