Best power-speed combination for each organization 2024

Two offensive skills will always stand out most to evaluators of all stripes, from the most veteran of scouts to the first-time fan in the stands — power and speed. Players who can consistently make loud contact and send balls over outfield walls will draw plenty of wows, and those who can constantly keep the pedal to the metal will raise their fair share of eyebrows, especially in today’s game with rules changes meant to encourage running.

Prospects who can combine both skills? They’re cooking with gas.

Ronald Acuña Jr., Bobby Witt Jr., Kyle Tucker and Elly De La Cruz have proven how valuable a potent power-speed combination can be in the Major Leagues, and there are plenty of prospects eager to follow in their footsteps.

Blue Jays: Enmanuel Bonilla, OF (No. 8)
Toronto signed Bonilla for $4.1 million in January 2023 knowing he’d be a long-term project, but the 18-year-old outfielder looked like he took a physical leap when he showed up for his first stateside Spring Training a few months back. The right-handed slugger has already matched his 2023 homer total in 24 fewer games in the Florida Complex League, and his power output should only increase in his age-18 season and beyond. Even if he ends up with just average wheels in the end, he has a fighting chance of staying in center and giving the Jays a power-speed threat they otherwise lack.

Orioles: Jackson Holliday, 2B/SS (No. 1/MLB No. 1)
Yes, we know he struggled in his first taste of the big leagues and he hasn’t been firing on all cylinders back in Triple-A (though his .900 OPS is just fine). But we have to remember that he’s still only 20 and we believe in his his advanced approach and his ability to get to and grow into his power. He hit 12 homers and stole 24 bags as a teenager last year during his mercurial climb and still very much believe in his 60 power and speed grades.

Rays: Carson Williams, SS (No. 2/MLB No. 15)
The 2021 28th overall pick has been one of the Minors’ best power-speed options over his first three full seasons in the Tampa Bay system, as he’s been a constant 20-20 threat. He’s well on his way to clearing those marks in 2024 with 10 homers and 15 steals through 48 games for Double-A Montgomery entering Wednesday. An improved hit tool — Williams’ K rate has dropped from 31.4 percent in ’23 to 27.3 this season — has allowed the pop to play even more and could get Williams to St. Petersburg by season’s end.

Red Sox: Miguel Bleis, OF (No. 4)
Considered Boston’s best international prospect since Rafael Devers, Bleis signed out of the Dominican Republic for $1.5 million in 2021. A five-tool center fielder with electric bat speed and plus foot speed, he missed most of 2023 after subluxating his left shoulder on a swing and slashed .257/.349/.398 with four homers and 16 steals in 43 Single-A games this spring before getting promoted to High-A on Tuesday.

Yankees: Jasson Domínguez, OF (No. 1/MLB No. 30)
The most hyped international prospect ever, Domínguez signed for $5.1 million out of the Dominican Republic and earned the moniker “The Martian” because of his out-of-this-world tools. He produced 15 homers and 40 steals between Double-A and Triple-A last season at age 20, then joined the Yankees and went deep four times in eight games before blowing out his right (throwing) elbow in September. He returned from Tommy John surgery in late May and has mashed at a .358/.402/.630 clip with six homers and two steals in 21 contests between Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A.

Guardians: Chase DeLauter, OF (No. 1/MLB No. 20)
DeLauter not only has well-above-average raw power and solid speed, but he also features one of the best combinations of size (6-foot-4, 235 pounds), athleticism, performance and plate discipline in the Minors. The 2022 first-rounder from James Madison has been hampered by foot injuries this season, however, and hasn’t played since May 28 after slashing .194/.301/.290 with one homer and one steal in 17 Double-A games.

Royals: Gavin Cross, OF (No. 7)
As Anne Rogers noted in the spring, the 2022 first-rounder was diagnosed with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever just as he arrived at Double-A last season, limiting him to only two games at the level. He’s back with Northwest Arkansas for 2024 and showing more signs of his ’22 self with five homers, 13 steals and a 127 wRC+ over 47 games. Notably, last year’s first-rounder Blake Mitchell isn’t known for his speed but is tied for fourth in the organization with 14 steals at Single-A.

Tigers: Max Clark, OF (No. 2/MLB No. 12)
Certainly no one doubts the 2023 third overall pick’s speed. The Indiana product is a plus-plus burner, and he’s carried that to full-season ball with 16 steals in 48 games for Single-A Lakeland. He’s also registered six Bolts (runs over 30 ft/sec), and no one on Detroit’s Major League roster has more than two this season. His power is a bigger question mark with below-average exit velocities in the Florida State League, but optimistic evaluators point out he’s only 19 with time to settle into 50-grade pop by the time he reaches Detroit.

