2 The Bigs

By Sal Corso: May 30, 2024

Making it to the professional level in baseball is harder than in any other major sport. That’s not an opinion. It’s a fact. There is no other sport where a player is drafted and still has to successfully move through several levels of competition before making their “professional debut”. The biggest challenge comes from within (this feels like a Karate Kid quote as I’m writing it), but there are many other external challenges as well. One is that with about 200 players in each baseball organization, and dozens of new draftees each year, you’re bound to face the most competition within your own camp.

If I gave you the team and position of these three prospects, you’d likely guess a top-100 name. That’s where “The Other Guys” comes in. Yes, it’s easily one of my favorite movies of all time, but it’s also relevant in baseball. Sometimes the prospects with less name-power and fewer eyes on their every at-bat, can sneak their way up the organization and into a big-league clubhouse. With that, I give three “Other Guys” who have gotten off to a hot start this season:

Tampa Bay Rays 1B (not named Xavier Isaac)

I’ve said it before, but I’m willing to continue to put my credibility on the line for this take. Xavier Isaac will be a top-5 consensus prospect in baseball at the start of 2025. Keeping up with the movie reference, Xavier Isaac is The Rock. So, we might as well start off with my Mark Wahlberg, the biggest “Other” in baseball.

Enter Tre’ Morgan. A 21-year-old, 2023 3^rd round draft pick, this lefty 1B is full-on teammates with Isaac at Bowling Green (A+). That’s likely why Tre’ is seeing only 50% of his first 12 games at Bowling Green at 1B, and a majority of the other games in LF. However, his bat doesn’t necessarily care where his glove is. His full stat line is above, but since his promotion to A+ he’s slashing .452/.549/.810. Like Isaac, he has underrated speed and can steal a base when he gets on. Like Isaac as well, he can put one into the right field bleachers with ease. Unlike Isaac, this man does not like to swing-and-miss. Only tallying 14-K’s in his 164 PA compared to 18 BBs (that’s an 8.5% K-rate if you didn’t have your calculator).

FIRST HOME RUN OF THE NIGHT BELONGS TO TRE' MORGAN#RevItUp | #MiLB pic.twitter.com/KsaHjhcLGs

— Bowling Green Hot Rods (@BGHotRods) May 29, 2024

At 6-foot-1 and 215 LB, it’s surprising that Morgan was never considered a power bat. In 2024, he’s proving the scouts wrong. He’s tallied a career 1.002 OPS with 22 XBH across 51 pro-games. But his bat-to-ball skills are why he’s hitting so well. And it’s obvious from his tape. He scrunches down in the box, chokes up on the bat, and has lightning quick hands to the ball.

Detroit Tigers 2B (not named Colt Keith)

Colt Keith was the talk of the 2023 minor league season. He posted an absurd .306 27 HR 101 RBI line across 126 games. After his pre-debut contract extension, Colt struggled to get comfortable early. However, the tides are turning. He just hit his first HR and is hitting .325 in the last two weeks. But that’s enough about him, this write-up is on The Other Guy.

Kevin McGonigle is a 2023 conditional round selection (37^th overall) for the Tigers. The 19-year-old lefty middle infielder was given a 60-grade hit tool by MLB.com (well deserved). His .330 average is only 30 points off his BABIP (.360), meaning he puts the ball in play a good amount. His 1.23 BB/K ratio is pretty impressive as well. There’s only one flaw in the metrics to-date. He has a 10.5% hard-hit rate to start the 2024 campaign in A-ball. That is the 8^th lowest amongst 2B in all of minor league baseball. He may be a 5-foot-9 middle infielder, but he has power, now let’s see the Tigers develop it. He’s only 19, he does the harder task at the plate by making contact. The power should come…

Seattle Mariners OF (not named Lazaro Montes)

Lazaro Montes is turning heads. I was much, much lower on Montes than other prospectors this offseason mainly due to his struggles with chase and strikeout rates. But he’s drastically improved in those areas. His K-rate has dropped from 33%–>25%–>18% each year. Meanwhile, he’s hitting over .300 and sees nearly 1 out of every 5 of his fly balls leave the yard. But Lazaro is covered enough, who’s the other guy?

Aiden Smith is a 2023 3rd Round draft pick straight out of high school. He’s a 6-foot-3 centerfielder with a 60-grade run & arm tool, so he should stick there. His 15.7% BB-rate to 11.5% K-rate shows why his OBP is +120 points above his average. Any teenager (19) hitting the ball effectively in A-ball gets added to the 2 The Bigs watch-list. Aiden earns that tag. His 31% hard-hit rate is 7^th highest amongst qualifying teenagers in all of minor league baseball (>100 PA).