Sunday, November 01

Roman Anthony, Cade Horton, Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson entered the season as highly acclaimed prospects and have lived up to their billing and more in the big leagues. Samuel Basallo, Owen Caissie, Konnor Griffin, Kevin McGonigle and J.J. Wetherholt were similarly hyped and have torn up the Minors.

There also have been plenty of prospect surprises as well. I've assembled my annual All-Breakout Team of guys who didn't make the top 10 on our organization Top 30s to begin the year but have soared since. Caleb Bonemer, Carlos Lagrange, Mike Sirota and Payton Tolle all have climbed as high as our current Top 100 Prospects list, and Edward Florentino will join them when Jordan Lawlar graduates later today.

Marco Dinges, C, Brewers: Dinges' maximum-effort swing generates plenty of bat speed and has translated into a .300/.415/.502 line with 11 homers in 72 games between two Class A stops. His catching is a work in progress but he does have a strong arm.

Jonathon Long, 1B, Cubs: Long's 26 career homers rank second all-time at pitcher-friendly Long Beach State, and he has exceeded expectations since the Cubs drafted him in the ninth round two years ago. He's batting .307/.405/.489 with 19 homers in 124 games in Triple-A.

A.J. Ewing, 2B, Mets: Selected with the compensation pick (fourth round in 2023) the Mets received for the loss of free agent Jacob deGrom, Ewing struggled in his first taste of full-season ball last year but has slashed .317/.409/.436 with 68 steals (fifth in the Minors) while rising from Single-A to Double-A in 2025. He's a plus runner who controls the strike zone well, and I'm jamming him on here at his secondary position because there are too many deserving outfielders.

Jacob Reimer, 3B, Mets: Like Ewing, Reimer is a Mets fourth-rounder who received an over-slot bonus out of high school. After a hamstring injury ruined his 2024 season, he's making good swing decisions and hitting for power: .286/.386/.513 with 17 homers and 15 steals in 112 games between High-A and Double-A.

Caleb Bonemer, SS, White Sox: The White Sox invested a well-over-slot $2,997,500 bonus in Bonemer as a 2024 second-rounder, so his .283/.403/.480 line with 12 homers in 101 games at two Class A stops isn't totally unexpected. But his defense at shortstop has been surprisingly good and he may be able to stay there.

Edward Florentino, OF, Pirates: Florentino flew under the radar in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League last year but that quickly changed during his U.S. debut this season. He has batted .296/.407/.564 with 16 homers and 35 steals in 80 games between Rookie ball and Single-A, displaying plus power with the possibility of more to come as he adds strength.

Nate George, OF, Orioles: George was one of the faster players in the 2024 Draft but didn't participate in a lot of high school showcase events, and that lack of track record dropped him to the 16th round. Signed for an over-slot $455,000, he looks like a prototype center field and has hit .334/.413/.485 with 49 steals in 82 games while advancing from Rookie ball to High-A.

Mike Sirota, OF, Dodgers: Sirota projected as a first-rounder before slumping in his junior season at Northeastern in 2024, then fell to Reds in the third round before joining the Dodgers in the Gavin Lux trade last January. The grand-nephew of Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, he regained his timing at the plate and showed five-tool potential while slashing .333/.452/.616 with 13 homers in 59 games between two Class A stops before injuring his right knee on a slide in early July.

Justin Gonzales, DH, Red Sox: Gonzales' combination of swing decisions and exit velocities is impressive for an 18-year-old, allowing him to bat .298/.381/.423 in 81 games in Single-A and earn a promotion to High-A last week. Bigger and stronger than his listed 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, he's surprisingly athletic for his size and showed a mid-90s fastball as an amateur left-hander.

Payton Tolle, LHP, Red Sox: Some evaluators consider Tolle the best lefty pitching prospect in baseball a year after the Red Sox drafted him in the second round out of Texas Christian. He creates elite extension in his delivery, making his fastball virtually unhittable, and he has added significant velocity since turning pro. He logged a 3.04 ERA, .203 opponent average and 133/23 K/BB ratio in 91 2/3 innings while advancing from High-A to Triple-A before getting called up to Boston.

Carlos Lagrange, RHP, Yankees: Lagrange lost most of 2024 to back inflammation and didn't throw strikes when on the mound, but his health and control have been fine this year. His upper-90s fastball, sweeping mid-80s slider and upper-80s cutter have helped him record a 3.88 ERA, .201 opponent average and 153 strikeouts in 109 innings between High-A and Double-A.

Mets right-hander Jonah Tong currently leads the Minors with a 1.43 ERA. Who was the last Minor Leaguer (full-season leagues only) to post a lower mark?

A. Jon Duplantier

B. David Parkinson

C. Blake Snell

D. Gavin Stone

• Top 100 Prospects Tolle and Tong impressed in strong big league debuts with the Red Sox (as detailed by Ian Browne) and the Mets (Anthony DiComo was there).
• Ben Weinrib took a fun look at the best nicknames in the Minors, from the Iowa Meat Truck to the Siberian Sultan of Swat to The Grinch, plus many more.
• Sam Dykstra and Joe Trezza broke down the hottest pitching prospects in each farm system.

Rosenblatt Stadium hosted its final game on Sept. 2, 2010, with the hometown Omaha Royals beating the Round Rock Express 6-2 in a Triple-A Pacific Coast League contest before a crowd of 23,795. Mike Moustakas homered in the first inning to give the Royals an advantage they'd never relinquish. (He tied for the Minor League lead that season with 36 blasts before going deep 215 times in a 13-year big league career.) Rosenblatt Stadium opened with an exhibition in October 1948 and began hosting Minor League teams and the College World Series the following year. Gale Sayers played football at Rosenblatt as an Omaha prepster, and fellow NFL Hall of Famer Walter Payton did as well in a college game. I covered somewhere in neighborhood of 200 CWS games at Rosenblatt and miss it to this day. The College World Series (Charles Schwab Field) and Kansas City's Triple-A team (Werner Park) now play at more modern venues, but Rosenblatt's charm is unmatched.

A. Jon Duplantier

Duplantier fashioned a 1.39 ERA in 2017, the lowest in the last decade. He's followed by Blake Snell (1.41 in 2015), David Parkinson (1.45 in 2018) and Gavin Stone (1.48 in 2022). Arm injuries derailed Duplantier, who compiled a 6.70 ERA in 49 2/3 innings with the Diamondbacks in 2019 and 2021, and he's currently pitching in Japan. Tong's promotion to New York may leave him short of enough innings to qualify for the Minor League lead, and White Sox left-hander Shane Murphy currently ranks second this year at 1.57.

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Contact Jim.Callis@mlb.com

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