Future Projection Episode 49: Low-A Hitters Shining & Scuffling

Image credit: Brady House (Photo by Katherine Frey/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Ben Badler and Carlos Collazo talk about Ben’s trip to the Dominican Republic and get into a few players who stood out, and Ben gives some insight on the difficulty of contextualizing the current IFA class to previous ones at this point in the calendar.

The two talk about Kyle Glaser’s story on the ‘Enhanced Grip’ baseball that is being tested in the Double-A Southern League, and try and think through the ramifications it has for player development and player evaluation.

After that, the two dive into a ton of interesting teenage hitters in the low levels of the minors. That includes standouts like Ryan Clifford (Astros), Brady House (Nationals) and Leonardo Bernal (Cardinals) to name a few, as well as players off to slower starts, like Elijah Green (Nationals) Miguel Bleis (Red Sox) and Tucker Toman (Blue Jays).

The two end with a listener mailbag that includes questions on: divisive prospects in the 2023 draft class; Cubs outfielder Owen Caissie’s odd line and what to do about it; what Ben would change about the IFA process if he could, which leads into a discussion of college baseball’s new recruiting rules and how that could impact players.

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