Choi was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018 for a $300,000 signing bonus as a 17-year old High School pitcher from Korea.[1] He made his professional debut in 2019 with in the Arizona League,where he was 5–1 with a 2.63 ERA in 14 games (11 starts). He struck out 71 in 65 innings.[2]
Choi missed the 2020 season as a result of the cancellation of the minor league season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was assigned to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes to start the 2021 season before being promoted to High-A Great Lakes Loons at mid-season.[3] Across the two levels,he was 8–6 with a 3.72 ERA in 24 games (11 starts) and struck out 106 batters in 106+1⁄3 innings while only walking 18.[2] The Dodgers recognized him by awarding him the organizations Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award.[4] Choi only pitched in one game for Great Lakes in 2022 before being shut down with forearm inflammation.[5] He returned to Great Lakes in 2023, pitching in 16 games (13 starts) with a 4–5 record and 3.75 ERA.[2]
Choi began the 2024 season with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers before an early call-up to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Baseball Club.[6] He made 24 appearances (21) starts between the two teams, with a 5–11 record and 4.92 ERA.[2]
Cluff attended and played baseball for Brigham Young University,but he took time away from the sport on a two-year mission to Atlanta. After returning for his 2019 collegiate season,Cluff was drafted in the sixth round by the Nationals and turned pro.[8] Cluff made his professional debut with the Class-A Hagerstown Suns,hitting .229 with five home runs,five triples,and eight doubles over 62 games in 2019.[9]
Although the 2020 minor league season was canceled,Cluff was named to the Nationals' 60-man "player pool",working out with other top prospects and some major league players in Fredericksburg,Virginia. He was not called up to the major leagues during the 2020 season.[10]
The Nationals invited Cluff to participate again with major league players in 2021 spring training.[11] He was reassigned to the minors and began the season with the Class-AA Harrisburg Senators,two steps up from where he finished out the 2019 season.[12] Cluff participated in the Arizona Fall League and was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year for his work as the regular starting shortstop with the Surprise Saguaros.[13]
Cluff is noted as a nimble player with a quick left-handed swing and the arm and footwork to handle any infield spot defensively. As of the start of the 2021 season,he has spent the majority of his time as a professional as a shortstop.[11]
Armando Junior Cruz (born January 16,2004) is a Dominican professional baseball shortstop in the Washington Nationals organization.
Born and raised in Santo Domingo,in the Dominican Repuyblic,Cruz emerged as a high-level baseball prospect by the time he was 14. He played in the 2018 14U Select Festival and a Perfect Game showcase the following year in Florida.[14]
Cruz was linked to the Washington Nationals as early as 2019,before he was eligible to sign with a Major League Baseball team.[15] The Nationals officially signed Cruz for a $3.9 million bonus on January 15,2021,tying the franchise record for an international amateur free agent bonus (with Yasel Antuna),[16] one day before Cruz's 17th birthday.[17]
At the time Cruz turned pro,he was ranked as the fifth-best international amateur prospect by MLB Pipeline[18] and the second-best by Baseball America.[19] A contemporaneous Minor League Baseball news report described him as possibly the best defensive player available in the international signing period,as well as an above-average runner.[20]
De La Cruz was originally discovered by the scouting department of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2017 at the age of 17 playing for an amateur travel team in New York.[21] He would sign with the Phillies on August 23,2017 for a bonus of $50,000 as an undrafted free agent before participating in the Florida Instructional League later in the year.[21]
De La Cruz made his professional debut in 2018 with the Rookie-levelGulf Coast League Phillies East of the Gulf Coast League. He finished the season with a .284 average and six home runs in 43 games. De La Cruz was promoted to the Lakewood BlueClaws of the Single–ASouth Atlantic League for the 2019 season.[22] He finished the season with a .220 average and seven home runs in 117 games.[22] De La Cruz did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. De La Cruz shuttled between the FCL Phillies,Jersey Shore BlueClaws,and Clearwater Threshers,playing in 63 total games and hitting .181.[22] De La Cruz started the 2022 season at Jersey Shore. After slashing .266/.344/.463 over 64 games,he was promoted to the Reading Fightin Phils of the Double-AEastern League.[23] In 38 contests with Reading,De La Cruz hit .278 and finished the season with 17 home runs.[22] After the 2022 season,he played in the Arizona Fall League.[24] He was also named a MiLB.com Organization All-Star.[25] De La Cruz returned to Reading for the 2023 season,finishing with a .259 average and 24 home runs in 129 contests. He was also named an Eastern League Post-Season All-Star.[26] Following the season,De La Cruz played for the Gigantes del Cibao of the Dominican Winter League.[27] He would return to Reading for the start of the 2024 season. At the end of the 2024 Minor League season,De La Cruz became a free agent.[28]
On December 18,2024,De La Cruz signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals.[29]
Jeremy JoséDe La Rosa (born January 16,2002) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder in the Washington Nationals organization.
