Jeremy De La Rosa – Washington Nationals (Rk)
18 Years Old – Throw: L – Bat: L – 5’11” – 160 lbs – ETA 2024
| HIT | RAW PWR | PWR | FLD | SPD | ARM | FV |
| 20 / 50 | 60 / 60 | 20 / 50 | 45 / 50 | 40 / 50 | 40 / 50 | 45 |
Listed at 5’11 and 160 pounds, this 18 year old Dominican lefty has room and time to get bigger and stronger. I’m excited to see his development as he trains with the same coaching staff that brought us Juan Soto.
De La Rosa signed as a 16 year old for $300,000. He only has 26 professional games under his belt and minimal game video of his swing mechanics.
What I have noticed in an estimated 60 percent of his at bats, is that the runner is in motion. He is usually trying to execute a hit and run or protect the runner in his at bats.
When he is allowed to “light the candle” and let his beautiful left handed swing loose I see a lot of untapped power. The bat speed and torque De La Rosa generates with his hands and quick hips is going to produce a lot of hard hit balls in the future. The telling tale in his maturation as a complete hitter will be if he can let the ball travel. He tends to be out in front on some off speed pitches. When De La Rosa’s pitch recognition catches up to his power stroke, the sky will be the limit…
Another prospect that De La Rosa reminds of is Akil Baddoo of the Minnesota Twins. Their swings are identical. They both punish balls low and in. Baddoo was quickly becoming a very hyped prospect. But injuries have left his development and prospect status in question for now. Below is video of both hitters so you can visually compare them.
***De La Rosa in extended spring training. Notice as he’s trying to push the ball the other way in many at bats. When he learns to let that pitch come into his zone more, he will pound balls to LF.
**Now, lets look at some tape on Twins OF Akil Baddoo and notice some similarities in swings. Crushing a ball low and in to RF.
De La Rosa might never end up being Victor Robles or Juan Soto, but I believe he’s going to be Washington’s next impact prospect bat to come up through the system.
On defense, De La Rosa has enough speed to play CF but his average arm strength, and….. Victor Robles will push him to a corner OF spot. Many scouts see the arm getting stronger as the body grows and his training adds muscle.
The hit tool is mostly projection at this point. The stats don’t jump off the page. But like I said before, when he gets the chance to just swing the bat for a whole season I’m excited to see what kind of damage he can do. This is the kind of hitter that will turn into an MLB run producer. Confidence and opportunity are the two factors that can turn this kid into one of the Nationals best prospects
De La Rosa has good out of the box speed and runs the bases well. He’s not a base stealer but 8 to 10 per season aren’t out of the question.
The upside on De La Rosa is high and an ETA 2024 is my prediction.
Never before have I been so excited to see what a player with just 2 professional home runs can amount to. But I’m all in here.
Let the kid swing the bat and let’s see what we end up with!!
Prime Projection
.280 AVG 20 HR 85 RBI 5 SB
