I thought someone spiked my coffee when someone told me that I agreed with Keith Law (I joke as he is a very nice person face to face, but very opinionated.)
1. Dylan Bundy - I have told friends he was one to watch as as sophomore in area code games. By the time he was a senior, he was arguably the best high school pitcher that I have seen, including Beckett and Verlander. He has to continue to improve facets of his game, but starting off the on the right foot and still continues to look the part of the "Ace". Long way to go to be ranked with the true shutdown pitchers of today's game, but heading in the right direction.
2. Manny Machado - Forget the errors, forget the slumps, this kid is still a highly sought after player. He looked head and shoulder above his high A peers last season, would not surprise me to see the same. He just is a tireless worker, look at how much muscle this kid put on this season and he has the range to continue at SS. In my eyes, he has star potential.
3. Kevin Gausman - I have no worries about him signing and I think his blend of arm speed, arsenal, and slight projection gives an argument that the Orioles could have two potential Ace type pitchers (albeit I think his is slim b/c of command).
4. Jonathan Schoop - Fans need to remember that he is two years younger than most of his peers and not everyone has the fast track ability of Bryce Harper. He will take his lumps, but his bat has serious dual threat potential. He can fit in any three of the infield positions and at worst the arm strength would be deadly in RF.
Before Season
5. Parker Bridwell - This kid has a TON of talent, just needs to improve his confidence and mental toughness. The tools are present and he is simply allowing things outside of his control get in his way. Over-thinking and not having a repetitive pattern of thoughts to maintain focus is a major hurdle to overcome. Once this happens, he can allow his natural given talents to shine and hit the ground running as a high No. 2 ceiling starter. If the hurdle does not happen, he has closer electric arm.
During Season
5. Nick Delmonico - I thought the injuries had a lot of to do with his sub-par bat speed and inconsistency last spring. He has the foundation to hit for high contact with a solid approach and his maturation has power reaching above average (maybe plus) ability because he shows pop and high gap power at this stage. Adding another 15 pounds will greatly enhance his offensive ability. The one thing to take notice is the amount of swing and miss, but I need to see it for myself to think this is a problem or just first season adjustments to a better class of off-speed offerings consistently.
