The middle infielder made his MLB debut in 2024, but had a mixed season overall
3. Adael Amador (736 points, 28 ballots)
Amador had a better 2024 than you likely remember, but it wasn’t a smooth season for him. After a torrid two-year span that lifted the switch-hitting 21-year-old second baseman from top 10 in the system to top 30 in MLB, expectations were high for Amador entering 2024. The 6’0”, 200-pound middle infielder was the highest-rated international signing for the Rockies in 2019, representing the 15th-highest ranked player in that class by MLB Pipeline. He signed with Colorado for $1.5 million — giving him the equivalent of an early-second-round draft bonus — but only got into professional games in late June 2021 for the Arizona Complex Level team due largely to the lost 2020 season.
Amador jumped onto national top 100 lists with a strong 2022 after he dominated as a teenager in Low-A Fresno. He built on that platform in 2023 with a strong campaign (134 wRC+) split between High-A Spokane and Double-A Hartford, interrupted for seven weeks by an injury to his hamate bone that required surgery. Of course, the real feat was earning a Double-A spot as a 20-year-old — though Amador officially moved full-time from shortstop to second base in his first Hartford stint.
Entering 2024, Amador made his way back to Hartford as a top-30 prospect in MLB as one of the youngest players in the Eastern League (2.6 years younger than average). After bulking up before the season, Amador lost some mobility and had a rough go of it immediately, hitting for a frigid, walk heavy .560 OPS in April, then improving to a tepid .606 OPS in May. Through June 7th, Amador was hitting just .194/.337/.329 in 209 plate appearances, but he did homer six times in his last nine games. That was possibly a factor in the Rockies promoting Amador all the way to the big league club less than two months after his 21st birthday — that and a Brendan Rodgers injury.
With the Rockies, Amador started 10 of 11 games, batting 9th in the order in all but one game and playing second base. He got a hit in his Major League debut, but ultimately he didn’t look ready yet with a .171/.194/.200 line in 36 PA (-5 wRC+) before going on the injured list with an oblique injury.
After he recovered, Amador was sent back to Hartford in early July and performed more like the player who’d gotten the pre-season scouting love. He kept up his 2023 trend of improving his OPS each month (.708 in July, .764 in August, .891 in September) en route to an excellent second half batting line of .273/.357/.453. Despite the terrible start to the season, Amador final line at Hartford was a respectable .230/.343/.376 in 455 PA with 14 homers and 35 steals in 46 attempts at the level. That translates to an above average 111 wRC+ as a 21-year-old in Double-A who walked in 14% of his PA while striking out in 19%.
In fact, Amador was younger than the pitcher he faced in every single 2024 plate appearance. In his professional career, Amador has been the younger player in those matchups in over 98% of his plate appearances. He was a bit better hitting right-handed (.721 OPS vs. .685 OPS hitting lefty), though most of his PA (and his HR) were from the left side. Amador moved almost entirely to second base, where he committed 17 errors in 104 games between the minors and majors (he also played four games at shortstop).
Here are some of Amador’s 2024 highlights, including an excellent defensive play at the three minute mark and homers from both sides of the plate:
John Trupin of Baseball Prospectus ranked Amador fourth in the system last month with a 55 OFP grade (and 79th overall):
Given his quality bat control, Amador should play well by putting the ball in play amidst the vast outfield grass of Coors Field. However, the lowly BABIP Amador ran (.261) is not in keeping with the quality of his contact, dragging down his traditional stats. This is still a capable future big-leaguer, now rightfully playing second base full-time where his range and hands thrive. His scooting speed is a threat on the basepaths, augmented by his ability to get on base early and often. His swing from the left side is stronger than it is from the right, however from both sides it is clear Amador is trying to generate backspin on the ball, with a short, scooping swing. The power he’s able to generate with his prodigious lower half separates him from other players with this similar high-OBP middle infield profile: he can back it up.
Amador checks all the boxes of a high-floor prospect in this range. He’s young, athletic, and performing. After his breakout 2023 ended with a broken hamate bone, his power was still solid at a high level of competition. He’s physically maxed out, but there’s every reason to think Ezequiel Tovar has his middle infield compatriot installed long term by the end of 2025.
