Top 15 rookies for the 2023 MLB season: Corbin Carroll, Gunnar Henderson headline deep class
most explosive rookies to come around in the last half decade. A former first-round pick, the 22-year-old made his MLB debut last August, showcasing a feel for hard contact and blazing speed. Carroll, a patient hitter, will find lots of opportunities to get on base. His ability to hit for power and average while stealing bases should acclimate him to fantasy rosters well.
2. Gunnar Henderson, 3B, Orioles
Henderson ranks second on our list by the slightest of margins. The 21-year-old also debuted in the majors at the end of August, slashing .259/.349/.440 with four home runs in 116 at-bats. Henderson is noted for his ability to make hard contact. In his short MLB sample, his average exit velocity was 92 mph, four ticks higher than MLB average and identical to his minor league data. He’s patient and a plus runner with the potential for double-digit steals.
Dodgers’ opening-day second baseman, a position where he’s made just 27 starts in his minor league career. Vargas has a career .313/.390/.488 minor league slash line. He doesn’t impact the ball like Carroll and Henderson. However, he makes contact, utilizes the entire field and can also steal double-digit bases. He has average over-the-fence power for now.Top 250 overall players for 2023
POSITION RANKS: How the players stack up against their peers
4. Masataka Yoshida, OF, Red Sox
Yoshida is a 29-year-old outfield import from Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan who signed a five-year, $90 million contract this offseason with the Red Sox. Yoshida batted .336/.449/.559 last season in Japan thanks to a patient, spray approach at the plate. He’s apt at finding holes across the diamond. Most of his power (21 HR in 2022) comes from his pull side. As a left-handed hitter in Fenway Park, it’s likely his power totals will drop off from his numbers in Japan.
made his MLB debut last season after coming back from February labrum surgery. Jung struggled getting to consistent hard contact in the majors, slashing a meager .204/.235/.418. However, he did hit five home runs, and scouting contacts in Arizona believe Jung has rediscovered the explosion in his swing.
6. Triston Casas, 1B, Red Sox
Casas, a former first-round pick, struggled with consistent contact quality in his first taste of the majors. However, when he made hard contact, it was immense, slugging five home runs, including three to the opposite field, in 76 at-bats. The 23-year-old left-handed hitter has an above-average hitting foundation and produced high exit velocities in the minors, but the angles have not been there for him to display over-the-fence power yet.
7. Kodai Senga, RHP, Mets
The 30-year-old Senga is slated to slot in as the Mets’ No. 3 starter after a storied NPB career. Senga throws the kitchen sink at hitters. He sits in the mid-90s with his fastball. He’s famous for a mid-80s forkball, nicknamed the “Ghost Fork” because of how it drops late and disappears out of the zone. Senga also features a cutter, curveball and slider.
8. Brett Baty, 3B, Mets
The 23-year-old Baty made his MLB debut last season, slashing .184/.244/.342, despite hitting the ball with authority. No matter the competition, the book on Baty is his ability to get to hard contact with a flatter swing plane and an all-fields approach. Because he doesn’t pile up home runs now, the left-handed hitter has fallen under the radar a bit, but there is an interesting set of skills here.
quickly moved up fantasy draft boards. Now a full-time outfielder, it’s power for days with a solid, underlying hit tool. He has 40-homer power potential and he could get to it sooner than later. Walker is incredibly aggressive and is likely to struggle with advanced spin. He is also a plus runner with 22 steals last year at Class AAA.
10. Hunter Brown, RHP, Astros
Brown had an incredible MLB debut last season. He has a four-pitch mix with an overpowering four-seam fastball. A double-plus pitch, his high 90s fastball is a bat-missing machine, especially up with its flat-angled approach and late riding action. Both of his breaking balls project as near plus offerings.
11. Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Orioles
Rodriguez is one of the best pitching prospects in baseball. Three of his four offerings are rated plus-or-better by scouts. He has proved to be a strikeout machine in the minors. Coming off a lat strain last season, Baltimore is likely to limit Rodriguez’s innings in 2023.