While it will be several years until most of the 2014 draft picks are ready for the major leagues, that doesn’t mean we can’t get excited about the early returns from some of baseball’s brightest young players.
Thanks to an accelerated signing deadline in mid-July that was ushered in in 2012 as part of the new collective bargaining agreement—it used to be mid-August—draft picks are now encouraged to quickly begin their professional careers.
For some prospects, that could result in an ahead-of-schedule debut in the major leagues; for others, it may simply improve their chances of earning aggressive promotions to begin the following season.
Here’s a look at 10 breakout prospects from the 2014 draft class who are destroying the minor leagues in their professional debuts.