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Paul Skenes, RHP, Pirates: The Pirates announced Skenes will make his major league debut on Saturday against the Cubs in Pittsburgh. The top overall pick in the 2023 draft has dominated Triple-A to begin 2024. Skenes has pitched to a 0.99 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP while striking out 42.9% of batters he’s faced. The former LSU ace mixes a four-seam fastball at 98-100 mph with a mid-to-high-80s sweepy slider, a mid-90s splinker, a changeup and a cutter. Skenes will be the third first round pick from the 2023 draft to debut in the majors. You can read more about Skenes below. 

Jaison Chourio, OF, Guardians: The younger Chourio is going out of his way to make a name for himself and so far he’s been successful. Jaison had three hits on Wednesday and two stolen bases. Over 24 games with Low-A Lynchburg, Chourio is hitting .299/.455/.437 with 23 walks to 16 strikeouts, while showing his speed with 10 steals on 14 attempts.

Jacob Gonzalez, SS, White Sox: The 2023 first-round pick continued to impress on Wednesday as he went 4-for-4 with a home run, while driving in 4 RBIs. The former Ole Miss standout is now hitting .298/.402/.452 with three home runs across 27 games with High-A Winston-Salem. Gonzalez shows plus bat-to-ball skills with fringe-average raw power and average swing decisions.

Nolan McLean, TWP, Mets: McLean isn’t likely to be a two-way player in the majors, but early in his professional career he’s showing upside on the mound and in the batters box. On Wednesday, McLean hit his fourth home run of the season, as he went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and a stolen base. On the mound McLean has a 2.84 ERA and has struck out 22 batters over 19 innings. McLean has the highest 90th percentile exit velocity in the minors with a mark of 111.7, granted his batted ball sample is small.

Samuel Aldegheri, LHP, Phillies: A native of Verona, Italy, Aldegheri is one of the few European prospects in the game. So far in 2024 the lefty looks to be breaking out for High-A Jersey Shore. While Wednesday was one of Aldegheri’s less efficient starts (five walks), he limited Wilmington to just one run and three hits. Over 28 innings this season Aldegheri has only allowed two earned runs. Opposing hitters have a batting average against of .111 this season while Aldegheri has 35 strikeouts to 11 walks. Aldegheri mixes a low-90s fastball with above-average ride with a low-to-mid-80s gyro slider, a changeup and a curveball.

Jack Leiter, RHP, Rangers: There were some promising signs in Leiter’s second MLB start. He threw strikes on 73% of his pitches and walked no one. Control issues have often been a problem for Leiter in the past. But Leiter gave up six runs, four of which were earned, in four innings against the A’s. His MLB ERA sits at 12.91. As we’ve mentioned on multiple occasions, Leiter’s fastball is able to generate plenty of swings and misses at the top of the strike zone, but with his flat angle on his fastball, the margin of error for Leiter is quite small. The difference between a swing-and-miss at a pitch just above the zone and a home run off a fastball in the zone is miniscule. Leiter has given up eight home runs in seven outings this year.

James Wood, OF, Nationals: In an early game on Wednesday, Wood hit two home runs in a 5-3 loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Wood’s first home run came in the third inning off of Clayton Beeter, as Wood hit a hanging slider 417 feet to center field. His second home run came off of reliever Cody Morris on an 2-0 cutter down and in, which Wood hit 400 feet to center field, leaving the bat at 105.5 mph. This broke a nearly month long homerless streak for Wood, who last homered on April 11th. Wood’s call up should be coming within the next few weeks as he continues to lay waste to Eastern League pitching, hitting .339/.444/.529 over the first 31 games of the season.

MLB’s Top Pitching Prospect Arrives In Pittsburgh

Paul Skenes arrives in Pittsburgh with the potential to front the Pirates’ rotation for years to come. Today, we dive into his pitch mix, including how he’s altered it since his dominant days at LSU, plus include his full preseason scouting report from the Baseball America Prospect Handbook, free for all to read.

Want to get ahead? Each day we’ll surface one prospect from recent Baseball America coverage who could be on the rise.

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Kevin Made, SS, Nationals: When the Nationals received Made from the Cubs as part of the Jeimer Candelario deal last July, they knew they were getting a solid defender. Now, the 21-year-old Dominican shortstop is showing he might also be a capable hitter with good barrel control. We explain for Baseball America subscribers why Made is trending up in High-A this year, plus touch on three other intriguing Nationals prospects so far in 2024.