A Cal Raleigh-like catcher? A young slugging outfielder? And a 5-tool shortstop? Pick up these guys before they skyrocket!

Who doesn’t like finding a hidden gem? Those guys who picked up Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani Bowman autos must be really happy right now, however, we also have pity on those who have grabbed some Wander Franco, Kyle Lewis 1 st Bowmans, yikes. Yet, for me at least, that’s how it works, you win some and you lose some. Well, in this blog, we want to give you some insight into some under-the-radar prospects, that, we think, you should invest into, especially when it comes to their 1 st Bowmans before they, potentially, become the next MLB superstar. So, you can finally “win some.”

The Cal Raleigh-like catcher. Alfredo Duno.

Who doesn’t like Cal Raleigh? The slugging backstop is currently competing with the most home runs this season against the likes of Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, (Hey! The same guys I talked about earlier.) Right now, if you’re looking to buy a raw condition of Raleigh’s 1st Bowman base auto, it’s going for around $300, that’s pretty expensive. Now, where can you find a catcher who hits for power, has excellent fielding skills, has a cannon for an arm, and you can get his 1 st Bowman base auto for pretty cheap? Enter Alfredo Duno! As of writing this blog, Alfredo Duno ranks as the 2 nd best prospect in the Reds organization and is ranked 29 th overall (FanGraphs). Duno is only 19 years old and is already proving himself this MiLB season that he can mash baseballs with a 0.447 SLG (FanGraphs), while getting on base at an elite 0.417 OBP (FanGraphs), compared with Raleigh also mashing at a 0.662 SLG (FanGraphs) and getting on base at a modest 0.387 OBP clip (FanGraphs). Yes, Raleigh has a higher SLG than Duno, but, if you compare those stats to their respective leagues, Duno is ranked 8 in SLG and 3 in OBP, while Raleigh is ranked 3 in SLG and 22 in OBP, this shows that they are sluggers in both of their respective leagues. Not only that, Duno has an ISO of .183 (FanGraphs). If any of you here reading this don’t understand what ISO means, ISO is a measurement of a player hitting for power, measuring how often a player hits an extra base hit (XBA), while the number does look low, Duno ranks 8 in his league, indicating that he can hit for power. For comparison, Raleigh, who we know is a power-hitter, has an ISO of .346 which ranks 2 in MLB (BaseballSavant). Duno also has a complementary 40/60 fielding on the 20/80 prospect scale (FanGraphs), which shows that he has a knack for fielding well and has potential to be even better. However, here is what separates Duno from Raleigh, Duno has above average speed as a catcher, to be more numerical, he has scored 55/50 on the 20/80 prospect scale (FanGraphs). Now, back to the organization, the Cincinnati Reds are not really known for producing bad prospects nor producing good ones. However, the Reds striking gold with Elly De La Cruz show that they have the potential to turn prospects into superstars. Of course, the Reds currently have Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino as their current catchers, but there is nothing to worry about, because, if you check their current age, Stephenson is currently in his “prime” at 28 years old, while Trevino is in the last stages of his “prime” at 32 years old. Bearing in mind as well that Trevino has 3 years left in his contract and Stephenson has only 1 year left in his contract (Spotrac.com, lastwordonsports.com). A spot might open real soon for Alfredo Duno. To summarize, Duno is a slugging catcher, who can field well, has speed, and you can get his auto for an affordable price, plus he can get called up real soon. ‘So, you’re telling me that Alfredo Duno has Cal Raleigh-like slugging, has his 1 st Bowman base auto cheap, and has J.T. Realmuto speed?’ Yes, yes, I am.

The young slugging outfielder. Ching-Hsien Ko.

