I'm fresh off my stint in the Arizona Fall League, what I believe to be my 27th time covering Major League Baseball's prospect finishing school. As always, it didn't disappoint, and I know all of you are tired of me talking about how every baseball fan should plan a trip there.
I'm still processing all of the players I saw and talked to before passing the coverage baton to Sam Dykstra (intrepid Arizona native Jesse Borek is our everyday anchor). But your questions for this week's MLB Pipeline Inbox made me think about some of the players I saw.
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In the looks that I saw of the Phillies' top position prospect during my time in the AFL, he looked really good. More than anything, it was just great to see him at all after a back injury forced him out for nearly all of 2026. Back issues are tricky, so it was encouraging that he made it back at the very end of the regular season, and then helped Reading win an Eastern League title. I don't really care about his numbers this fall, though he is 7-for-14, but was mostly looking to see if he was moving well and impacting the ball. The answer to both questions was yes. He had three extra-base hits and was registering solid exit velocities to all fields. He legged out a triple and stole a base with no issue. He's also playing third full-time when he's in the field and, not surprisingly since he had turned himself into a good shortstop, he's looked very smooth at the hot corner. I'm optimistic we'll see the Aidan Miller we hoped to see in 2026 next season, and that he will play his way into Philadelphia's lineup sooner rather than later.
I'll admit, he's a tough one to figure out. He hit a ton of homers as a freshman at Alabama, hit for power, but struck out a lot as a sophomore at Florida, then hit for average and no power as a junior. The White Sox got him in Round 6 of the 2025 Draft and in his first full season, he looked more like the swing-and-miss guy with pop, mashing 24 homers across High-A and Double-A while hitting .244 and striking out 23.2 percent of the time, a rate that jumped to 24.8 pct in Double-A.
He's now in the Arizona Fall League and has gone 4-for-23 in his first eight games. That does include one long home run, but does not include an absolutely massive grand slam that got erased by rain. The power is legit. He's played all over the infield, even adding first base this fall, so his floor might be as a super-utility type who gets his left-handed power-over-hit bat into the lineup a lot. His ceiling might be as an offensive-minded second baseman who might provide 25 homers with a healthy dose of K's.
We answered this one on this week's Pipeline Podcast, so check that out (bonus is the interview with Yankees shortstop prospect Dax Kilby). We decided to focus solely on those who are still 17, because if we included some of the 18-year olds mentioned, then we would automatically just be following our Top 100 list.
It led to an interesting discussion, in part because both Jim Callis and I headed in the same direction in focusing only on international guys. The top three we agreed on, with Luis Hernández of the Giants the clear leader as he's already ranked No. 25 on the Top 100. Who comes next is up for debate. We have Phillies outfielder Francisco Renteria at No. 73, while Royals outfielder Angeibel Gomez is not far behind him at No. 76. Watching Gomez hold his own in the Arizona Fall League might give me a little familiarity and recency bias, but honestly they could go 2 and 3 on this list in any order.
After that, Jim and I talked about Astros infielder Albert Fermín and A's shortstop Johenssy Colome, though Colome did turn 18 on Thursday (after the pod). At that point, host Jason Ratliff voiced some surprise that we didn't consider the 17-year-olds from this year's Draft class: Jared Grindlinger and Rocco Maniscalco. While we agreed that we would probably wait to put Maniscalco on this list, we also felt Grindlinger, the Angels' first-round pick in July, should go at No. 4 or 5.
Quite simply: Pitch healthy. Reddemann was pitching himself up Draft boards and could have gone in the middle of the first round based on what he was doing during his junior year at UCLA. The highlight was his 18-strikeout performance against Rutgers in April, but the problem was he was shut down after that and didn't pitch again. He was diagnosed with a flexor strain and he did throw two bullpens, one at school and one at the Draft Combine, to allay fears. The Rockies got him in the second round, and if he comes out and pitches the way he did before he got hurt, that could look like a steal. (I really liked the Rockies' Draft overall, by the way.)
But there's a lot of unknown here. Can he maintain the uptick in stuff he showed when he got to UCLA after two years at San Diego? Can he handle a full season's workload and stay off the injured list? He works very hard with his offseason conditioning -- the added strength ahead of his 2026 season is a big reason for the velo gains -- so expect to see a very good Reddemann out of the gate in the spring. If he stays healthy, I could see a path where he starts the year with High-A Spokane and pitches his way to Double-A Hartford, with the stuff and performance to warrant Top 100 consideration.