You’ll notice I’m a little more brief in this update. That’s because I’m working on not only the 2025 Bowman Chrome preview, but integrating those 2025 BC players into Hobby+! I will have those scores for every eligible player included in the next update, as well as a score (as of 8/17) included in the preview piece itself. Other than that we have some more promotion driven risers, as well as some scorching notable performers to get to in this update.
The data to drive those 2025 Bowman Chrome players’ pricing in the PLive+ App Suite app suite is still over a month away, but for those subscribed at our 60 Tier, the rest of the players you see below are there! Take a little peak here – it’s truly a great tool that gives you a nice holistic look into where a player stands for the hobby based on performance, price, and future projection.
As always, if you have any questions on what Hobby+ is, or who is and isn't included, reference my Primer.
Hitting Skill
In relation to Hobby+, it’s been a long time since I wrote about Franklin Arias (2025 Bowman). That’s because he’s just not showing much impact – he really looks boring as a 19 year old in High-A. But as he has been all season, there’s an amazing contact rate – it's been nearly 90% since moving up to High-A in late April. To doubt the projection of his hit tool as anything less than plus is foolish. But how much power gains are left in the tank? There’s still room in his frame to add muscle, and he did add some heading into the season, the dividends from which earned him that quick promotion to High-A. Could another offseason in the gym lead to even further gains? A show of fringy power perhaps? That’s the question we should be asking ourselves – if you think the answer is no, then he’s definitely a sell. His autograph prices have not dipped much.
Cooper Ingle is clearly the Guardians’ catcher of the future. He’s a great receiver with an arm that’s likely good-enough. His promotion to AAA this past week tells us that he’s likely in contention to take over as early as Opening Day next year, with Bo Naylor not earning the right to remain the everyday starter with his 80 wRC+. Ingle has a small frame, and has quite the passive approach. But when he does swing he really knows how to make it count. It’s not just the near-elite contact rate. It’s the 26 LD% and 38 XBH (mostly doubles) that tells us his quality of contact will not be an issue. He’s your typical catcher that will be a bottom of the order bat, at least when he’s called up, but he should persist as a pesky out, even as a rookie. Check his prices this offseason – if his 2023 Bowman Draft autos drop below $20, he’d be a buy to me, even as a Guardian.
Ryan Waldschmidt (2024 Draft) has put up a great offensive season across two levels this year – it’s just not exactly how we imagined it. There were signs that his hit tool would be just fine last year when he debuted. While it’s not projectable as such, for it to pull to near-even with his above average power isn't something I thought would happen. There’s not a big change to his swing – he’s just slightly more upright. It’s still a high effort hack that makes great use of his powerful legs. He’s still only just below average in making contact. But what he has been good at is choosing which pitches to swing at. Sure, that 16 BB% and 38% swing% makes him look passive. But no one will ever complain when both your SLG is over .450 and OBP is over .400. He’s been great at making hard contact – a very nice 37% of his hits have gone for extra bases, and since getting to AA his LD% has crept up to over 25%. His swing decisions have been so good that we may be underrating his hit tool projection. With plus speed also in tow, I think his cards being at around $30 is just about right for now. But if he really starts to get into power more while maintaining what he’s doing, there’s definitely room to grow.
Age Dependent Power
At this point it’s hard to remember that Luis Peña (2025 Bowman) was just Jesus Made’s running mate at Low-A at the beginning of the season – thought to be a really young guy with the upside of becoming a hit tool savant with what the Brewers thought was enough maturity to handle the level. That’s changed a lot this year. He’s shown all of that to be true – so much so that he’s now been promoted to High-A (as has Made). At that new level he’s already smacked 3 HR in 10 games – sure, that’s a small sample anomaly and he’s actually struggled a bit thus far at the new level, but his ISO for the season also sits at a very healthy .181. In the next year, and keeping in mind that he also has excellent speed, if he can continue to show fringe-average power or better, and hit with the authority as he has all season, he’d be a Top 5 prospect in baseball everywhere. Some already have him there. I’m not telling you anything new, but it’s been quite the ride. I’ll shoehorn an Eduardo Tait (2024 BC) update here too. He ticks a lot of the same boxes as Peña (not speed, obviously). Age 18, moved to High-A, showing clear power at the new level but still adjusting. Generally good signs for the youngster.
