Hudson Potts

The Padres tabbed Potts with the 24th overall pick in the 2016 draft, accelerating him quickly to Double-A in 2018. Potts spend most of 2019 with Double-A Amarillo where he posted a .227/.290/.406 line, causing him to lose some of his prospect shine. That said, he was just 20 years old so there's plenty of time to rekindle the spark. To do so, Potts needs to work on his plate skill, making more contact while drawing more walks. His game is power; the question is how often he can get to it. A former shortstop, Potts has moved to third base where his glove plays well. The catch is Potts is blocked at the major league level, so he'll need another position change or a trade. The latter could boost his fantasy potential since Petco Park hinders power. Potts is an intriguing target for those in deep dynasty leagues since his stock is down and could benefit from a change in scenery.

Potts broke out in the second half of 2017, hitting .278/.325/.512 with 14 home runs in his final 65 games, and in 2018 he picked up where he left off. The second-youngest hitter in the Cal League, Potts ranked fourth in ISO (.217), ninth in home runs (17) and ninth in wRC+ (126) before earning an early-August promotion to Double-A. The right-handed slugger crushed southpaws at High-A and hit a respectable .276/.354/.473 against righties, so he should avoid a platoon. Easy plus power is the selling point with Potts. That power will likely always come with plenty of strikeouts, but given his age and ability to make adjustments, the hope is that he will improve against offspeed pitches and eventually become a more well-rounded hitter. He will return to Double-A, but could get a promotion to Triple-A before the end of his age-20 season, which serves as a good reminder of how young Potts is and how much time he has to improve as a hitter.

Potts and teammate Fernando Tatis Jr. each hit 20-plus home runs as 18-year-olds at Low-A. The last player to pull off that feat was Giancarlo Stanton in 2008. It may have been disappointing, albeit not surprising, that Potts slashed just .226/.259/.360 in his first 60 games as the fifth youngest hitter in the Midwest League. However, he eventually rewarded the aggressive assignment, hitting .278/.325/.512 with 14 home runs in his final 65 games. It's easy to pick apart his approach (140:23 K:BB), but he is so far ahead of his contemporaries from a production and competition standpoint, that we can give him a pass there for now. It's always a great sign when a prospect shows an early ability to make adjustments, and that should give us confidence in his ability to cut down on the strikeouts and improve his on-base skills. He has monster game-ready power, while not being overly pull-heavy (43.8 percent). At worst, he should be a 30-homer third baseman with a shaky average, but he could end up being much more than that.

A surprise first-round pick in last year's draft, Potts signed for less than half the slot value at No. 24, allowing the Padres to load up on more prep talent later in the draft. He changed his name shortly after getting selected (he was called Hudson Sanchez) and will soon see a position change from shortstop to third base. Fortunately, the bat projects to be good enough to handle a corner. He is already 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, but has not yet tapped into what could be plus raw power down the road. Potts posted an impressive 13:9 K:BB in 16 games in the Northwest League as a 17-year-old, but he was a little unlucky on balls in play. He will be one of the youngest players in the Midwest League this year, and if he can be a league-average hitter, that will be an encouraging indicator.