Joshua Baez

Baez is one of the youngest players in the class—he turns 18 at the end of June—but he's also one of the most physical and explosive players in the country. He has fast bat speed, he's strong for his age with more room to fill out and his raw power is already at least plus now with a chance to be a 70 in the near future and he could become a 35-plus home run threat. His arm is already at least a 70 tool from the outfield. He's been up to 98 mph on the mound this year and shown sporadic feel to spin a breaking ball, so pitching is a fallback option if hitting doesn't click, though he hasn't focused much on pitching and is still raw and wild. Baez has immense upside if he's able to make enough contact and draw enough walks, but swing and miss has been an issue. He performed well last summer on the showcase circuit and he started the spring by managing his at-bats well, but as the season progressed, he got more out of sync and swung through a lot of ordinary Massachusetts high school pitching. Baez isn't a free-swinger, but there's some stiffness to his stroke and he tends to get his front arm extended early, which hampers the adjustability of his swing to be able to react to and square up different pitch types and locations. In center field, Baez shined all spring. He's a solid-average runner underway who doesn't have typical burner speed or long gliding strides for the position, but he's a power runner who has good instincts, reading the ball well off the bat with good routes to both gaps. He's built like a corner outfielder and many scouts believe he will ultimately outgrow the position and head to right field, but he has enough athleticism and ball skills to start out in center.