The Nationals signed De La Rosa as an international amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic,where he trained at the Quality Baseball Academy,for a reported $300,000 bonus on July 2,2018. After signing De La Rosa,[30] the Nationals sent him to their instructional league in West Palm Beach,Florida,that fall.[31]
De La Rosa ranked as the Nationals' twelfth-best prospect entering the 2019 season,according to MLB Pipeline.[32]Baseball America praised his "promising tools" and ability to make contact at the plate without swinging out of the strike zone.[31] Mark Scialabba,the Nationals' player development director,named De La Rosa as one of his breakout candidates in 2019.[33] De La Rosa did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[34]
In 2022,De La Rosa split the year between the Single–A Fredericksburg Nationals and High–A Wilmington Blue Rocks,playing in 101 total games and batting a cumulative .280/.358/.436 with 11 home runs,67 RBI,and 39 stolen bases. On November 15,2022,the Nationals added De La Rosa to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.[35]
De La Rosa was optioned to the Double-A Harrisburg Senators to begin the 2023 season.[36] However,he spent the year with High–A Wilmington,playing in 93 games and batting .240/.324/.361 with 7 home runs,42 RBI,and 13 stolen bases. Following the season,De La Rosa was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to the Triple–A Rochester Red Wings.[37]
Franklin became the Razorbacks' starting left fielder as a freshman and was named to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) All-Freshman team after batting .274 with 41 runs scored,34 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases.[40] After the season,he played summer baseball for the Santa Barbara Foresters of the California Collegiate League.[41] As a sophomore,Franklin batted .381 with four doubles,a triple,three home runs and RBIs in 16 games before the season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic.[42][43]
Franklin was named a preseason First Team All-American by Baseball America and by the National College Baseball Writers Association going into his junior year.[44][45][46] He was named the SEC Player of the Week on May 3,2021,after driving in 10 runs in three games against LSU and was a second team All-SEC selection at the end of the regular season.[47][48][49] In the opening game of the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball tournament,Franklin had a run-saving catch followed by a home run to spark a come from behind win over NJIT.[50][51]
Before the 2021 season,Powell ranked as the Nationals' 20th-best prospect,according to MLB Pipeline.[71] He was assigned to High-A Wilmington,along with several other top Nationals prospects,to begin the season that May.[72]
Powell employs a fastball and a slider as his main pitches. He uses a changeup and a curveball less frequently,relying on the slider as his primary "out pitch" while working up to 97 miles per hour (156km/h) with his fastball.[73]
Stuart did not appear in any games for Southern Mississippi in 2019 or 2020. He made his collegiate debut in 2021,pitching to a 7.16 ERA over 16+1⁄3 innings.[78] In 2021,he played collegiate summer baseball with the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod Baseball League,throwing six scoreless innings.[79][80] For the 2022 season,Stuart appeared in 22 games (four starts) and went 4–0 with a 3.38 ERA over forty innings.[81] After the season,he was selected by the New York Mets in the sixth round of the 2022 Major League Baseball draft.[82][83]
Stuart signed with the Mets and made his professional debut in 2022 with the Florida Complex League Mets and St. Lucie Mets,pitching 3+2⁄3 innings between the two teams. He opened the 2023 season with the Brooklyn Cyclones and was promoted to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in mid-July.[84][85][86] Over 21 starts between the two teams,Stuart went 7-2 with a 2.20 ERA and 112 strikeouts over 110+2⁄3 innings.[87] He was assigned to Binghamton to open the 2024 season.[88]
On July 28,2024,the Mets traded Stuart to the Washington Nationals in exchange for Jesse Winker.[89] He was assigned to the Harrisburg Senators and promoted to the Rochester Red Wings near the season's end. Over 25 starts between the three teams for the season,Stuart went 4-8 with a 4.12 ERA and 135 strikeouts over 122+1⁄3 innings.[90]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
