The 21-year-old shortstop signed out of Cuba in 2022
21. Dyan Jorge (253 points, 25 ballots)
Jorge, who signed in January 2022 out of Cuba as a 19-year-old, received a $2.8 million bonus from the Rockies — the largest such bonus they’ve ever handed out to a Latin American amateur free agent. The 6’3”, 170-pound 21-year-old shortstop is an athletic player with some upside that is a likely up-the-middle defender with good bat speed but not much power.
Jorge had a successful Dominican Summer League debut in 2022 (as an older prospect due to his late signing), then he came stateside for 2023. In June, Jorge started his season with the complex league team, hitting .370/.495/.644 with 11 extra-base hits in 94 PA (178 wRC+). That was clear-enough domination for the Rockies to bump Jorge up to Low-A Fresno in July, where he was 1.1 years younger than average. In 215 PA for Fresno, Jorge posted a .283/.322/.338 line with 11 doubles and ten steals (82 wRC+).
In 2024 Jorge played for High-A Spokane, where he was 1.4 years younger than league average. Jorge’s speed shone through (36-for-46 in steals), but his lack of power (only 2 HR, both in the same game) limited his offensive impact to a .267/.336/.319 line in 541 PA, good for an 89 wRC+. Jorge also saw his strikeouts rise to nearly 23% of PA after hovering around 16% in Fresno the year before, though he also walked in 3% more of his PA (9% vs. 6%). Jorge served as Spokane’s primary shortstop (17 errors in 91 games) with 26 appearances at second base (three errors).
Here’s some video of Jorge in Fresno in 2023, including a slo-mo look at the swing:
Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs once ranked Jorge as high as a fringe top 100 player with a 50 FV, but he’s now dropped Jorge all the way down to a prospect of note due to the lack of power:
Jorge was a multi-million dollar signee out of Cuba with a lanky, prototypical build and one of the weirder statistical profiles in the org. He makes a lot of in-zone contact but nothing else; his swing isn’t really functional and only allows him to contact the ball in a narrow window of the zone.
Baseball Prospectus listed Jorge as a “Person of Interest” in their recent system write-up:
This is a precipitous fall for Jorge from the seventh spot in the system given he more or less Xeroxed his Low-A line in High-A, but we really would have hoped to see some additional ability to impact the ball in the last calendar year. We didn’t and he looks more like a second baseman than a shortstop now. Sometimes the Very High variance strikes early.
Jorge slots in at 15 in the MLB.com system list as a 45 FV player:
Long and lean, Jorge has shown a good feel for finding the barrel, with an approach that speaks to him being a bit more seasoned than many young players because of his time with the Cuban national team. He has a solid line-drive approach and can work counts and draw walks, but there hadn’t been too much impact in the early stages of his career. He’s starting to show little flashes of added strength and came to the Rockies’ high performance camp to continue to work in that area, though the hope is he won’t start trying to hunt for power. There is some leverage in his swing, so a little might come naturally.
Jorge has good speed and instincts, which make him a dangerous asset on the basepaths. He also should be able to play shortstop for a very long time thanks to his agility and instincts, to go along with a solid arm, good footwork and steady hands. The ingredients are there for him to be a starting shortstop in the big leagues, with how much offensive impact he grows into key to determining his ceiling.
Keith Law of the Athletic listed Jorge 10th in his February 2024 org look:
Jorge’s an above-average defensive shortstop who needs to get a lot stronger as a hitter to be more than a utility infielder. He doesn’t punch out but he doesn’t punch anything else either, with a ground-ball rate over 50 percent in Low A last year and a total line of .283/.322/.338. His swing gets long and slow because he doesn’t have enough present strength to generate bat speed, and he is way too aggressive at the plate even if you ignore the strength issue. He does have everyday upside, probably a solid 50, because of the defense and his ability to at least put the ball in play, but he needs to start packing on some more muscle.
Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com ranked Jorge 4th in the system and 155th overall as a 45+ FV player before the 2024 season:
Jorge is a classic long, lanky, smooth shortstop prospect with all the tools and physical projection to imagine more coming. He has played only 49 games in full-season ball, but he has already shown above-average bat-to-ball ability, pitch selection and power potential, though he doesn’t lift the ball much at the moment.
A clear point of disagreement between the above scouts is their view of Jorge’s ability to develop game power. Those who believe he’s on track have him as a top-10 system player while those who don’t place him lower. Purple Row voters are on the skeptical side, myself included — I ranked Jorge 27th on my ballot as a 40 FV player. I believe there’s some projection in his frame and am comforted that his up-the-middle defensive utility raises the ceiling on the profile, but I’d like to see it actualized in game results.
Jorge still has another two full seasons before his Rule 5 eligibility deadline, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the Rockies returned him to Spokane this year to help maximize the chances that he turns into a big league up-the-middle regular. Then again, maybe there’s value in giving him some run in Double-A Hartford to stress test the profile against upper-minors pitching.