Jeral Perez has been one of a few bright spots in the White Sox farm system this year. He hasn’t seen a promotion like many other prospects and remains at High-A at age 20, but he’s also very close to a 20 HR season. In fact, for players of his age with a K% equal to or less than his (21%), only Ralphy Velazquez has more HR's. He has a swing geared for elevation – it affects his BABIP quite a bit because he doesn’t always square up balls and all those fly balls turn into outs. But his contact rate is a hair above average. There’s hope that he can adjust a bit and find a happier medium. I always have to mention this – his autographs in 2024 Bowman Chrome are extremely rare. He has no base, and nothing higher numbered than Yellow Refractors. There’s other ways to collect him though. Without him being a completely known commodity and the fact of not having readily available autos, his numbered refactors can still be found at pretty nice prices.
The Twins acquired Enrique Jimenez (2024 Bowman, autos in 2024 BC) at the trade deadline for two major leaguers – he must be pretty great, right? (I kid, it was Chris Paddack, Randy Dobnak, and highly financially motivated). But he actually has put on a bit of a power show since his first-time promotion to Low-A after the trade with 3 HR. That’s half of what he did in the entire Complex season already in a quarter of his AB’s. We also have the small sample anomaly of his putting up a .472 OBP at the new level. We shouldn’t really be entirely surprised, as he is a physically mature 19 year old already whose ascent has been slowed by being developed as a catcher. There’s not a lot to act on yet, but keep your eye out to see if he can retain a semblance of these gains.
Hobby+
Samuel Basallo (2023 BC) finally graduated! He’s joined by his teammate Dylan Beavers (2022 Draft), both within a day of the service time cutoff to retain rookie eligibility. It’s very, very clear this has been the Orioles’ plan for the last month. I haven’t written about Drew Gilbert (2022 Draft) at all this season, but after being acquired by the Giants at the deadline he only spent 5 days in the minors. It didn’t start well but he did hit his first MLB HR on Sunday. He's playing a strong side platoon role, in which should remain in for the foreseeable future. Most importantly, it’s been a completely healthy season for him.
Even without Samuel Basallo graduating, Kevin McGonigle (2025 Bowman) would be on top of the Hobby+ leaderboard. It’s not a result of doing McGonigle-eque things – he’s hitting under .300 this month. It’s his power that’s taken the step forward with 4 HR since my last update. In total it’s a .675 SLG in the time period, and when you add that to his season line that’s impressive in other ways, it moves the needle significantly. There’s really a bit of an adjustment he’s still making to AA pitching, but as his 21st birthday is today as I write this, there’s very, very little doubt that he’ll make it. I’m going to stick with my Craig Biggio-with-less-speed comp as a bottom line numbers projection.
Ralphy Velazquez (2023 Draft) has been hanging around the lower echelons of my leaderboard for most of the season, but no more. In just the 12 games since Update 6, He’s smashed 7 HR, 6 2B, and a triple with a .451 average. Oh, and there was a promotion to AA in there too. That’s just surface-of-a-Wolf-Rayet-star level hot folks. If you haven’t been following closely, Velazquez's days of catching have been long done – he’s a 1B with some LF appearances sprinkled in. But it’s all about the bat with him. And now having reached AA at age 20, it’s going…quite well! The hobby has made a massive reaction already. But if you can catch a listing that hasn’t taken his recent performance into account, absolutely go for it – there’s not much concern about his underlying data. Anything under $35-40 is more than fair at this point.
Jose Fernandez (2024 BC) is once again creeping up my leaderboard. He’s now up to over 40 XBH on the season as a 21 YO who’s been in AA all season. In August alone, he’s hitting over .350 with 9 XBH and an above average contact rate (as it has been all season). On the right day you can still find base autos under $10 and parallels under $20. I’m starting to change my mindset – perhaps that’s still undervalued? You can make that call for yourself, but it’s very likely he reaches the majors next year, and if he develops an actual plate approach there’s a ceiling of becoming a slick-defending everyday utility bat with pop.
Don’t look now but Jeferson Quero (2021 BC) is finding his stride in AAA. He surprisingly only missed a week with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, and has come back with something to prove. He really wants to give the Brewers something to think about come September, and a .400/.400/.840 line since that return certainly accomplishes that. I don’t think he’ll experience any price spikes until his call-up, and that’s no guarantee this year. There could be some great times to buy this offseason yet.
To put it lightly, Emil Morales hasn’t missed a beat since his promotion to Low-A. He’s actually improved in almost every way possible from his impressive performance at the Complex. At the new level, he has a higher average, slug, OBP, and contact rate thus far. It’s 75 AB’s of allaying concerns and confirming there’s legitimate plus game power potential. His cards have popped right back up to where they were at release in 2024 Bowman Chrome. I don’t know if they’ll ever sag again, especially if he stays a Dodger.
Conclusion
You can see that there’s still some pretty big swings that can happen, even this late in the MiLB season. Let’s see what else is in store for what will likely be my penultimate update of the 2025 season, which will include 2025 Bowman Chrome players!
Until next time, collect what you love!
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