Latest update:Eight predictions regarding prospects for 2024
As the Pipeline Podcast wraps up 2023, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo preview the ’24 season with a wide range of predictions. The duo breaks down eight categories, from Rookies of the Year in both leagues and the No. 1 overall Draft pick to which organization will finish with the top-ranked farm system at season’s end and more.
Last year’s edition had some big hits, including correctly predicting both Rookies of the Year (Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson), the No. 1 prospect at the end of the year (Jackson Holliday) and the biggest riser among Top 100 prospects (Jackson Merrill). Let’s see how this year’s guesses stack up.
[Crow-Armstrong is] coming off of a 20/30 season in the Minors. We know about his defense. The defense and speed will keep him in the lineup every single day, and he’s going to contribute, and I think he’s going to hit enough for the counting numbers that a lot of people pay attention to [and that] will matter. I think his combination of talent and opportunity made him a solid, albeit, far from slam-dunk pick for me.
I just think [Skenes is] on the same path that Stephen Strasburg was on. I think he’s going to come out and destroy the Minors for six weeks and be up before the end of May and be one of the better pitchers in baseball right off the bat. I think his stuff’s that good. I think he’s got the command to go with the stuff. We all know he averaged 98 mph last year throughout the season at LSU. He can hit triple digits. The slider may be more devastating than the fastball. In one of his College World Series starts, his best pitch was his changeup; it was a well-above-average pitch in that start. I think he’s the complete package.