Prospect Stock Watch: Alford, Funkhouser, Soroka

Welcome to another season of the Prospect Stock Watch — a series I’ve been writing for six years now.

Anthony Alford, CF, Toronto Blue Jays
MLB ETA: 2018
Ceiling: Lead-off hitter/All-star center-fielder

Selected out of high school in 2012, Alford signed a unique deal with the Jays that allowed him to dabble in baseball during the summers while play college football. He appeared in just 25 games over the first three years of his pro career before turning to the sport full-time in 2015 after his college football career went sideways.

Alford showed a lot of potential that year and posted an .820 OPS while splitting the season between two A-ball levels and he looked poised for a huge breakout in 2016. Unfortunately, he hurt himself in the first game of the year and missed about a month. A concussion clouded the remainder of his season.

Despite the setback, Alford opened 2017 with a laser focus and jumped off to a quick start despite making a significant jump to double-A for the first time. He’s always taken a lot of walks — and currently sits at 12.5 BB% — but he’s made a huge adjustment by trimming his strikeout rate almost in half, from 29.2% in ’16 to 15.3% in ’17 (small sample size warning).

The otherworldly BABIP of .460 is having a huge impact on his .397 batting average but Alford has both the foot speed and the bat speed necessary to post higher-than-normal BABIPs. Although he’s more of a gap-power guy, the 22-year-old outfielder has posted blistering line-drive rates of 25% over the past two seasons. But even if his average tumbles a bit, he’ll still be posting well-above-average on-base rates — which could eventually allow him to be a threat to steal 30+ bases in a season.

In just his third full pro season, Alford is ahead of the learning curve thanks to his plus athleticism, determination and intelligence — even though he’s still very young in a baseball sense. Added to the 40-man roster last November (to protect from the Rule 5), the speedy outfielder is on pace to earn a second-half promotion to triple-A and a late-season cup of coffee in Toronto. With Jose Bautista likely done with the Blue Jays after this season and a noticeable gap in left field, too, Alford is well-positioned to earn a regular gig with the big league club in 2018.

I do have some concerns that Alford’s style of play (ie. football mentality) could continue to make him injury prone and limit his ceiling. His ceiling is that of a top-of-the-order catalyst and a future all-star. His personality should make him a fan favorite.

Kyle Funkhouser, RHP, Detroit Tigers
MLB ETA: 2019
Likely Outcome: High-leverage reliever

The traditionally-veteran-heavy Tigers are in an unusual spot right now where they’re actually committing playing time to a number of young players, such as hurlers Michael Fulmer, Daniel Norris, and Matt Boyd. Funkhouser could be the next young, promising arm to arrive in The Show — although he’s still just in low-A ball so he has a bit of a climb to make.

Selected 35th overall by the Dodgers in 2015, Funkhouser returned to U of Louisville for his senior year and slid to the Tigers in the fourth round of the ’16 draft. He’s pitched like a stud ever since. His 4.08 ERA belies his ’17 dominance as he had one stinker of an outing where he allowed seven runs in 2.0 innings. Over his other 14.2 innings (three starts) he’s allowed just one run and struck out 27. With a few more dominating outings, the Tigers may be tempted to leapfrog Funkhouser over high-A ball and assign him to double-A — especially considering he’s already 23 years old.

If he continues on his currently development path, Funkhouser could develop into a middle-of-the-rotation arm. He has the build to be an innings-eater, along with a solid fastball-slider combo. His lack of a reliable third pitch and inconsistent command, though, could eventually push him to a high-leverage relief role where he might see his stuff play up more.

Mike Soroka, RHP, Atlanta Braves
MLB ETA: 2018
Likely Outcome: No. 3 starter

The Braves know a thing or two about developing pitchers and Soroka could be their next gem. Just 19, the club aggressively jumped the hurler over high-A ball and assigned him to double-A in just his second full pro season. Selected 28th overall in 2015, he’s obviously talented but he was considered somewhat raw at the time of his selection given that he came from a Canadian high school (cold weather areas have less opportunity to play ball, obviously, than areas such as California, Arizona, Florida, etc).

That hasn’t hurt him so far and he hasn’t skipped a beat in his development in ’17. Through his first four starts, he’s allowed just 14 hits and three walks in 20.2 innings. He’s also averaging a strikeout an inning. The one worrisome stat is that he’s gone from producing an above-average ground-ball rate (about 51% 2015-16) to just 38.5% in ’17 and he’s already allowed three homers. Soroka is going to have to get the ball down more consistently to avoid getting into trouble as he approaches The Show.

Soroka has a great pitcher’s frame, solid zip on his heater (with more potentially to come) and three pitches with plus potential. His success with handling the aggressive promotion also speaks to his makeup and competitive desire to succeed. Look for him to continue to exceed expectation if he can solve his fly-ball woes.