Spring Training is in full swing and the college baseball season is well underway. It’s a good time to be a prospect fan, no?
I got quite a few Draft-related questions this week, including one about comparing Roch Cholowsky to other past college shortstops who’ve gone at the top of the Draft. We answered that one on this week’s MLB Pipeline Podcast (spoiler alert: there have been very few to go No. 1 and not that many to discuss near the top pick overall). But everyone is on RochWatch these days, so I’m kicking things off with another question about him.
Is Roch Cholowsky more Major League ready as of now than Troy Tulowitzki was when Tulowitzki was in college? – @StevieDAles97
Cholowsky is the clear-cut No. 1 prospect in this year’s Draft class, and the UCLA star is off to an impressive start, posting a .400/.513/1.100 slash line with six homers in his first eight games. Bringing him up in the same question as Tulowitzki makes a lot of sense, because not only does he draw that comp, he’s considered the best college shortstop prospect since Tulo came out of Long Beach State in 2005.
The answer is decidedly yes, and that’s taking nothing away from Tulowitzki, who went No. 7 overall in the extremely deep ‘05 Draft and made his big league debut with the Rockies in his first year of pro ball at the end of August. He went on to play parts of 13 years in the big leagues, finishing with 44.8 career bWAR.
In general, I’d say the players of today come out of the Draft more advanced and more “big league ready,” especially after three years at a major college program. College hitters are making it to the highest level in a hurry. Nick Kurtz went from being the No. 4 pick in last year’s Draft to winning the American League Rookie of the Year Award. Cam Smith spent all year with the Astros and survived while four other 2024 first-rounders touched the Major Leagues last year. The environment is encouraging of getting guys up faster, letting them learn on the job and make mistakes.
Would we be saying the same thing about Tulo if he were coming out now? Quite possibly. Cholowsky also grew up around the game, with his dad, Daniel, having played pro ball and serving as a long-time scout, so that doesn’t hurt, either.
What international prospects are you most excited to see hit the states this season? – @eYARKulation
I’ll cherry pick from the top of the 2025 Top 50 International Prospects list and start with Josuar Gonzalez, who signed with the Giants for just under $3 million when the signing period opened in January 2025. He’s already No. 44 on our Top 100 list, which puts him at No. 2 on the Giants' list behind Bryce Eldridge. We don’t often run a guy who hasn’t played in the U.S. yet up this high, but Gonzalez has the chance to have plus tools across the board.
I oversee the Mariners’ Top 30 and am very curious to see what Yorger Bautista can do. He has immense raw power, similar to a previous international signee by the M’s, Lazaro Montes. The swing-and-miss is concerning, but he hit seven homers in the DSL, and I want to see how it plays in the Arizona Complex League. Two other hitters from teams I do are from organizations who could use a lift for their farm systems, so I’d like to see outfielder Diego Tornes of the Braves and Gabriel Davalillo, the catcher from the Angels, over here. Both showed some encouraging offensive signs during their debuts last summer.
There’s one other guy I’m thinking of, but I’ll save him for this next question …
Who does Kevin Alvarez of Houston remind you of, Yordan Alvarez or Kyle Tucker? I have seen him compared to both – @notinspring.bsky.social
Alvarez was No. 7 on the Top 50 International list in 2025, signing with the Astros for $2 million. He went out and hit .301/.419/.455 during his DSL debut, and the Astros are excited for him to come to the United States. Don’t be surprised to see him near the top of the Astros Top 30 Prospects list, released next week.
I went to colleague Jim Callis, who does our Astros list, for a little help on this one. He confirmed my inclination to pick Tucker over (Yordan) Alvarez, even if it’s just for body type. Sure, Kevin is 6-foot-4 -- the same height of both the hitters in question -- but he’s just not nearly as physical as Yordan, who was pretty immense as a teenager. Not only that, but the younger Alvarez’s setup and bat path are more similar to Tucker’s, making that an even more apt comp.