MLB Players with the Most to Prove Heading into 2023 Spring Training

For many players around Major League Baseball, spring training amounts to little more than a chance to get some reps in and go through the motions in preparation for the 2023 season.

And then there are the guys who have something to prove and who can't wait.

They're the ones we want to talk about, so we've ranked 10 players who have the most to prove this spring. It's an eclectic group, ranging from young stars of varying credentials to veterans with unfinished business to one guy who needs to show he can still be a superstar after a suspension and injuries sidelined him for all of 2022.

We'll count 'em down in order of how big the stakes are regarding their performances this spring and beyond. But first, we have a few honorable mentions to sift through.

Elite Prospects Looking for Jobs

• C Francisco Álvarez, New York Mets
• RHP Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies
• RHP Grayson Rodriguez, Baltimore Orioles
• RF Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals

Unlike fellow top-tier prospects like Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson, these four are looking for regular jobs with their parent clubs. Most eyes figure to be on Álvarez by virtue of him being the best of them, though it will apparently have to be his glove and not his bat that wins him a gig with the Mets.

2021-22 Free Agent Flops

• SS Javier Báez, Detroit Tigers
• LF Kris Bryant, Colorado Rockies
• LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers
• LHP Robbie Ray, Seattle Mariners

These guys secured over $500 million on last winter's market, only to fall well short of expectations out of the gate in 2022. As they play for non-contenders, the stakes are relatively low for Báez, Rodriguez and Bryant. Less so for Ray, though he's but one part of a star-studded rotation that the Mariners hope will lead them to the top of the AL West.

Assorted Other Veterans

• RHP Ian Anderson, Atlanta
  
• LF Joey Gallo, Minnesota Twins
• RHP Jack Flaherty, St. Louis Cardinals
• LF Jarred Kelenic, Seattle Mariners
  
• RHPs Mike Soroka, Atlanta
  
• DH Jesse Winker, Milwaukee Brewers

The stakes are low for these guys because none of them is necessarily expected to carry a lineup or a rotation this year. Five of them are nonetheless looking for redemption, with Kelenic more so looking to prove he belongs at all after back-to-back failed attempts to make good on the hype that accompanied him as a prospect in 2019 and 2020.

Age: 23

2022 Stats: 110 G, 404 PA, 8 HR, 0 SB, .203 AVG, .285 OBP, .319 SLG

Spencer Torkelson was rising meteor-like for a while there. After going to the Tigers with the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft, he enjoyed a 30-homer season in the minors in 2021 and ended up breaking camp with the big club last spring.

As for what happened next...well, there are the numbers. And there wasn't a whole lot under the hood to redeem them, as Torkelson's peripheral metrics for 2022 were somewhere between just OK and just plain bad.

Of course, the Tigers aren't quite ready to pull the plug on Torkelson. They indeed seem ready to roll with him as their Opening Day first baseman once again, and it can perhaps only help that he's already done work with the hitting coaches hired by new president of baseball operations Scott Harris.

Still, this wouldn't seem to be a "no pressure, kid" sort of situation. The Tigers badly need Torkelson to contribute to an offense that scored an MLB-low 557 runs in 2022. If he's unable to do that, one wonders how long Harris will keep faith in Torkelson as a franchise cornerstone. After all, it wasn't Harris' call to use the No. 1 pick on him in 2020.

Age: 27

2022 Stats: 144 G, 550 PA, 19 HR, 14 SB, .210 AVG, .265 OBP, .389 SLG

When the Cubs signed Cody Bellinger to a one-year deal in December that guaranteed him $17.5 million, a shot rang out from the direction of retired outfielder Josh Reddick:

The apparent gripe here isn't an entirely unfair one. Bellinger was a proper superstar for the Los Angeles Dodgers as he was winning the NL Rookie of the Year in 2017 and the NL MVP in 2019, but since the start of 2021, he hasn't even risen to replacement-level as he's hit just .193 with a .611 OPS.

There's optimism to be gleaned from the possibility that Bellinger is finally something that he was not in 2021 and 2022. That is, fully healthy. He's dealt with all sorts of injuries over the last two years, and that's without even counting the shoulder dislocation that he suffered in Oct. 2020 and had surgery for the following month.

Still, a healthy and offensively dangerous version of Bellinger is probably something that should only be believed when seen. If that doesn't happen this spring, the Cubs will have an unwanted reason to worry about an offense that ranked fifth from the bottom of MLB in runs last year.

