Image credit:
Josiah Hartshorn (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
Baseball America regularly publishes an organization report for each of the 30 MLB clubs.
These reports from our major league correspondents contain a trove of player development updates and spotlight traditional reporting. Here are 10 updates I found to be especially enlightening from our May reports, many of them highlighting mechanical changes or spotlighting other relevant updates.
MLB Prospect Takeaways
(1) The Diamondbacks acquired 21-year-old power righthander Wellington Aracena in an early-February trade. In the early stages of the season, Arizona has been impressed with Aracena’s stuff and results for High-A Hillsboro, while noting his improved strike-throwing and addition of two new pitch types. “He’s done a good job of keeping his tempo and his pace over the mound,” D-backs farm director Chris Slivka said. “In previous years, he would get in a rhythm and start moving fast and lose feel for the zone and not slow himself down.”
(2) Timing up high-velocity fastballs was a challenge for third baseman Jake Munroe at Louisville. The Angels’ 2025 third-rounder is moving more efficiently this season at High-A Tri-City—and seeing powerful results. “One of the big focus areas for Jake post-draft has been for him to prioritize his separation for timing versus the fastball,” Angels assistant GM Joey Prebynski said. “And when you look early on in the season, his production against fastballs has been better and has turned into more in-game production.”
(3) Double-A New Hampshire third baseman Sean Keys set a Fisher Cats franchise record for April with nine home runs. The Blue Jays’ 2024 fourth-rounder out of Bucknell credits his early success to simplifying his swing and just staying back. “I leaned on stuff I worked on in the offseason with my swing—being in my legs, not needing to jump at the ball, letting the ball come to me and putting barrel on the ball,” Keys said.
(4) The Cubs drafted SoCal high school outfielder Josiah Hartshorn in the sixth round last year and assigned him to Low-A Myrtle Beach on Opening Day. That is a rare assignment for a Chicago prep pick. The organization felt confident being aggressive with Hartshorn given his mature hitting approach and work ethic. “I’ve had the same approach at the plate since I was 10 years old,” Hartshorn said. “For me it’s important to know the strike zone isn’t necessarily my swing zone.”
(5) Drafted by the Padres in the third round last year out of Western Kentucky, outfielder Ryan Wideman has set a lofty goal for stolen bases this season. But it is his burgeoning power and ability to back-spin the ball to all fields for Low-A Lake Elsinore that has captured the organization’s attention. “It just starts with being on the fastball,” Wideman said. “I believe I’m a really good offspeed hitter … but just learning to get on those 98-99 mile-per-hour fastballs and be able to do damage with them. When my swing’s locked in, I can do that.”
(6) Phillies shortstop prospect Bryan Rincon has always had a sterling defensive reputation. This year, he has produced early results at Double-A Reading simply by being more aggressive. “I think with him, it’s more just approach-driven,” Phillies farm director Luke Murton said. “A lot of hitters, you have to tell them to swing the bat less … I think he’s a guy where the more aggressive he gets, the better he gets.”
(7) Shortstop Edwin Arroyo lost the entire 2024 season while recovering from shoulder surgery. Then in his 2025 return, his bat lacked impact. Arroyo has rebounded at Triple-A Louisville this year, playing like his shoulder is healthy and with a hitting approach that allows him to hit the ball hard in the air more often. “A lot of this is what he’s been swinging at,” Reds vice president of player development Jeremy Farrell said. “He’s working hard to refine his approach and what he’s looking to do at the plate, and he’s gotten off to a good start doing that this year.”
(8) Athletics lefthander Wei-En Lin recently became the first Taiwanese player to appear on the Top 100 Prospects since Dodgers shortstop Chin-Lung Hu in 2008. Lin jumped out to a fast start at Double-A Midland, recently striking out 10 over six innings, and has the type of stuff and control profile to succeed in an MLB rotation one day. “Wei-En Lin pours strikes and carries high-end stuff,” Athletics assistant GM of player personnel Billy Owens said. “His heater normally tops at 95 (miles per hour) and he incorporates a full menu of secondary options—a fading swing-and-miss changeup, lane-changing curve and biting slider.”
(9) Brewers 2024 first-rounder Braylon Payne opened the season as one of the few teenage position players at High-A. Known for his speed and glove in center field, Payne was rewriting his scouting report by making significantly harder contact with Wisconsin and producing more power, even in the cold spring conditions in the Midwest League. “The raw power was always there,” Brewers assistant GM Will Hudgins said. “Now he’s getting himself into counts to give himself the ability to hit the ball really hard.”
(10) The White Sox used the 15th pick in 2023 to draft Mississippi shortstop Jacob Gonzalez. Things have not gone as planned for the lefthanded-hitting college star. This year, Gonzalez has gotten back on the radar at Triple-A Charlotte by adding defensive versatility and overhauling his swing—again. In the offseason, he identified hitters with a similar initial batting move and tried to mimic what makes them successful. White Sox correspondent James Fegan describes the mechanical changes like this: “Gonzalez used to start in a crouch, and then crouch even deeper as his swing began. Now he stands tall and leans back in his setup, before striding into a closed stance to combat his tendency to pull off the ball.”
