We should be excited for this one
This is the guy that we should be excited about. Catchers that can hit and hit with power are rare. They pop up in the minor leagues here and there at the lower levels, but once they have to start putting in the required work to learn how to handle the position defensively, that’s when the offensive production levels off.
Tait is not going to be known for his glove, that’s for sure. There’s no reason to think he can’t get to at least average behind the plate and with the impending arrival of the automated challenge system for balls and strikes, his ability (or inability) to present pitches well might not be that much of an issue. But that power….
Drool worthy.
There were some reports that the team had to keep other interested teams away from Tait at the trade deadline, both in 2024 and in 2023. That means that they have something there that is desirable. The wish to rush him to majors is likely to be strong, but this is a player that the team should continue to be patient with. Catchers are notoriously slow to develop, particularly behind the plate, but if he can keep going at this point, it might be difficult to keep him down for long.
With each new post, we’ll reveal who won the voting for that particular slot, then post new players for you to vote on, adding another one to the list each time until we get to our final tally of 20. Once we get to 20 top prospects, we’ll do an honorable mention post at the end. If a player gets traded to another team, we’ll just chuck him right on outta here and all the players will move up a spot. If a prospect gets acquired, we’ll ask where he should go on the list.
Probably the most important thing about this whole process – please vote. Give us a few minutes of your time, just click a button and then we can discuss other players and things in the comment section, but don’t forget – VOTE!
Here are five candidates for the team’s second best prospect along with scouting reports from Fangraphs (or Baseball Prospectus where indicated).
Moises Chace
2025 expected level: AAA Lehigh Valley, 2024 stats (w/ PHI): 6 GS, 28 1⁄3 IP, 48:10 K:BB
When Chace is locating his fastball to the belt, hitters have no chance against him…[t]here is going to be a dominant fastball here, and there are flashes of good secondary stuff that ideally can be polished so Chace can max out…Chace’s slider flashes late, hitter-freezing, two-plane bend, but it doesn’t do so consistently. His changeup has, at times, ridiculous tailing action and can steal strikes running back over the glove-side corner of the plate, but again this is rare. His release is pretty inconsistent generally, which is totally normal for a 21-year-old with this kind of arm speed, but also creates some relief risk.
Gabriel Rincones, Jr.
2025 expected level: AA Reading, 2024 stats: .252/.347/.453, 11 HR, 32 RBI, 23 SB
Rincones has plus left-handed power, but he struggles too much with secondary stuff to consider him a lock to be a suitable 400 PA platoon guy. Rincones’ limited amateur baseball reps and his time missed due to injuries leave room for him to improve a bit into his mid-20s, enough to be a lesser option of this sort.
Jean Cabrera
2025 expected level: AA Reading, 2024 stats: 20 G (19 GS), 106 2⁄3 IP, 110:33 K:BB
A lanky and athletic young righty with mid-90s arm strength and burgeoning changeup feel, Cabrera works in an even mix of his four pitches. He has distinct four- and two-seam fastballs (the way his sinker’s movement interacts with his vertical arm slot seems to flummox hitters), and throws a ton of his firm, upper-80s one-seam sinker-style changeups in basically any count. He is definitely a control-over-command type of pitcher whose direct line to the plate allows him to throw plenty of strikes, though often without precision. This caps the effectiveness of Cabrera’s slider, which tends to live on the plate rather than just off of it. There still isn’t a plus pitch here, but the changeup is tracking like it will be one soon.
Aroon Escobar
2025 expected level: A Lakewood, 2024 stats: .338/.495/.481, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 9 SB
Escobar slashed a BABIP-aided .338/.495/.481 during that span, but his underlying data is eye-popping; he had an 80% contact rate and 48% hard-hit rate. Those are the contact stats of an everyday player, but 104 plate appearances isn’t enough to be confident that Escobar’s true talent is on that level. He has a multi-year track record when it comes to the contact component, but the power aspect is new. That said, Escobar has lively hitting hands that are short and direct to the ball, making him very difficult to beat in the strike zone. He lacks anything close to typical projection for a 20-year-old hitter because he’s already so muscular, but unlike a lot of bulky athletes, he’s a loose and explosive rotator in his hips.
Griffin Burkholder
2025 expected level: A Clearwater, 2024 stats: .500/.500/.500 (he had two PAs)
He’s a long-levered speedster whose swing has tended to be on time to pull the baseball even though Burkholder is a lankier guy. Per Synergy Sports, he ran a roughly 73% contact rate on the showcase circuit, which is just south of the big league average. Burkholder’s hitting hands fire a little late, but they work well; they’re snappy through contact and give him surprising pop for someone his age who is as sinewy as he is. Right now, that manifests as gap-doubles power, and there might be more thump on the way via added strength and perhaps even a tweak to his mechanics. There is currently very little happening with Burkholder’s lower body during his swing, and he could stand to have a more athletic cut and see what kind of power arrives…Burkholder easily has the speed to play center field, but his balls skills are middling. The likelihood that Burkholder and Dante Nori, who is more obviously a center field fit, traverse the minors together will probably mean they split reps out there, with Nori taking the bigger piece of chicken.
So now, it’s your chance to vote. You’ve got 48 hours – go on and vote! If you have an option that isn’t listed here, let us know in the comments. If he gets enough recs to beat out of the other five, he’ll be crowned as the next top prospect.