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.
Hello and welcome to the Dynasty Baseball Pickups written series! The Dominican Summer League is now nearly a whole week in, and we have seen some strong performances already in the early going. It can be challenging to discern the real from the small sample noise this early on. Still, in this week’s article, I try to do just that as I highlight an early DSL standout, as well as a high upside bat who looks to be improving upon his most significant deficiencies, a complex level arm dominating hitters with high-end stuff, an arm in A-ball also getting strong results despite the lack of high-end stuff, and a complex level hitter who I haven’t seen talked about anywhere this year; the only reason I learned about him was because I filtered our PLIVE+ tool by the biggest movers over the past week and noticed he was one of the only players on that list projected for 20+ HR at peak. I can’t emphasize enough how amazing the ability to sort by the biggest monthly and weekly movers in PLIVE+ is; if you haven’t checked out that feature yet, you could be missing out on some breakout names before they get the recognition they deserve. But enough hyping up our incredible tools, let's get down to business with this week’s recommendation.
*Note: all stats current through Friday, June 6/25 and all minor league statcast data is sourced from TJ Stats unless otherwise stated
“One of the youngest players in the draft, King shot up draft boards this spring with improved stuff and premium athleticism, turning into one of the premier southpaws in the entire class.” That’s what our scouts had to say about Johnny King in this year's list of Blue Jays Top 20 Prospects, and he has only continued to shoot up the rankings since making his pro debut. To this point in the season, when filtering to pitchers with 10+ innings, his 40.4% K% ranks fourth in the Florida Complex League (tied for ninth in all of Complex ball), and his 34% K-BB% leads the FCL (third across both complex leagues). His stellar walk rate is backed by the fact he is filling up the strike zone with a strong 63.4% strike rate. It’s not hard to see why he’s been so dominant when you start diving into his repertoire. According to Chris Clegg, King has been operating with a mid-90s heater that has been up to 98 mph, generating around 18” of IVB with 15” of arm-side run from a 5’5” release height from the left side. He’s also got a changeup that sits around 90 with 20” of arm-side fade and a curveball with plenty of depth and glove-side break to it creating a ton of separation in both velocity and horizontal movement.
Final Thoughts
The Jays have been uber cautious with King so far in his pro career, only letting him pitch about once per week and not letting him complete even a full four innings through four appearances. Given their recent track record of injuries to the arms of their pitching prospects, it's an approach that I have no problem with, but it would be nice to see how his stuff looks as he works deeper into games. It would also be nice to see how he performs in full-season ball, seeing as the Complex level is no match for him, but since he is still 18 for a couple more months, there is likely no rush to send him to Single-A. The buzz around King has been building since the pre-draft cycle, and if he gets a promotion in the coming weeks, it will likely erupt into full-blown hype, but for now, he’s got my attention in any league with 350+ prospects rostered.
Where to pick up: Leagues with 350+ prospects rostered
To put it lightly, Isaiah Drake is tooled up. He might possess plus power potential with double plus or better speed. Still, his approach and contact skills have been questioned since the 2023 draft cycle when his hometown Braves drafted him in the fifth round and signed him to an over-slot bonus (worth approximately third-round money). Despite double-digit walk rates at every stop of his career, the contact and approach have remained issues, but Drake might be turning a corner in 2025. His chase rate has improved from 34.5% in Single-A in 2024 to 29.2% at the same level so far in 2025, his zone-contact rate has risen from 67.9% to 77.3%, and his overall whiff rate has dropped from 34.7% to a league average 28.4% helping cut his K% by more than 10% and nearly double his wRC+ from 62 in 2024 to 121 so far in 2025. Though he’s yet to fully actualize his raw power potential with his current .128 ISO being a career-high, his three HRs are also a career-high already (worth noting one was of the inside-the-park variety), and he has four doubles and five triples through just 45 games. Further showcasing his speed, he has 19 stolen bases already and is on track to smash his previous career high of 23 set last year in 74 games.
Final Thoughts
Though Drake’s defense isn’t nearly as strong, this is an offensive profile not all that dissimilar from Athletics rookie Denzel Clarke, especially if Drake can start to get to his power in game more consistently. Without the borderline elite defense that Clarke has, there’s extra pressure on Drake’s bat to perform if he is going to someday crack the lineup of the big league team he grew up watching. There’s a sky-high ceiling here, but there’s also a floor that could fall out from under him and stop him from ever reaching the bigs. Due to that extreme volatility, he’s just a deep-league consideration. Still, with more than 100 games played in Single-A now, he could soon earn a promotion to High-A, where continued success would significantly increase his stock.
Where to pick up: Leagues with 400+ prospects rostered
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.
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
