Upsets have occurred, favorites have triumphed. Now it’s down to 16 teams competing for a chance to advance to regional finals.
Here are the matchups in the Sweet 16.
*NOTE: 2021 stats won’t be included with matchups moving forward, it seems a bit redundant.
You can also view the entire updated tournament bracket here and the introduction of the tournament here.
The Sweet 16
Trout Region:
(1) OF Julio Rodríguez, SEA
(5) SS Orelvis Martinez, TOR
Breakdown:
JRod has hit 31 HRs, 58 doubles, 13 triples, and stolen 32 bases in 217 minor league games. Seems pretty good to me…
(3) OF Riley Greene, DET
(7) 3B Coby Mayo, BAL
Breakdown:
I’m becoming a bigger and bigger fan of Coby Mayo almost by the day and I know I’m about 6 months late. But his ceiling seems as high as just about any other 3B prospect and I’m truly excited to see him when he becomes a more experienced hitter with an even better baseball IQ. However, Riley Greene is Riley Greene. It may sound crazy but I think this is a credit to his talent, assuming he plays 120+ MLB games this year, I actually think Greene could have more SBs than HRs in his rookie year. Just think about that…
Griffey Region:
(4) C Adley Rutschman, BAL
(8) OF Brennan Davis, CHC
Breakdown:
Not surprising but I still wasn’t 100% sure this one would go to the high seed. Davis looks like he’s going to smoke the ball every time he’s at the plate and his plate discipline may actually be slightly underrated as a skill. But we’re all waiting on the Rutschman to make his debut. At this point, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit the expectations are started to worry me a little bit.
(2) P Grayson Rodriguez, BAL
(3) 1B/3B Triston Casas, BOS
Breakdown:
I’m writing this breakdown after GrayRod got lit up in his first Spring Training start so some people might wonder about his deservedness in advancing past Casas: remember that last year’s half season at AA Bowie is the highest level Rodriguez has pitched in his young career. Unlike Adley, he definitely still needs some AAA Old Bay seasoning before he’s ready to take on the likes of the AL East. It’s not time to panic, it’s just growing pains.
Harper Region:
(1) SS Anthony Volpe, NYY
(4) C Gabriel Moreno, TOR
Breakdown:
The Volpe man cometh…And continues to knock out every opponent he faces. Even a surging Gabriel Moreno wasn’t enough for the Yankees phenom who at this point, may need to very well be the Lord and Savior based on how the offseason is going at the Bronx Zoo. The Yankees are looking like they’re playing for third in the East and now there’s even more pressure on Volpe to reproduce his 2021 season. It may not be a terrible idea to search around your league for the best offers on Volpe, it will probably take an amazing April/May start for his value to climb any higher than it is.
(2) SS Marco Luciano, SFG
(3) SS Noelvi Marte, SEA
Breakdown:
Well, my surviving large adult son is finally bested by the other Seattle superstar in waiting. It’s a great coincidence because it’s likely neither Luciano nor Marte spend much of their major league career at SS anyways. I’m biased obviously so I think Marte benefits here from spending the majority of his year demolishing Low A pitching while Luciano got ran into his first speed bump at High A Eugene. Luciano should spend at least half of the season back in High A and we’ll see how Marte does when he gets his promotion. If he continues his path of destruction then so be it but until then, the question of who’s better is still unsettled to me.
Rodriguez Region:
(1) 1B/3B Spencer Torkelson, DET
(4) OF Corbin Carroll, ARI
Breakdown:
Tork is more limited in his skillset (I think that average won’t be quite so high at the ML level especially as he leverages his power in the middle of the Tigers lineup) but what he does bring (HRs and OBP) is at such a high caliber, it couldn’t be denied. I still think overall both are closer in overall dynasty value than you might think if you measure by their floor. Worst case scenario for Tork is what, becoming a player similar to C.J. Cron? While Carroll’s bottom percentile outcome seems to follow in A.J. Pollock’s footsteps? That’s not terrible and that’s predicting their floor.
(2) SS Bobby Witt Jr., KCR
(3) SS CJ Abrams, SDP
Breakdown:
BWJ has hit 34 HRs, 37 doubles, 9 triples, and stolen 38 bases in 161 minor league games. Seems pretty good to me…
Featured Image by Jacob Roy (@jmrgraphics3 on IG)