As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
The Twins have become a haven for prospecting sickos to mine some value; look at Zebby Matthews. If you jumped in early on that breakout, you have to be pumped. Their system is sound, and they have a good player development set-up. They fine-tune pitching amongst the best in all of baseball. That being said, we will only be talking about one pitcher because there are some interesting hitters that didn’t make our Top 20, ultimately resulting in them being honorable mentions.
Part of this series is finding prospects that I like and highlighting them, and well, there is no prospect I enjoy more than Payton Eeles. Does he bring little to no thump in the batter's box…yes. Is he a crazy burner…no. But when you go undrafted, go to Indy Ball, and make it all the way up to Triple-A in a season, you are the least worthy of an honorable mention.
Projecting out a role for Eeles is tricky because outside of making contact, there is only one tool that gets one out of bed with him. But it is easy to see the appeal here when you live in the sub 7% swinging-strike-rate range as a hitter across three different levels. It is tough to project where someone like Eeles can hit for a team because everything has to go right for someone lacking the power to hit toward the top of a lineup. Then, let's remember he is a second-base prospect and not a great defensive one.
Now it's time to be more positive on Eeles, as he can be a nice stolen-base threat because he has a good feel for reading pitchers. When you clock him, he is a slightly below-average runner, but he can utilize some base running savviness not to be a base clogger and steal a handful of bases a year. If given an entire season of plate appearances, the dream has a good average of 10-12 homers and 15-19 swipes. But finding a spot for him to play every day will take a lot of work to ever reach that upside.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Amateur Scouting, proud to lead and share the team's work. | Check out Path to the Show on Bally Sports Live and College Baseball Now everywhere! | Grateful for family, the Vols, and everyone who reads Prospects Live. | For His Glory.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Director of Dynasty Content - Canadian born and raised, moved to Arkansas with my wife and two sons Ezra and Ari. Followed and played baseball my whole life; played dynasty for 25+ years.
A Giants fan living in San Diego, been playing fantasy baseball since 2005 and dynasty since 2021. Started the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast in June 2023 and joined Prospects Live in March of 2024.
Dynasty player of 10+ years. Helping you find the building blocks of your championship rosters as a co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023, joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
