Invariably, young prospects often earn comparisons to big leaguers. It's a way to give fans a sense of who a player could be if it all comes together, although it’s a tad unfair to expect someone in their teens to live up to the lofty expectations.
But it’s indicative of how supremely talented Johenssy Colome is as a 17-year-old that his smooth defensive actions reminded international evaluators of a young Manny Machado. Another said his ability to create leverage was reminiscent of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the same age.
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Having his name bandied about alongside Major League All-Stars isn’t likely to faze Colome, who grew up around the game at the highest level. He’s the son of Jesus Colome, who spent 10 seasons as a reliever in the bigs. Older cousin Alex Colomé was an All-Star in 2016 and made 450 big league appearances across 11 years, and he has two uncles on his mother’s side who also were top prospects.
Colome made waves as one of the biggest international signings in Athletics history in January. The No. 5 prospect from the 2026 international crop, he received a $4 million signing bonus -- the second-highest in the class -- and got his pro career underway this summer in his native Dominican Republic. He largely backed up the hype, ascending to No. 5 on the Athletics’ Top 30 Prospects list, the highest a homegrown international position-player prospect has ranked since Robert Puason (No. 4) in 2020.
But even top prospects have bumps in the road. After missing the start of the Dominican Summer League due to injury, Colome began his pro career for the DSL Athletics mired in an 0-for-10 -- and then 1-for-16 –- slump. But while the numbers weren’t pretty, the results didn’t tell the whole story. He walked seven times across his first six games with only four strikeouts. He collected a pair of RBIs and stole two bags, sticking to his advanced approach at the dish. Two weeks later, his OPS was above .900 on the back of a 10-game stretch in which he slashed .353/.532/.618.
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By the conclusion of the DSL regular season on Aug. 18, Colome led the Athletics squad with a .956 OPS. Equipped with lightning-quick hands from the right side of the batter’s box, Colome had to weigh getting to his 55-grade power against finding pitches he could do damage on.
There are a plethora of hurlers on the circuit with premium stuff, albeit not always with an idea of where it’s going, which can often lead to elevated walk rates. Colome, with a keen eye for the zone, drew a free pass in 21 percent of his plate appearances, leading to a .471 on-base percentage.
While he homered just twice in 32 DSL contests, Colome has an extensive reputation of majestic roundtrippers as a teenager. And it’s not as though he didn’t delivered extra-base thump -- his four triples and six doubles helped round out his production. His 146 wRC+ is the second-highest among all A’s prospects this season with at least 100 plate appearances in the Minors, trailing only big league outfielder Henry Bolte.
All told, Colome wrapped up his first taste of pro ball slashing .283/.471/.485 with more walks (29) than strikeouts (24) while going 9-for-9 on stolen-base attempts.
A strong indicator of how an organization feels about a prospect -- particularly one in the early stages of development -- is to see where they get their reps defensively. Colome made 31 starts in the field this year and they all came at the premium position of shortstop. There will undoubtedly be a learning curve as he makes his way stateside, but as the Machado comparisons have made apparent, he has ample arm strength to stick on the left side of the infield for years to come.
Three players from the 2026 international class -- Luis Hernández (SF No. 2/MLB No. 27), Francisco Renteria (PHI No. 3/MLB No. 81) and Angeibel Gomez (KC No. 3/MLB No. 84) -- have already ascended to Top 100 overall prospect status. Hernández skipped the DSL entirely, opening the year in the Arizona Complex League before getting the bump to Single-A. Renteria was named MVP of the DSL, while Gomez posted an 1.120 OPS.
Colome ranked just behind that trio on MLB’s Top 50 International Prospects list in January. His breakout, combined with the addition of an exciting 2026 Draft crop and positive developments across the system, bumped the Athletics up to No. 14 in MLB Pipeline’s in-season Farm System Rankings.