Shortstop
Brayan Rocchio,
No. 7 in Cleveland's system this winter, opened a lot of scouts' eyes last summer in the AZL, hitting .343/.389/.448 as a true 17-year-old in 35 games there after starting the summer in the Dominican Summer League. A switch-hitter, Rocchio has a balanced, clean swing from both sides of the plate, although he also tends to glide over his front side batting both left- and right-handed. Between that and his size -- he's listed at 5-10, 150, and I'd guess he's 5-8 -- I don't see any future power here, but his hand-eye coordination is good and he showed some real plate discipline at the game I watched. He's an above-average runner and has good quickness and hands at shortstop -- enough to make you think he'll stay there. He may never have more than below-average power without a major mechanical change, but I'll take the potential for a 6 hit tool in a shortstop with some speed.
Bo Naylor was
my No. 74 prospect coming into this season, a first-round pick in 2018 who also performed well in his AZL debut, hitting .274/.381/.402 with 21 walks in 33 games. Naylor is primarily catching, although he was the DH in the game I saw, and could still end up at third or second base if the team feels like his bat is too far ahead of his defense. He showed good hand strength across four at-bats, doubling off the left-center wall (the opposite way), singling hard to center despite breaking his bat, even flying out on another well-struck ball off the end of his bat. He showed a solid two-strike approach for a 19-year-old, shortening up and looking to protect, although I saw him get very long and overswing at a breaking ball under his hands earlier in that same at bat.
Shortstop
Aaron Bracho signed in 2017 but didn't play in a regular-season game in 2018 due to injury. He seems to be ready to go right now, probably starting in extended spring training next week since he only turns 18 in late April. Bracho is a strong, well-built kid, a bit under six feet but with strong legs like a power hitter, and his swing is very balanced with good follow-through. I like how well he keeps his hands inside the ball and can drive it the other way, but didn't see him challenged with anything in the lower part of the strike zone. I doubt he ends up at short given his body type, but he might have the hit/power combination to excel at second.