George Valera

A well-known prospect since being a prized international signee on July 2, 2017, Valera finally got a chance to play a full minor-league season in 2021 and he broke out in a big way. He hit .260/.405/.505 with 19 home runs, 11 steals, an 18.2 BB% and a 24.2 K% in 86 games as a 20-year-old at High-A and Double-A. It's easy to see where the appeal lies with Valera, as anyone who can hit for significant power while also walking over 15% of the time at age-appropriate levels has a chance to eventually profile as a middle-of-the-order force. He suffered an oblique strain after one week of play but showed no ill effects when he returned after four weeks. Valera is an average runner who is a bat-first player all the way, but fortunately he has a decent chance to hit enough to profile in left field. The left-handed hitter showed pronounced splits (.751 OPS vs. LHP, .946 OPS vs. RHP), and he will need to be passable against same-handed pitching to avoid sitting against at least some lefties. Already added to the 40-man roster, Valera will likely return to Double-A for his age-21 season before getting a midseason bump to Triple-A, which will set up an early 2023 MLB debut.