The numbers on Jared Jones‘ scouting report when he was seen at the New Balance Baseball Future Stars Series IPL Mexico event back in 2019 jumped off the page.
High grades everywhere, with FSS CEO Jeremy Booth himself describing Jones as a future No. 2 starter in a big league role.
So far, so good. Jones, who went to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second round the following year at No. 44 in the 2020 MLB Draft, rocketed through their system and ultimately made his MLB Debut making the team out of Spring Training this year. He hasn’t looked back since.
The 22-year-old righty is making history, becoming just the tenth pitcher since 1901 to reach 52 strikeouts over the first seven starts of his career, and the only one to do it with issuing five or fewer walks. With his most recent outing against the Colorado Rockies, he also became the first pitcher in franchise history to put together a start with seven-plus shutout innings, one or fewer hits allowed, ten strikeouts and zero walks.
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Nolan McLean, RHP/DH — New York Mets (A+)
.834 OPS at the plate, 0.95 WHIP on the mound. Maybe there’s a day coming down the road where 2019 national tournaments alum Nolan McLean has to pick between hitting or pitching, but that day doesn’t seem like it’ll be any time soon. The 22-year-old continues to garner national attention for what he’s doing with the Brooklyn Cyclones, and put together arguably his best outing of the season to date on Saturday, spinning five scoreless while striking out eight batters.
Zac Veen, OF — Colorado Rockies (AA)
One of the stars of International Week back in 2019, Veen just keeps on hitting, and he smacked his third homer of the year on Thursday night in Binghamton. A month into the season, and his OPS remains near a thousand at a lofty .985 mark, and he’s already stolen seven bases as well.
Adam Macko, LHP — Toronto Blue Jays (AA)
There hasn’t been a stop along the way for Adam Macko where he’s not been at least a strikeout-per-inning arm, and that’s maintained itself in his first season in Double-A, where he’s shown some of the flashes that have him as a top ten prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays system. The 23-year-old southpaw has 25 K’s in his first 23 frames this year and has put together some strong outings, including one earlier this year against a loaded Somerset lineup in which he held them scoreless in five innings.
Sebastian Walcott, SS — Texas Rangers (A+)
Seen back in 2021, Walcott has been one of baseball’s brightest prospects since getting to pro ball two years later, and is already at High-A at just 18 years old. Walcott hit two homers over a four-day stretch at the end of April, and has now strung together back-to-back games with an RBI as he continues to move up the ladder in the Texas system.
Drew Romo, C — Colorado Rockies (AAA)
Criticisms of Romo’s bat have proven to be unwarranted, as he remains on the verge of a major-league promotion at any point now. Still an elite defender, the 22-year-old is hitting a stunning .371 at Triple-A Albuquerque, and continues to show the promise that got him on the radar dating back to his days at the 2019 national tournaments as a member of the Scorpions.
Tink Hence, RHP — St. Louis Cardinals (AA)
We’ve had Hence, yet another star of those 2019 national tournaments, in here plenty, so we’ll just post the season stat line and call it a day. It says plenty anyway, right? 3-0, 2.10 ERA, 31 K’s in 25 2/3 innings, 0.74 WHIP.
