With Major League Baseball’s season entering its final 72 hours, this is about the time of year where our coverage shifts toward previewing the postseason to come. In turn, this is when we break out some of our favorite October traditions.
Part of the beauty of baseball’s postseason is that you never know for sure who will play the hero on any given night: the stars everyone expects or the role players who rise to the occasion. Four years ago, it was then-Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena who made a name for himself by authoring one of the best individual postseasons anyone has or will ever see. Each playoffs since, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to try to figure out who the “next” Arozarena will be — if such a thing exists. (It hasn’t yet.)
This year, we’ve changed up the format a bit so that we’re not just swinging blindly from the heels. Below, we’ve highlighted 10 young players who could hang their stars this October. We’ve broken those 10 players down into two five-player groups: the “radio singles,” rookies whose names you should be familiar with; and the “deep cuts,” players who might be flying under the radar.
Are any of these players likely to match Arozarena’s brilliance? Heck no, probabilistically speaking. But that doesn’t mean they can’t raise their stocks in a meaningful way by playing well under the game’s brightest lights.
With that fine print out of the way, let’s get to the reason you clicked.
The radio singles
1. Jackson Merrill, CF, Padres
Merrill may win the National League Rookie of the Year Award, depending on how voters weigh his season against Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes’. Even if he doesn’t, he deserves his flowers. Merrill not only took to a new position (he’s traditionally played shortstop) and leveraged his great speed to become an asset in center, he offered more slugging than would have been reasonable to expect back in the spring. If there’s a knock on him it’s that he’s too eager to expand his zone. Otherwise? Merrill might end up being the most productive and most exciting outfielder in a San Diego lineup that also features Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jurickson Profar.
2. Jasson Domínguez, OF, Yankees
Domínguez is, without question, the most famous individual included in this article. He’s been on the national radar since signing with New York as a 16-year-old nicknamed “The Martian.” The Yankees have seemed reluctant to give Domínguez the nod over Alex Verdugo this season, but if ever there was a time to make the change, it would be now — with the stakes getting higher and the scores getting tighter. Domínguez missed a fair amount of time this season because of injury: in 58 minor-league games, he batted .314/.376/.504 with 11 home runs and 16 steals.
3. Jordan Westburg, 3B, Orioles
It’s easy to overlook Westburg given that he’s part of an Orioles lineup featuring one phenom and former top prospect after another. If this month does serve as a launching pad, it’ll be well-earned after an All-Star season that saw him rack up a 133 OPS+. Westburg has a great feel for the barrel and for making hard, line-drive contact. He’s a fast runner, too, albeit one who grades as a below-average defender at the hot corner.
4. Jackson Jobe, RHP, Tigers
Jobe, the No. 3 pick in the 2021 amateur draft, only got the call to the majors earlier this week as the Tigers field their best possible squad to sneak into the postseason. He’ll be pitching out of the bullpen the rest of the way this year, but rest assured that his future is in the rotation. In two games at the Triple-A level, he showcased an arsenal that included, among other offerings, a 96.5 mph fastball that featured more than 17 inches of induced vertical break. Jobe tallied a 2.36 ERA and notched more than a strikeout per inning pitched across his 21 minor-league appearances this season.
5. Mark Vientos, 3B, Mets
It’s fair to write Vientos wasn’t supposed to be the Mets’ third baseman of the future — or, even, the present. That designation belonged to Brett Baty. Alas, Baty didn’t exactly run with his opportunity, leaving the door open for Vientos to take over as the Mets’ Plan A at the hot corner since late May. Vientos has delivered, launching 26 home runs and compiling a 139 OPS+ despite a swing- and whiff-happy approach. The keys to his success? Hitting the ball hard and at a good angle: both his percentage of batted balls over 95 mph (46.5%) and within the 10-to-30-degree window (35.7%) are at least a couple points above the league-average mark. That tends to be a recipe for success.
The deep cuts
1. Spencer Arrighetti, RHP, Astros
Don’t let Arrighetti’s mediocre full-season ERA fool you: he deserves a spot on Houston’s playoff staff. He’s been on a tear as of late, amassing a 2.84 ERA and 48 more strikeouts than walks in his last 50 innings pitched. Arrighetti has had a few clunkers throughout the year, no doubt, but he’s been pounding the zone with an arsenal that includes a mid-90s fastball and two swing-and-miss breaking balls. However the Astros choose to deploy him, he could end up recording some key outs.
2. Jhonkensy Noel, OF, Guardians
Noel has a few factors working in his favor. First and foremost, his nickname is “Big Christmas.” More importantly (we suppose): he can hit the season’s greetings out of a baseball. While you wouldn’t know it if you only looked at his average exit velocity (around 89 mph), he boasts as much muscle as anyone in the sport. To wit, Noel has recorded two batted balls that cleared 115 mph at the big-league level. Down in Triple-A, he maxed out with a 118.4 mph double back in May. Only three qualified batters hit a ball harder than that this season: Shohei Ohtani, Giancarlo Stanton, and Oneil Cruz. That’s fine company to keep. Noel has his faults — he’s prone to striking out and he seldom walks — but he’ll be a made man if he gets into one this October.
3. Tobias Myers, RHP, Brewers
Myers took the scenic route to establishing himself as a legitimate big-league starter: the Brewers were his fourth franchise — and he joined them after being released by the Chicago White Sox, of all teams. Myers has since made good on the opportunity MIlwaukee has provided him, putting up a 137 ERA+ through his first 25 appearances. He throws four pitches at least 10% of the time, including a changeup that he’s used a little more often in September and that has generated a 44.8% whiff rate to date.
4. Justin Martínez, RHP, Diamondbacks
Martínez, one of our preseason breakout picks, has earned his way into manager Torey Lovullo’s inner circle thanks to an exceptional rookie season that has him sporting a 172 ERA+ and averaging more than 11 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s not a household name yet, but he has the kind of velocity that will get people talking. Indeed, Martínez’s sinker has averaged 98.8 mph on the season and topped out at 103 mph earlier this year. Anytime a pitcher is pumping that brand of octane, there’s breakout potential — especially when said pitcher is more than capable of generating good results, too.
5. Edgardo Henriquez, RHP, Dodgers
From one hard-throwing National League West reliever to another. We first wrote about Henriquez in mid-August, declaring that he was “all but certain to make his big-league debut this fall.” Sure enough, he received the call to The Show earlier this week after posting a 2.72 ERA and a 38.9% strikeout rate across four minor-league levels. Henriquez cleared 102 mph during his Triple-A stay, all the while generating 39% whiffs on his go-to secondary pitch (classified by the algorithm as a cutter). He has struggled with his durability and his command, meaning the Dodgers have every reason to push him as hard as his performance dictates over the coming days.
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