MLB players to watch: Keith Law's 5 candidates for a breakout season in 2022 - The Athletic

My breakouts list is shorter than usual this year because I don’t feel as strongly about that many candidates. Rather than force a few names on here – maybe just including some guys I liked as prospects who haven’t panned out yet – I’m sticking to five players for whom I can make compelling cases.

I doubt any of these names will be huge surprises – all of them were top 20 prospects for me at some point in the last few years, with the three hitters all appearing in the top 10 at least once. I’ve ranked them highly before because of their combinations of tools and skills, but none of them has fulfilled his promise in the majors just yet. Four of the five showed something specific last season that makes me more optimistic about their outlooks for this year, while the fifth is still, for me, a bet on the things I liked about him in the minors.

Note that I only consider players who have exhausted their rookie eligibility, so prospects who look like they’ll have real impact in the majors this year (Mackenzie Gore, Edward Cabrera, Julio Rodríguez, Kevin Smith) aren’t included.

Jarred Kelenic, OF, Seattle

The Mariners have an outfield surplus, with their No. 1 prospect Rodríguez steamrolling through the minors and looking strong in big-league camp this spring, but wherever Kelenic plays, he’s going to be better than he was last season – it would be hard to be worse, after all. Kelenic did improve in his second go-round in the majors, although the .209/.291/.

source: https://theathletic.com/3223869/2022/04/01/mlb-players-to-watch-keith-laws-5-candidates-for-a-breakout-season-in-2022/

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