Again, who doesn’t like sluggers? As I have mentioned before with Cal Raleigh andAlfredo Duno, “sluggers” are baseball players that can hit tanks and can make the game more exciting, which elevates excitement for fans. I’m sure that we, baseball enthusiasts, have imagined the one clutch moment, ‘bottom of the ninth…2 outs…bases loaded…the team is down by 3…and here he is…comes up to the plate…here’s the pitch…and that is gone…!’ Even if you’re imagining it, it’s surreal. That’s why I think Ching-Hsien Ko’s cards are absolutely worth investing in. This 18-year-old outfielder has all the tools necessary to be the next electric slugger. However, there’s one problem, you can’t obtain his cards yet! I’m not aware as to why Topps hasn’t produced his 1 st bowman card yet, but his card will most likely come out in the 2025 Bowman Chrome release. Anyways, Ko has been on fire with a 0.579 SLG (FanGraphs) and with a 0.489 OBP (FanGraphs). Those are astronomical numbers. Not to mention that he obtains a 0.188 ISO (FanGraphs)! There are a couple more stats worth mentioning, like his BB/K ratio at 0.84 (FanGraphs), which shows that he has plate vision and discipline. For comparison, Aaron Judge, who we already know has outstanding plate discipline and vision, has a BB/K of 0.58 (FanGraphs)! ‘Does this mean that he’s better than Aaron Judge?!’ I am not saying he’s better than Judge, but he might, (key word might!), be better than him soon. Also, as of writing this blog, Ching-Hsien Ko currently plays for the CPX minor-league affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, more specifically, the Arizona Complex League Dodgers. And this league is seemingly stacked, because if we rank Ko’s numbers, he ranks 18 in ISO, ranks 4 in SLG, ranks 14 in BB/K ratio, and ranks 1 in OBP (BaseballSavant). Simply put, he has the stats to show for his potential. However, whenever there are positives for a prospect, we must acknowledge the concerning aspects as well. Chieng-Hsien Ko’s BABIP is 0.457 (FanGraphs), which is ranked 5 in his league (BaseballSavant). Now, BABIP is an important stat to learn about prospects, because it tells of the batter’s true ability to hit the baseball, while accounting for influences of luck and defense, it can also indicate whether the prospect will regress or improve over time. Another fact about BABIP is that it isn’t unusual for a player’s BABIP to regress when he moves up leagues. So, don’t be surprised or scared if Ko regresses. Although his BABIP is considered high, I don’t think we should be worried about this one, single stat, for a couple of reasons. First, the Dodgers have an amazing development team. If you’re a guy hunting for some 1st Bowmans, you know that the Dodgers are an undisputed top 5 team on developing players. Let’s look at some of the outfielders that they have drafted in the team’s recent years, Yordan Alvarez, Andy Pages, James Outman, and Matt Kemp. I could name a couple of more outfielders, but the players I have mentioned are the more “big named” outfielders that the Dodgers have drafted. Basically, the Dodgers know how to turn prospects into superstars, so, if Ko ever does slump, the Dodgers most likely know how to “fix” him. Finally, Chieng-Hsien Ko’s BABIP has been lower. Last year, Ko had a 0.286 BABIP (FanGraphs). While we have established some tips on how you can use BABIP, there’s one more way you can use this number. You can use it to predict cold and hot streaks. For hot streaks, if the BABIP is high, there should be solid stats to back it up like a high batting average, slug, OBP, etcetera, and if the BABIP is low, there should be concerning stats to back it up. However, if the stats are concerning and the BABIP is good, it signals that a regression is coming, and vice versa. If you look closely at his stats, it seems that there’s no regression coming for Ching-Hsien Ko. In conclusion, Ching-Hsien Ko has potential to be an outstanding outfielder and solid slugger and on top of that he has a great developmental organization to back him up. I would highly consider putting him on your “watchlist” for Bowman prospects.

The Five-Tool Shortstop. Yandel Ricardo.

Prime Mike Trout was awesome. Throughout the 2010s, he made a name for himself by being a five-tool player. He could run, hit for power, hit for average, field, and could throw a mile. Of course, because of his astounding performance, people, including me, wanted to grab
some of his valuable baseball cards. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been the same Mike Trout due to constant injuries. Fortunately, Yandel Ricardo looks as though he could be the next Mike Trout, minus the injuries. The 18-year-old shortstop currently plays for the Arizona Complex League Royals, which is designated in the CPX league (FanGraphs). Ricardo, in my eyes, looks to have all the five tools with a 20/45 on hit, 20/50 on game power, 45/60 on hit power, 50/40 on speed, and 35/55 on fielding (FanGraphs). If you look closely at each of his scouting grades, you will see on either side, there’s at least a 45 rating, which is an uncommon thing for prospects. Not only that, but Ricardo has obtained a respectable 0.533 SLG (FanGraphs) with an elite 0.438 OBP (FanGraphs). He also scored 0.192 ISO (FanGraphs). If you check where his stats are ranked in his league, his SLG is ranked 7, his OBP is ranked 9, and his ISO is ranked 16 (BaseballSavant). His stats and his rankings perfectly show the potential he has in the years to come. Like the last prospect we mentioned, Ricardo has an unusually high BABIP at 0.459 and is ranked 4 (BaseballSavant). However, I don’t think this is concerning, for 2 reasons. First off, the Royals have an up-and-coming development team. The Royals, like the Reds, weren’t really known for drafting and developing prospects, until very recently. Ever since the Royals drafted and developed Bobby Witt Jr., and, if you want to count it, Jac Caglianone, they’ve shown that they can take prospects and make them into superstars. Plus, with the recent success of Bobby Witt Jr., it shows that they can develop shortstops well. Lastly, his underlying stats show improvement. As I have explained earlier, BABIP tells of the batter’s true ability to hit the baseball, while accounting for influences of luck and defense, and it can also indicate whether the prospect will regress or improve over time. In addition, it can be used to identify hot or cold streaks. While it has only been 2 seasons, Ricardo has shown improvement on his underlying metrics and the stats we’ve covered earlier. Last season, while he was in the DSL affiliate of the Royals, Ricardo had a 0.366 SLG, .330 OBP, and a 0.152 ISO. Compared to last season Ricardo seems to be showing more of his potential. To summarize, Yandel Ricardo has potential on being a 5-tool-player, like prime Mike Trout, and has an organization proven to develop players well in his position. If he gets better, don’t be surprised.