Major League Baseball (MLB) Spring Training is upon us, and no matter your view of players’ performance during this ramp up period, these five players have stood out this Spring. According to the metrics this lot has the potential to break out in the 2024 campaign.
- Jung Hoo Lee – SF Giants Outfield
Two years removed from receiving the Most Valuable Player award in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), Lee is one of many offseason additions for the Bay Area ball club. Lee boasts impressive rate stats, accumulating 20.4 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) over seven seasons in KBO. Lee is also patient at the plate, posting an impressive 7.3 percent strikeout (K) rate this previous year (MLB average was 22.4). Through an extremely small sample size at the plate this Spring (fifteen plate appearances) Lee has posted 244 Weighted Runs Created (park adjusted) (wRC+) as well as 1.302 On Base plus Slug (OPS). Lee will patrol the seemingly endless Oracle Park outfield with his glove and is poised to be a crucial aspect of the Giants’ Playoff aspirations.
2. Eury Pérez – Miami Marlins RHP
Eury Pérez made an impressive jump in the MLB Pipeline standings from 2021 to 2022. In 2021 Pérez split time at the A and AA levels of the Marlins system and was ranked twenty-seventh overall out of thirty prospects on the Marlins farm. In 2022, Pérez jumped twenty-three spots and saw himself among the top five Marlins prospects. He debuted in 2023 and quickly turned heads with his fastball velocity. Pérez offers a four pitch mix, all of which are graded at above league average velocity. This spring, Pérez has improved his fastball velocity, having it routinely touch 99 mph, and occasionally surpassing triple digits. Pérez will anchor a strong Marlins starting rotation alongside former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara, with more prospects like 2023 draftee Noble Meyer waiting to get their chance.
via BaseballSavant
3. Matt Shaw – Chicago Cubs INF (2023 draftee)
Shaw has been touted as a “ballplayer” by senior Cubs analyst Cole Wright, and it shows in his approach in the box. Shaw spent four years at the University of Maryland, where he saw great success on the offensive side of the ball, securing himself an OPS north of 1.000 through every season of his collegiate career. He was drafted fourteenth overall by the Cubs this past year, and many experts deemed him one of the “steals” of the draft. This Spring, Shaw has seen many opportunities to prove himself at the (semi) big league level. Through twenty-five plate appearances in February, Shaw posted a slightly below average wRC+, although in his rookie ball campaign this Fall/Winter in the Arizona Fall League he was the proud holder of a league best 277 wRC+. Shaw will start his career in Double A with the Tennessee Smokies, which only re-emphasizes the trust and confidence that the organization has placed in the young infielder. Keep an eye out for Shaw to reach the majors this fall.