Twins: Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF (No. 3/MLB No. 31)
While he might eventually slow down a tick and need to move to an outfield corner, he’s continued to run well enough to play center every day and be a threat to steal. In just 99 games in 2023, Rodriguez had 16 homers and 20 steals. The power is showing up even more consistently this year with the move to Double-A, as he’s slugged .621 and hit eight homers in 37 games while using his wheels for nine steals.

White Sox: Colson Montgomery, SS (No. 1/MLB No. 10)
The White Sox don’t have a prospect who’s better than average in terms of both power and speed, though Montgomery offers prodigious pop and enough quickness to earn the opportunity to walk on Indiana’s basketball team had he attended college. He started earning Corey Seager comparisons before getting drafted 22nd overall in 2021 out of an Indiana high school and is slashing .226/.340/.377 with seven homers and four steals in 56 Triple-A contests.

Angels: Joswa Lugo, SS, (No. 7)
We’re going deep dive into pure upside and ceiling here given that Lugo, who signed for $2.3 million just this past January, has a grand total of six Dominican Summer League games under his belt as of this writing. He’s off to a very good start (8-for-22 with five doubles and a home run to go along with two stolen bases), but we’re more looking at the potential for him to have at least above-average power and decent speed, though there is some concern he’ll slow down a tick as he matures.

Astros: Jacob Melton, OF (No. 1/MLB No. 71)
The Astros were surprised and delighted to find Melton available late in the second round of the 2022 Draft, and the Oregon State product can make a case for having the most usable power and the best speed in the system. After totaling 23 homers and 46 steals in his first full pro season, he’s slashing .268/.328/.455 with five long balls and 10 swipes in 32 Double-A games. He hasn’t played since May 22 after injuring his wrist while diving for a ball in the outfield.

A’s: Henry Bolte, OF (No. 10)
He’s going to have to get the swing-and-miss under control a bit more, with a 33.8 percent strikeout rate in his young pro career. He does offset that with walks (12.8 percent BB rate) and does get to his power and use his speed — 14 homers and 32 steals in Single-A a year ago; nine homers and 23 stolen bases in 56 games with High-A Lansing this year while posting a .942 OPS.

Mariners: Harry Ford, C (No. 2/MLB No. 27)
He’s the only catcher on this list and the grind of the position may slow him down eventually, but it hasn’t yet. The 21-year-old had 15 homers and 24 steals last year, after getting to double-digits in homers and 20-plus steals in his first full season in 2022. There hasn’t been quite as much pop so far this year (.402 SLG), but it’s in there, and he already has 15 steals in his first taste of Double-A.

Rangers: Sebastian Walcott, SS (No. 1/MLB No. 76)
Potentially the best player to come from the Bahamas, Walcott signed for $3.2 million in 2023. He’s taller (6-foot-4) and has more power potential than most shortstops thanks to his lightning-quick right-handed swing, and he also possesses solid speed. Playing in High-A at age 18, he’s slashing .211/.330/.356 with five homers and six steals through 52 games.

Braves: Luis Guanipa, OF (No. 9)
Signed for $2.5 million at the start of the 2023 international signing period, Guanipa has serious speed (65 grade) and used it to steal 20 bags in the Dominican Summer League in his debut last year. He doesn’t get cheated at the plate and he has a ton of raw pop to tap into. How much he gets to it in games will depend on how he can refine his aggressive approach at the dish.

Marlins: Mark Coley II, OF (No. 24)
Coley was hard to scout at Rhode Island, where he missed all of 2022 because of a credit mixup and half of 2023 after he broke his jaw in a collision at first base. Signed for $50,000 as a 17th-rounder last July, he’s one of the strongest players in the Marlins’ system and he also has one of the quickest bats, in addition to being a plus runner who plays a quality center field. He began his first full pro season by slashing .339/.461/.694 with three homers and four steals in 16 games at two Class A stops, then badly bruised his right thumb, missed two weeks and has posted a .577 OPS since.

Mets: Drew Gilbert, OF (No. 2/MLB No. 41)
The 5-foot-9 outfielder showcases above-average speed and aggression that helps him push singles into doubles on balls to the gaps, and he’s a decent stolen-base threat. Despite his size, he shows enough pull and lift to get his average pop to play in games, as evidenced by his 18 homers last season between the Mets and Astros systems. Gilbert is currently sidelined by a strained right hamstring for Triple-A Syracuse but could be a second-half contributor in Queens, if healthy, because of his multiple tools.

Nationals: James Wood, OF (No. 1/MLB No. 4)
Wood’s power is well-known across prospectdom at this point. He’s clobbered nine homers and slugged .596 in 45 games for Triple-A Rochester this season, and his 94.8 average exit velocity and 56.9 percent hard-hit rate rank among Triple-A leaders. The 6-foot-7 outfielder flashes speed with home-to-first times as low as 4.1 seconds, thanks to his long strides. He could be a 40-20 player for the Nationals and won’t be far from joining the club in D.C. once he returns from his current bout with right hamstring tightness.

