7. Leonardo Molina
In the summer of 2013, the New York Yankees decided to test the international free agent market by signing outfielder Leonardo Molina who was only 16 years old at the time.
Molina has good speed as well a cannon of an arm, he also has the potential for above-average power with his very athletic frame.
One aspect of Molina’s at-bats that scouts have taken note of is that he has great pitch recognition and does not swing and miss at many pitches, showing great discipline.
The right-hander played his first season in the Yankees minor league system in 2016 when he split time between the Pulaski Yankees and the Charleston RiverDogs.
In 85 games, Molina slashed .226/.290/.382 with nine home runs and 36 RBI’s. Clearly, these are numbers are not too impressive, however, don’t forget that the outfielder was just 18 years old for the majority of the season.
As Molina grows throughout the Yankees system, he should be able to reach his maximum potential within the next few years. However, it will be interesting in 2017 to see how he makes adjustments to these new types of pitchers he is seeing.