Age: 28

2022 Stats: 30 GS, 161.2 IP, 171 H (24 HR), 177 K, 61 BB, 4.90 ERA

Lucas Giolito was steadily among the best pitchers in baseball between 2019 and 2021, earning Cy Young Award votes annually while racking up a 3.47 ERA.

He was, uh, not that guy in 2022. If anything, he was more like the guy who was perhaps the worst pitcher in baseball back in 2018. He didn't go as high as a 6.13 ERA again, to be sure, but his fastball velocity was similarly down and his changeup was similarly ineffective.

Granted, Giolito does have some valid excuses for not performing up to his better standards last year. He might have gone too hard in the gym during the 2021-22 offseason, and an early abdominal strain and case of COVID-19 didn't exactly make it easier for him to get in sync. Such issues obviously need not be permanent.

Or so the White Sox have to hope, anyway, as there's no way they're going to improve on last year's 81-81 disappointment if Giolito isn't a proper co-ace alongside Dylan Cease. The man himself, meanwhile, can't afford to have another bad year with free agency looming after 2023.

Age: 25

2022 Stats: 119 G, 533 PA, 15 HR, 29 SB, .266 AVG, .351 OBP, .413 SLG

Atlanta may not have Freddie Freeman or Dansby Swanson anymore, but it's not to be underestimated that they still have Ronald Acuña Jr.—who, by the way, is not bothering to hide how hyped he is for 2023 now that he's all the way recovered from the ACL tear that he suffered in July 2021.

"I'm not going to have any pain," he told reporters upon reporting to camp on Monday. "I'm going to be fully healthy and I'm going to be able to do whatever I'm capable of doing on the field."

The thought of Atlanta having a fully functional version of Acuña—i.e., something like the one who posted a .925 OPS with 105 home runs and 78 stolen bases through his first 395 career games—is intimidating. This is, after all, the same team that won the World Series in 2021 and 101 games in 2022 without such a version of him.

Yet as easy as it was to chalk the diminished speed, power and discipline that Acuña showed last season up to rust in the moment, there will be more cause for concern if those things still aren't up to par out of the gate this spring. Because sans Freeman and Swanson, production from Acuña figures to be less of a nice-to-have and more of a must-have this season.

Age: 30

2022 Stats: 136 G, 558 PA, 13 HR, 7 SB, .263 AVG, .305 OBP, .389 SLG

It was Nick Castellanos' bat that secured him a $100 million contract from the Phillies on the 2021-22 market, so go figure that the biggest moments of his debut season with them came courtesy of his glove in the playoffs.

That the Phillies were able to make it to the World Series last year even despite Castellanos' bat going silent would bode well if they were at full strength heading into 2023. But they're not. With Bryce Harper sidelined until at least the middle of the year after having Tommy John surgery, the pressure on Castellanos to revive his bat is very real.

Hopefully, better health is all he needs to do so. Though neither he nor the Phillies ever used it as an excuse, Castellanos just wasn't the same after suffering a bruised wrist early last May. He had an .884 OPS before it and a .653 afterward.

A more pessimistic outlook on Castellanos is that last year heralded the beginning of the end of his prime. It's not out of the question given that he'll turn 31 on March 4, and it's not as if his offensive prowess was ever built on the sturdiest foundation anyway. He's always been a free-swinger with a penchant for cold streaks.

Donaldson's Age: 37

Donaldson's 2022 Stats: 132 G, 546 PA, 15 HR, 2 SB, .222 AVG, .308 OBP, .374 SLG

Hicks' Age: 33

Hicks' 2022 Stats: 130 G, 453 PA, 8 HR, 10 SB, .216 AVG, .330 OBP, .313 SLG

Surprise! It's a two-for-one special, brought to you by how Josh Donaldson and Aaron Hicks were about equally disappointing for the Yankees in 2022.

Donaldson, formerly the American League MVP in 2015, at least graced the Bronx Bombers with standout defense at the hot corner, but he otherwise posted a subpar 94 OPS+ on offense. Hicks was even worse with an 86 OPS+, though he at least fueled a solid on-base percentage with an elite walk rate.

If the Yankees could have had their druthers, they would have traded Donaldson and Hicks by now. But in addition to the fact that their remaining salaries amount to over $50 million, the situation is further complicated by how the Yankees can't afford to simply give either player away.

