Nothing provokes conversation among baseball fans and bettors more than a hot prospect arriving at Spring Training looking to crack an Opening Day roster.
The long list of prospects entering 2024 should make it easy to start plenty of water cooler discussions.
Factoring in those rookies is especially important for anyone playing the MLB futures at MLB betting sites. The top 5 prospects entering 2024 could be the difference between a return to the pay window or tearing up a losing betting slip.
Jackson Holliday – Baltimore Orioles
- Age-20
- B-L/T-R
- 6-0/185
- Pos-SS/2B
There has been a buzz around Holliday since his high school days when he was the top overall pick in the 2022 draft.
Now he can add a ‘triple crown’ of sorts to his résumé by being the top-rated prospect by MLB, Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus entering 2024.
Holliday now hopes to be part of a very young Orioles infield for years to come and help the Orioles continue the turnaround that began by upsetting the MLB odds and winning an AL East title in 2023.
The son of former major league Matt Holliday, Jackson hit .323 across four minor league levels in 2023 and will be fighting to earn a spot on Baltimore’s Opening Day roster.
Spring battles will determine that, with some projections having the younger Holliday at 2B.
Even hardened fans didn’t know much about Brandon Hyde when the Orioles hired him in 2019. Now it’s going to be interesting to see how great of a manager he becomes having Holliday, Jordan Westburg and Gunnar Henderson fill up most of his infield for the next few seasons.
Jackson Chourio – Milwaukee Brewers
- Age-19
- B-R/T-R
- 5-11/165
- Pos-OF
Milwaukee thought enough of Chourio to give him $1.8 million when the Brewers originally inked him out of Venezuela.
He didn’t disappoint by cracking 20 HR at Single-A and Double-A in 2022 as an 18-year-old.
Chourio then ripped off a 22 HR/44 SB campaign in 2023 at AA and AAA, prompting Milwaukee to give him another $82 million over 8 years, the most ever for a player without any MLB experience.
He was originally signed as an infielder, but Chourio has been shifted to centerfield, which is where he should be in Milwaukee’s Opening Day 2024 lineup. The comparisons to Ronald Acuña Jr. are inevitable; soon we’ll see if they are deserving.
Paul Skenes – Pittsburgh Pirates
- Age-21
- B-R/T-R
- 6-6/235
- Pos-RHP
It’s possible that Skenes is the only one of the top 5 prospects not to see action in the majors this season.
He was selected by Pittsburgh in 2023 as the top overall pick out of LSU but only has five very brief minor-league appearances and the Pirates are not expected to contend in 2024.
In fact, with the Pirates not really expected to contend anytime soon, the sad part for their fans isn’t that they won’t see Skenes pitch this year, but knowing that once he begins to hit his prime, he’s most likely going to be heavy chalk at top sportsbooks while pitching for the Yankees or the Dodgers or some other team with cash.
When he does make it to the majors, we’re going to see a big, big righthander tickling 100 on the radar gun and keeping hitters off-balance with a nasty slider.
Junior Caminero – Tampa Bay Rays
- Age-20
- B-R/T-R
- 6-1/157
- Pos-3B/SS
Caminero’s development was slowed by the messy pandemic and was then dealt from Cleveland to Tampa Bay in a trade that made little to no noise on the transactions page.
Still a teenager last season, Caminero made a lot of noise playing at the Single-A and Double-A levels for the Rays. The infielder swatted 31 HR, drove in 94 and batted .324 in those stops.
Good enough to earn a September call-up for Tampa Bay.
Most reports have Caminero beginning 2024 in the minors, but he shouldn’t be there long, especially with the depth chart fallout the Rays are facing while Wander Franco goes through his legal troubles.
Evan Carter – Texas Rangers
- Age-21
- B-L/T-R
- 6-2/190
- Pos-OF
Still considered a prospect despite having won a ring with the Texas Rangers in 2023.
Plucked by the Rangers in the second round of the 2020 draft out of Elizabethton HS in Tennessee, Carter projects to be in the Opening Day lineup when the Rangers begin defense of their title.
Carter was a September call-up last year and singled in his first at bat. He can already boast something not many can: a lifetime .300 hitter after batting .307 (19-62) in his first 23 games. Add 5 HR and a steal to that, along with starting all five games for Texas in the World Series.
His combination of power, speed and defense grades well with scouts, and Carter is half of the reason why Texas didn’t go hog-wild extending Adolis Garcia’s contract. The other half is Wyatt Langford, who ranks No. 6 on the MLB prospects list just behind Carter. Langford was the 4th-overall pick in 2023 and is expected to make the quick leap to the majors in 2024.
