The wait officially is over. Opening Day is upon us.
Major League Baseball will be in full swing beginning on Thursday as all 30 teams open up the 2019 campaign.
When spring training picked up in February, most teams had a general sense of what their 25-man rosters would look like, and usually top prospects are on the outside looking in when it comes to breaking camp with a spot on the big-league roster. But every season, a few prospects fight their way into a spot, with teams willing to start the service time clock on their budding players early.
Here are some notable prospects breaking camp with a big-league roster spot:
Fernando Tatis Jr., SS, San Diego Padres
Tatis Jr. is arguably the most notable and surprising prospect to earn an Opening Day roster spot. The Padres’ decision to keep 20-year-old shortstop, who is No. 2 on MLB’s Top 100 Prospects list, with the big club perhaps signals the team is all-in on making some noise in 2019 after their acquisition of Manny Machado. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound infielder bopped 16 home runs and stole 16 bases while batting .286 in Double-A last season.
Eloy Jimenez, OF, Chicago White Sox
Jimenez actually was optioned to the minor leagues on March 13, but a lot changed when the 22-year-old slugger came to terms on a six-year, $43 million extension. As the No. 3 prospect in baseball, he is expected to man left field on Opening Day for the Southsiders. Jiminez comes with a ton of pop, blasting 22 home runs between Double- and Triple-A last season, while carrying a .337 average striking out just 69 times in 416 at-bats.
Victor Robles, OF, Washington Nationals
No surprise here. Robles is one-half of the Nats’ prolific young duo alongside Juan Soto, who finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting a season ago. Robles will contend for that title in 2019 as he will be Washington’s every day center fielder with Michael Taylor opening the season on the Injured List. The 21-year-old impressed in his 21-game stint in the big leagues last year, batting .288 with three home runs and earned a spot on the Nats’ postseason roster.
Pete Alonso, 1B, New York Mets
Another prospect that had to sweat things out until the very end of spring training, Alonso was informed on Wednesday that he made the Mets’ Opening Day roster and will be the team’s first baseman. It shouldn’t come as a shock, as New York’s first-base situation was a bit merky with Dominic Smith and Alonso posting a 1.006 OPS with four home runs this spring. Alonso led the minors with 36 home runs last season.
Alex Reyes, RHP, St. Louis Cardinals
Reyes, 24, has been the Cardinals top prospect each of the last four seasons, and with good reason. The kid throws gas. Projected as a possible front-of-the-rotation arm, the righty will make his first Opening Day roster as a reliever. Reyes was due to spend much of 2018 on the big-league team, but a torn right lat required surgery in June and cost him his season.
Kyle Wright, RHP, Bryse Wilson, RHP, Atlanta Braves
Last season, the Braves unveiled the first wave of top-tier prospects in their system with Ronald Acuna Jr. winning National League Rookie of the Year and Ozzie Albies bursting onto the scene as a speedy leadoff man with pop. Now, the club’s massive stable of young arms is starting to trickle up to the big leagues. We’ll get an early look as Wilson will start Game 2 of the season, and Wright gets the ball in Game 3 against the Philadelphia Phillies. What’s perhaps more telling is neither of these two are even Atlanta’s top pitching prospect. Mike Soroka will open the season in the season in the minors.
