Best MLB prospects who must be called up ASAP after Jack Leiter

It’s time, Pittsburgh Pirates. Paul Skenes wasn’t just big-league ready when he arrived at spring training this year. He wasn’t just ready when he was drafted first overall back in July. He has been ready since sometime around this time last season when he kept dominating SEC lineups and showcasing perhaps the best fastball of any starting pitcher at any level.

Even though he has still thrown just 16 innings in his MiLB career, it is imperative that the Pirates bring Skenes up immediately. In today’s baseball climate, each pitch Skenes throws is valuable beyond measure, because you never know for certain how many bullets each pitcher has left. And Skenes has 16.3 K/9 and a 0.81 WHIP in those minor league outings, so it’s abundantly clear he has already surpassed his minor league competition from a talent perspective. The show is the only level of baseball left that can potentially challenge this generational flamethrower.

Junior Caminero, Rays INF

To be honest, it’s a bit of a joke that Junior Caminero started the season in AAA. He hit 31 home runs in the minors last season to lead all prospects aged 20 or younger, got his first MLB homer out of the way during his September call-up, held his own in spring training and is already making a mockery of minor league pitching in his first four games, crushing two home runs and putting up a 1.122 OPS.

The only minor issue is that the Rays have moved Caminero to third base full-time after being signed as a shortstop and their two best hitters presently are their corner infielders, Yandy Díaz and Isaac Paredes. But in today’s MLB, when outfielders can be shortstops and catchers can be outfielders, you simply have to find a way to get all three of those bats in the lineup. And at 20 years old, Caminero is a far bigger part of the Rays’ future than anyone else in the current lineup. His next tank missile needs to be launched out of Tropicana Field.

Colson Montgomery, White Sox SS

Colson Montgomery may not be demolishing AAA pitching like some of the others included on this list, but his inclusion here is much more about the state of his major league club. The White Sox are by far the worst team in the American League right now, team morale is in the dumpster with several key injuries to the big-league roster and watching Paul DeJong and Nicky Lopez play shortstop is just another unnecessary source of suffering for White Sox fans everywhere.

So, now that the White Sox have passed the deadline for counting 2024 as a full year of service time for any of their prospects, it’s time to let MLB’s No. 9 overall prospect cut his teeth at the big-league level. It allows him to make his mistakes early when the team has no chance of winning anyway and allows the fans to have a reason, of which there are zero right now, to continue watching the team play games.

Heston Kjerstad, Orioles OF

Here is the complete list of players who have seven or more home runs at any level of affiliated baseball so far this season:

• Mike Trout
• Marcell Ozuna
• Tyler O’Neill
• Joey Loperfido (Astros No. 6 prospect)
• Kyle Garlick (unranked, Diamondbacks organization)
• Heston Kjerstad

Yes, the Orioles have already called up about 16,000 deserving prospects in the last 24 months and they’re all fighting hard for full-time at-bats, but Kjerstad has more than earned his promotion. He has a career .907 OPS in the minors, bolstered by his absurd 1.122 start to this season, plus he’s 25 years old and a former second overall pick, so the clock is ticking to prove he’s ready to live up to that pedigree.

James Wood, Nationals OF

The Washington Nationals could end up looking very, very smart for the Juan Soto deal if James Wood proves to be the hitter he has looked like since the start of 2024. After lighting the Grapefruit League ablaze, Wood has demolished the competition at AAA Rochester, with an 1.130 OPS in 16 games thus far.

At 6-foot-7, 234 pounds, Wood possesses game-changing power and has displayed enough speed to stick in center field for the time being. He’s likely to battle 2023 No. 2 overall pick Dylan Crews for the future of center field in D.C., but he’ll still be a huge boon to the Nationals in either of the corner spots if he loses out. And with CJ Abrams going gangbusters to start the season (yet another piece of the Soto deal), it’s time for the rebuilding Nats to let the youth movement fully take over.