With the 2022 Minor League Baseball season already upon us, several MiLB Pack Pros are continuing their push to climb through the ranks and become MLB Pack Pros. Among them, six former Wolfpack players are ranked among the top 30 prospects in their respective organizations. Let’s take a look at what lies ahead for these aspiring major leaguers.
Patrick Bailey, catcher, San Francisco Giants
With Joey Bart generating a lot of hubbub with the spring he’s had, it can be easy to forget that the Giants have not just one but two catchers among the top 10 prospects in their organization with Patrick Bailey in the mix. While Bart looks like the immediate successor to long-time San Fran backstop Buster Posey, Bailey still carries a lot of upside with him heading into the 2022 season.
In his first pro season, Bailey excelled with the Single-A San Jose Giants but struggled in the jump to the Eugene Emeralds in High-A ball. The switch-hitter saw his on-base percentage drop by .125 between San Jose and Eugene while nearly matching his strikeout total in 52 fewer plate appearances. For a prospect whose offensive calling card is his plate discipline, Bailey will have to make significant progress at the plate to stay on track for his journey to the show.
Still, there’s no reason to be concerned about Bailey’s development. The Giants have a reputation of developing good catchers in their organization (see Bart), and Bailey has the defensive tools and leadership to succeed behind the plate. As the No. 8 prospect in the San Francisco system, a rough patch in his rookie campaign won’t derail that all at once.
Tyler McDonough, outfielder/second baseman, Boston Red Sox
NC State baseball fans will remember Tyler McDonough as the center fielder for the 2021 team that made it to the College World Series, but McDonough’s defensive alignment looks like it will be more fluid at the professional level. Much like former Red Sox fan favorite Brock Holt, McDonough is emerging as a utility defender at second base as well as center field.
On the offensive side, McDonough is also switching to a more power-based approach at the plate. Although the switch-hitter tied for the most home runs on that 2021 Wolfpack squad, McDonough’s power numbers primarily came from his ability to drive the ball into the gap and leg out extra base hits, as exemplified by his team-leading 21 doubles for NC State in his final season. At the pro level, McDonough has put on some muscle to increase his raw power at the dish, taking away a smidgen of his speed.
With only half a season of minor league baseball under his belt, McDonough won’t be playing at Fenway Park until around 2024, but his promisingly smooth transmission into the professional ranks makes him a big piece of Boston’s farm system, good enough for No. 19 in the organization.
Nick Swiney, left-handed pitcher, San Francisco Giants
For a guy that missed over two months of his first pro season with a concussion, Nick Swiney had a really good 2021.
As in, “0.84 ERA in 12 starts” good.
Granted, Swiney had a light workload while rehabbing his injury. He never reached five full innings in a single start in rookie ball or in Single-A with the San Jose Giants, but allowing just three earned runs in 32.1 innings is nothing to scoff at. On top of 0 home runs allowed in 2021, Swiney’s numbers give the Giants a lot to be excited about.
The southpaw’s success, both past and future, hinges on his two best pitches: a wicked upper-70s curveball and a changeup with a little more oomph. While both carry immense swing and miss potential, Swiney will need to learn to throw them consistently for strikes as his opponents’ plate discipline improves with each level of the minor leagues. His low 90s fastball will help him pound the strike zone as well.
Although Swiney’s concussion resulted from a freak occurrence of him hitting his head on a bus door, the 6-foot-3 lefty will also need to prove his durability in the coming year if he wants to remain a starter in the pros. If he can’t withstand the grind of a full season’s worth of innings, Swiney may be moved to a relief role. For now, he sits at a respectable rank of No. 18 in the Giants organization.
Jose Torres, shortstop, Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds seem to have started a rebuild this offseason with the departure of several key pieces from the major league roster. Left-handed pitcher Amir Garrett got dealt to the Royals, left fielder Jesse Winker and third baseman Eugenio Suarez were shipped to Seattle and right fielder Nick Castellanos left for Philadelphia in free agency.
And that will make it a 4-0 offseason.
That being said, Jose Torres is now in a great position to develop his game just in time for a possible Reds resurgence in 2024. Along with Cincinnati’s top prospects that are set to break into the show over the next couple of years, Torres could make the jump to the majors as part of a new wave of young Reds talent.
Torres in particular is primarily a defensive shortstop, but his bat caught fire in his first professional season. The rookie slashed .337/.383/.568 over 119 plate appearances with the Single-A Daytona Tortugas in 2021, a pace that will accelerate his progression through the minor leagues if he is able to maintain it. With his already solid glove, the Reds’ No. 17 prospect has all the necessary tools to make it to the big leagues. Now he just needs to produce.
Luca Tresh, catcher, Kansas City Royals
Although he is the furthest from the show out of anyone in this group, projected to make his MLB debut in 2025, Luca Tresh has the simplest road to get there. To put it bluntly, Tresh won’t reach his full potential until he learns to limit his strikeouts.
Much like his 2021 season with the Wolfpack, Tresh’s raw power was hampered in his first pro season by his inability to get the bat on the ball. In Single-A Columbia, Tresh struck out in 11 of his 35 at-bats and registered just one extra-base hit for an abysmal slashline of .143/.231/.171 for the season. Until Tresh can better work the count and show more plate discipline, his tremendous upside will continue to go to waste.
Make no mistake, Tresh is a great baseball player. Not every 17th-round pick gets a $423,000 signing bonus, and his teammates in the minors have praised him for his leadership and competitiveness. But after a 2021 campaign that left a lot to be desired, 2022 will be a big year for the Royals’ No. 28 prospect to prove that he has what it takes to succeed.
Will Wilson, shortstop, San Francisco Giants
With left-handed pitcher and MLB Pack Pro Carlos Rodón inking a deal with the Giants this past offseason, San Francisco further solidified its connection with NC State baseball as Will Wilson completes the minor league trio of himself, Bailey and Swiney.
That being said, 2022 will be Wilson’s third season as a pro, and the pressure to live up to his No. 15 overall selection in the 2019 draft is mounting. His lack of mobility in the field hints at a future move away from shortstop, so Wilson will need his bat to rebound in 2022 if he wants to stay relevant in the Giants organization.
The jump to Double-A is regarded as the most difficult in the minor leagues, and Wilson’s experience was no exception. After 49 productive games with High-A Eugene to start the 2021 season, Wilson slashed a miserable .189/.281/.306 with Double-A Richmond over 51 games.
These numbers were exacerbated by Wilson’s 81 strikeouts in 221 plate appearances, showing he has a lot of work to do if he wants to stay on track for his projected MLB debut in 2023. For the Giants’ No. 22 prospect, 2022 will need to be the year that Wilson takes his game to the next level.
