The MLB Draft and develop pipeline is changing. As college baseball skill level increases, drafted players have become closer to the MLB than ever before.
Prospect debut times have fluctuated throughout baseball’s history. Throughout the modern era, teams typically reserved early debuts for generational prospects. Since 2016, however, we have started to see teams utilize the early debut in different ways. In the last ten years, ten prospects have debuted less than a year after they were drafted, with two debuting in the same year they were selected.
Aligning with past trends, there are quite a few star players who were fast-tracked through the minor leagues. Spencer Strider made the 14th fastest debut since 2016, while Paul Skenes and Wyatt Langford debuted early in the year after they were drafted. Garrett Crochet took a less traditional route, debuting in the bullpen the same year he was drafted for a White …