On Monday the Boston Red Sox and Ceddanne Rafaela agreed to an eight-year, $50 million pact. Rafaela, 23, has ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects entering each of the past two seasons. He made his major league debut in 2023 and won the starting center field job in Boston. He is hitting .239/.282/.389 in 124 plate appearances, but his minor league numbers are more promising. Now that he has graduated from the Top 100 Prospects list, another player has emerged in the rankings. Yohandy Morales, the Washington Nationals 2023 second-round draft pick, enters the list at No. 100.
The Nationals now have 4 players in MLB’s top 100 prospects:
Dylan Crews (7)
James Wood (14)
Brady House (45)
Yohandy Morales (100) https://t.co/F7r7AXiUtO— Andrew Golden (@andrewcgolden) April 9, 2024
Who is Yohandy Morales?
Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 45 | Arm: 60 | Field: 50 | Overall: 55
ETA: 2025
Morales was ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 20 prospect coming into the draft after batting .408 with 20 home runs and a 1.187 OPS in 61 games with the University of Miami. But when Morales was a rumored first-round selection, he slid due to a strong college-hitting crop. He got to Miami as a shortstop but moved to third base due to his size and lack of range. Morales comes with a clean, simple right-handed swing and goes up there to do damage, trading off some swing-and-miss for hard contact.
Four Minor League Levels in 10 Weeks
Once he joined the Nationals organization, Morales went through four levels of the farm system in his first taste of the pros. The 22-year-old played two games in the Florida Complex League before dominating at Single-A Fredericksburg after 18 games. He slashed .390/.448/.571 with a 1.020 OPS, 17 RBI and 19 strikeouts which earned him a promotion to High-A Wilmington. Morales found similar success as he did with the FredNats, hitting .314/.400/.443 with 14 RBI and 16 strikeouts. He managed to join fellow 2023 draft picks Dylan Crews and Andrew Pinckney in Double-A Harrisburg, hitting for a .286 average with only three walks in four games.
Morales Has A lot to Prove with the Nationals
Morales entered 2024 ranked as Washington’s No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. There were some questions as to whether or not he could stick at third base as a professional. He made 34 starts at third across all four levels, posting a .924 fielding percentage with six errors over 292 2/3 innings.
“I feel like Washington got two of the best college hitters in the draft, if I’m being honest. I’ve been with Dylan (Crews) since I was young. I’ve played with him a lot. That’s going to be a special group when we go out there. Ready to hit some baseballs.”
Morales is out to prove he shouldn’t have fallen to the second round. He’s off to a great start to his career offensively as his experienced college bat allowed him to develop and succeed through four minor league levels.
Main Photo: © Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
