MLB Pipeline will reveal its 2023 Top 100 Prospects list at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, Jan. 26, with a one-hour show on MLB Network and MLB.com. Leading up to the release of the Top 100, we’ll examine baseball’s top 10 prospects at each position.
And now we turn our attention to some real boppers — the first basemen.
Red Sox slugger Triston Casas ranked No. 2 on last year’s preseason list, finished 2022 atop the 1B rankings and finds himself there again to begin the 2023 campaign. Having played more games at first last year than at his drafted position (catcher), A’s prospect Tyler Soderstrom joins a first-base preseason list for the first time and slides in behind Casas in the second spot. Rays breakout star Kyle Manzardo jumped seven spots from last year’s spring list to join the 2023 version of the Big Three in this category.
Based on this ranking, some clubs could have fun position battles on their hands in the future. The Red Sox, A’s, Rays and Rockies all have two first basemen each on our Top 10. Oakland’s pair of Soderstrom and Jordan Diaz, in particular, both have ETAs of this upcoming season.
The Top 10 (ETA)
1. Triston Casas, Red Sox (2023)
2. Tyler Soderstrom, Athletics (2023)
3. Kyle Manzardo, Rays (2023)
4. Matt Mervis, Cubs (2023)
5. Jordan Diaz, Athletics (2023)
6. Michael Toglia, Rockies (2023)
7. Grant Lavigne, Rockies (2024)
8. Ivan Melendez, D-backs (2025)
9. Xavier Isaac, Rays (2026)
10. Niko Kavadas, Red Sox (2024)
Complete list »
Hit: Manzardo (65)
The 2021 second-rounder led Minor League first basemen (min. 300 PA) with a .327 average last season between High-A and Double-A in his first taste of full-season play. Manzardo was already credited with an impressive knowledge of the zone and quality swing decisions during his time at Washington State, and those skills translated instantly to the pros. While he may lack the stellar exit velocities of others on this list, he’s able to find the barrel in other ways, leading to the belief he could be a .300 hitter over multiple seasons in The Show.
Power: Casas (65)
Take a look at Casas’ 6-foot-4, 252-pound frame, and you can tell immediately where the power projection comes from. Projection remains an optimal word because the left-handed slugger’s focus has been on developing an all-fields hitting approach in the early stages of his career. That’s good for the long term but has kept him from slugging above. 500 for a full-season club. Now that he’s 23 and Major League-ready,…
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