Amador dropped from 17th overall in the 2024 pre-season Fangraphs top 100 as a 55 FV player, highlighted by a 70 future hit grade, down all the way to a 45 FV grade and 4th in the system (55 future hit grade) last month according to Eric Longenhagen:
The roller coaster ride that was Amador’s 2024 season once again makes him a fairly difficult player to scout, though because of his improved health (a broken hamate in 2023 clouded his raw power eval) and a more robust data sample than the season before, the picture has become more clear. Amador’s contact rates are great relative to other prospects (80% contact, 85% in-zone) but closer to average when you compare him to big league second basemen (80%, 87% respectively). This meshes with Amador’s visual evaluation. He can move the barrel around the zone, he spoils a ton of well-located pitches, and his stocky, compact build allows him to have a short swing and pull the baseball as a left-handed hitter. A small percentage of Amador’s lefty swings are ferocious, but for the most part, he utilizes a contact-oriented approach and generates below-average bat speed, which is even more the case when he bats righty. Despite this, Amador’s hard-hit rate and peak exit velocities are also right around the big league average, which speaks to the quality of the contact he makes even with mediocre bat speed. Still, his splits against average or better fastball velocity aren’t good, and that’s something to monitor out of the gate in 2025 as precise, publicly available pitch data is generated at Triple-A parks in real time. In short, Amador is a roughly average all-around hitter for his position, with some indicators that suggest he’ll trend down against better stuff.
Even though he’ll barely be 22 when the 2025 season begins, Amador’s size limits his power projection; the cement on his bottom-heavy physique is mostly dry. There are many examples of physically generic second basemen who hit enough to be impact players for at least a little while (Adam Frazier, Brendan Donovan, Jeff McNeil, etc.), but all of them make (or made) elite rates of contact, not merely the 55- or 60-grade rates Adael has.
Amador seems poised to be a second-division second base regular rather than an impact player, and it would make him much easier to roster if he finds a second viable defensive position, either third base or an outfield corner.
Earlier this month, Keith Law of the Athletic also ranked Amador 4th in the system:
[Amador is] a below-average second baseman now, as he’s gotten stronger, which he needed to do, but it’s slowing him down and his instincts at the position still aren’t good. He does understand the strike zone; he doesn’t swing and miss much, he takes a lot of 0-0 pitches, and he doesn’t chase until he gets to two strikes. It’s doubles power with the occasional homer on a mistake pitch, probably 10-12 a year in a neutral park in the majors. He’s a 45 runner at best, which has been trending down as he’s gotten thicker. He could improve his defense with more time and instruction and maybe end up an average defender at second who gets to a .350 OBP and enough doubles power to be a solid regular, maybe even a 55. The glovework has to improve, though.
MLB.com ranked Amador 28th overall as a 55 FV player before the 2024 season, but dropped him to fifth in the system and a 50 FV grade during the season:
Right from the outset, Amador has shown off an advanced approach at the plate that has belied his years. The switch-hitting infielder has walked more than he’s struck out in his career heading into the 2024 season, drawing a free pass in 14.2 percent of his plate appearances while striking out just 12.3 percent of the time. He barrels up the ball consistently from both sides, and while he’s definitely a hit-over-power type, the strength he’s added has allowed him to drive the ball for extra bases more consistently.
Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com ranked Amador 190th overall in MLB earlier this month, fourth in the system, albeit without elaboration.
The combined package Amador presents of strong plate discipline and offensive potential shown by a switch-hitting up-the-middle defender (though more of a fit at second base) as one of the younger players in Double-A (and with a MLB cup of coffee) is outstanding, even if his 2024 didn’t start off well. Amador has already shown more power than was forecasted, which just raises his ceiling to go along with a very strong floor. The production, tools, and defensive utility were enough for me to rate Amador with a 50 FV grade and rank him third on my ballot.
The Rockies non-tendered incumbent starter Brendan Rodgers this off-season, but they also signed two veteran middle infielders in Thairo Estrada and Kyle Farmer. As a result, Amador will be ticketed for Triple-A Albuquerque to begin the year, but I think he’ll be more ready for an extended big league look this season, with a full-time starting job in the offing in 2026.