It’s always dangerous to compare a hyped-up rookie or a prospect who has yet to make his major league debut to a current MLB star, if for no other reason than those comparisons can be highly misconstrued.
These comparisons aren’t meant to be read as “player X is going to be the next (insert star’s name here).” Doing so places unrealistic and unfair expectations on those rising stars, and it inevitably leads to fans and pundits bashing the youngster for not immediately delivering All-Star-caliber results.
For example, comparing a pitcher to Clayton Kershaw doesn’t mean you should expect him to win three Cy Young Awards before his 27th birthday. It does mean that there are similarities between the two. Perhaps the prospect has a filthy curveball. You won’t find a filthier bender in the majors than Kershaw’s.
There are any number of reasons a youngster might compare favorably to an MLB star, whether it’s the tools he possesses or his makeup as a player—the baseball IQ and mental aspect of the game that can’t be quantified by statistics.
But the one thing we can be sure of is that everyone on this list has a bright future ahead. So forget what Public Enemy taught us years ago—believe the hype when it comes to these 10 players.