Because the shakiness around record-setting MVP and $360 million man Aaron Judge in the lineup is something of an open secret, the Yankees clearly need as much offensive upside as they can get. Donaldson and Hicks still have some of that in theory. The sooner they show they still have it in reality, the better.

Age: 33

2022 Stats: 2 GS, 5.2 IP, 5 H (0 HR), 5 K, 1 BB, 3.18 ERA

If Chris Sale was the one who had put this list together, he probably would have put himself on it, too.

"I owe everybody," the veteran southpaw said in January. "I owe my teammates the starting pitcher they thought they were gonna get. I owe the front office the starting pitcher they paid for, and I owe the fans the performances that they're paying to come and see."

Spoken like a guy who's well aware that he's barely been seen since signing a $145 million extension in 2019, and especially over the last three years. Sale lost all of 2020 and much of 2021 to Tommy John surgery, while his 2022 campaign was delayed by a rib injury and ultimately ended by a broken finger and a broken wrist.

One bright side is that Sale showed something resembling vintage fastball velocity at an average of 94.5 mph in what few innings he was able to pitch last season. You otherwise have go to 2018 to find the last time he was truly his vintage self, and that's the guy the Red Sox need to see this spring and beyond if they're to have any hope of beating what are universally low expectations for their 2023 season.

Age: 32

2022 Stats: 47 G, 193 PA, 5 HR, 2 SB, .229 AVG, .326 OBP, .380 SLG

As he was fresh off an excellent regular season that he followed with postseason heroics, Anthony Rendon's stock couldn't have been higher when the Angels signed him to a seven-year, $245 million contract in Dec. 2019.

Over three years later, Rendon's stock has never been lower. He was darn good for the Angels in the shortened 2020 season, but since then, he's played in just 105 games and hit well below his usual level when he has been able to suit up.

A right wrist injury which necessitated surgery in June kept Rendon out of action for most of last year. He's supposedly fully healthy now, and Angels manager Phil Nevin says he's hungry to boot: "I think he's hearing the noise...He cares. The worst thing I've heard about him is 'he doesn't want to play.' That couldn't be further from the truth."

The Angels have no choice but to hope this is the case. They're projected to once again be an also-ran in the AL West even with solid hypothetical numbers for Rendon, so it pretty much goes without saying that they'll be doomed if he's once again a non-factor.

Age: 34

2022 Stats: 11 GS, 64.1 IP, 40 H (9 HR), 102 K, 8 BB, 3.08 ERA

There might have been some initial doubts about how much the 2022-23 market for free agents was going to pay out, but those went away as soon as the Rangers blew away expectations in signing Jacob deGrom to a five-year, $185 million deal.

After spending $500 million on Corey Seager and Marcus Semien during the previous winter only to lose 94 games last season, this was a case of the Rangers trying even harder to establish themselves as a contender. And if he's able to tap into the form that saw him produce a 1.94 ERA across 2018 and 2021, deGrom can only help that goal come to fruition.

The risks, however, are all too obvious. Because of a bad elbow in 2021 and a bad shoulder in 2022, the 11 starts that deGrom made last year are all he has to show for the last season-and-a-half. He also didn't end last year on a high note, posting a 6.00 ERA in his last four regular-season outings followed by a good-not-great performance in his lone playoff start.

It's not exactly an excuse to wear one's surprised face, then, that deGrom has already run into more injury trouble in the form of side tightness. It's not the best omen for a Rangers squad that, unlike last year's New York Mets, doesn't have the depth to withstand any lengthy absences on deGrom's part.

Age: 24

2022 Stats: Did Not Play

There wasn't any doubt coming out of the 2021 season that Fernando Tatis Jr. was one of baseball's brightest superstars. His first three seasons with the Padres had seen him rack up a .965 OPS, 81 home runs and 52 stolen bases, and he even signed a $340 million contract along the way.

Life, as they say, comes at you fast. In Tatis' case, in the form of multiple motorcycle accidents, a performance-enhancing drug suspension, one shoulder surgery and two wrist surgeries.

It was a lot, alright, and the Padres understandably weren't thrilled about the suspension. Rebuilding bridges within the clubhouse will be a tall enough task for Tatis this season. And then there's the matter of dealing with the inevitable boos and, you know, hopefully playing like a superstar again.

Though Tatis isn't eligible to begin his regular season until April 20, each of these quests will start in earnest this spring. If he looks like the Tatis of old, his haters and the Padres' competition will have a problem. If not, the problem may be all San Diego's.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.