Phillies: Devin Saltiban, 2B (No. 6)
The Phillies think they may have gotten a steal in the third round of last year’s Draft in Saltiban. There’s a learning curve as he’s adjusting to full-season ball at age 19, but even though he needs to keep working on refining his approach, he has six homers over his first 163 at-bats and went a perfect 10-for-10 in stolen-base attempts in his first 46 games.

Brewers: Tyler Black, 1B (No. 3/MLB No. 34)
A plus runner, Black stole 55 bags between Double-A and Triple-A last season to put him atop the Milwaukee Minor League leaderboard in the category (11 more than Jackson Chourio). He’s added 10 more in 48 games with Triple-A Nashville this season and swiped a pair when he was up with the big club for a seven-contest spell. Black shows average raw power, but he gets the most of it with a swing geared to lift the ball. He could push for 15 homers annually while being a 30-steal threat, an oddity at the cold corner.

Cardinals: Won-Bin Cho, OF (No. 9)
The South Korea native was known more for his above-average raw power when he signed with the Cardinals in January 2022, but his speed has actually played better in games of late with 39 steals over his last two seasons at Single-A and High-A. Cho has managed just one homer and a .272 slugging percentage in 42 games for Peoria, in part because of a 54.5 percent ground-ball rate, but as the weather warms up, Cho, who is still the age of an American college sophomore, could do the same.

Cubs: Fernando Cruz, SS (No. 8)
Top 100 prospects Matt Shaw and Kevin Alcántara are more famous Cubs candidates, but Cruz has similarly solid power and superior speed. A cousin of former Cubs All-Star Starlin Castro, he signed for $4 million out of the Dominican Republic in January and has gone 3-for-16 with two steals in his first five games in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League.

Pirates: Jack Brannigan SS/3B (No. 9)
In 2023, Brannigan finished a home run shy of a 20-20 campaign, going 24-for-27 in stolen base attempts. He also raked once he got to High-A Greensboro, with a .987 OPS in 38 games there. He hasn’t been able to get in a groove back at the level this year, and he’s currently on the injured list, but he’s still managed to hit seven homers and swipe nine bags in 48 games.

Reds: Noelvi Marte, 3B/SS (No. 2/MLB No. 28)
This selection comes with the caveat that we don’t know exactly what kind of hitter Marte will be when he returns from his 80-game suspension that was levied as a result of a positive test for a performance-enhancer. But there’s been tremendous bat speed and raw power since he began his pro career, with the pop showing up to the pull side. While he may slow down a bit as he continues to mature, he does register some elite-level sprint speeds and has been an effective base-stealer in the past.

D-backs: Jordan Lawlar, SS (No. 1/MLB No. 8)
Right thumb surgery delayed Lawlar’s return to Triple-A Reno until Tuesday night, and he instantly showed why his power and speed make him a Top 10 overall prospect. The shortstop went deep and picked up three hits, two of which were 100-plus mph off the bat. He also got up to 29.9 ft/sec on the basepaths on his double. Lawlar collected 20 homers and 36 steals in the Minors last year before ascending to the Majors, and the 21-year-old might be on the verge of tapping even more into his power as he ages.

Dodgers: Zyhir Hope, OF (No. 20)
Hope flew under the radar in the 2023 Draft because he didn’t play much on the showcase circuit and seemed strongly committed to attending the University of North Carolina. The Dodgers planned on taking him in the 11th round, only for the Cubs to grab him 14 picks ahead of them, then acquired him as part of the Michael Busch trade in January. A plus-plus runner with 30-30 upside, he slashed .282/.378/.521 with three homers and four steals in 18 games in Single-A before injuring his shoulder in late April.

Giants: Grant McCray, OF (No. 13)
A 2019 third-round pick as a Florida high schooler and the son of ex-big leaguer Rodney McCray, Grant used his plus raw power and plus-plus speed to total 37 homers and 95 steals in the previous two seasons. This year, he slashed .210/.313/.420 with six blasts and as many swipes in 50 Double-A games before getting called up to Triple-A on Tuesday.

Padres: Leodalis De Vries, SS (No. 4/MLB No. 79)
It’s important to remember that this is about future projection, so don’t get too lost in the 17-year-old’s performance in an aggressive assignment to Single-A Lake Elsinore just yet. Padres evaluators love to point out De Vries’ point-guard background when talking about his quickness on the diamond, and his 6-foot-2 frame and current bat speed point to the potential for above-average power down the line. Just give it another year or two before it all starts to come together for the top 2024 international prospect.

Rockies: Benny Montgomery, OF (No. 10)
There are some good options in this organization, with Jordan Beck turning in a 20-20 season last year and a resurgent Zac Veen tapping into a bit more pop this year. But in terms of pure raw speed-power tools, nobody beats Montgomery, even if he might miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. He’s a 70-grade runner with easily plus raw pop for him to continue to learn how to tap into once he’s back healthy.