Note: Today is nomination day! Head to the comment section to nominate the next batch of prospects for Monday’s CPL.
After today, there’s only one more Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List chapter before Spring Training is off and running. And then we’ll start actually getting some new info and data on some of these players that we’re talking about.
The next name on our list is someone who I thought might be in Scottsdale on Tuesday as a non-roster invitee … but alas, he is not. But he is here, as our No. 37 prospect: it’s left-handed pitcher Jack Choate, who falls eight spots from his placement at No. 29 a year ago.
You might think that means Choate had a poor year, but that’s emphatically not the case. His 2025 season was actually quite swell, with the only real downside being that he spent the entire year in AA, despite having ended 2024 there.
Choate, who was taken by the Giants in the ninth round of the 2022 draft (on a sub-$100K signing bonus) made 29 appearances for Richmond, including 24 starts. The numbers were fairly strong: he had a 3.51 ERA, a 4.17 FIP, and 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings, while exceeding 100 innings pitched for the second straight season.
But questions remain for the funky southpaw, who will turn 25 at the start of the season. Despite the impressive strikeout numbers, Choate has a lack of fastball velocity that one rarely witnesses in the Major Leagues in this era of baseball. In an era where most pitchers need mid-high 90s to find success, Choate’s pitches are almost entirely unfamiliar with the number “9,” save for the occasional “heater” when that number follows an “8.” That hasn’t kept him from striking people out. He has an extremely deceptive release, in part because he pairs a fairly low release point with height befitting the Chase Center more than Oracle Park (he’s listed at 6’8). Add in some very impressive extension (not entirely surprising given his size), and Minor Leaguers have, to this point, struck out a lot against him.
Yet it’s unclear if more advanced hitters will share those struggles, and Choate doesn’t have a stellar backup plan if they don’t. Indeed, we’ve already started to see that: while Choate did a phenomenal job staying in the zone at lower levels, the more competitive at-bats in AA have forced him to expand, and the walks have followed. Despite walking just 2.2 batters per nine innings with High-A Eugene in 2024, he walked 4.8 in his eight-game stint with the Flying Squirrels to end the year … and only was able to lower that number to 4.5 last season. That, combined with his low groundball rate (36.8% in 2025) paints the picture of someone who will have a hard time succeeding without strikeouts. And the industry seemingly sees that being an issue, as there weren’t a lot of rumors floating around this winter when Choate was Rule 5 eligible.
The Giants did briefly try Choate in a relief role towards the end of last year, presumably to see if that would impact his velocity, but it did not. I’d assume he stays in a starting role in 2026, though his path to the Majors might require a hybrid role.
It will be interesting to see where the Giants place Choate in 2026. Will he return to Richmond for a third campaign, to try to pump up that velocity a little bit? It’s a tiny bit telling that he was not on the ship with Will Bednar and John Michael Bertrand to Sacramento when Richmond’s season ended. Or will he join the River Cats and their crowded rotation, and we’ll get our first glimpse of whether or not his slow-motion funk can still produce punchouts at higher levels? Either way, it’s a big year for him.
Now let’s add to the list, and a reminder that it’s nomination day. Both voting and nominating will take place in the comment section.
Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.
Rayner Arias — 19.9-year old OF — .173 OPS/-42 wRC+ in Low-A (30 PA); .699 OPS/87 wRC+ in ACL (178 PA)
Sabin Ceballos — 23.5-year old 3B — .670 OPS/102 wRC+ in AA (420 PA)
Jakob Christian — 23.4-year old OF/1B — .950 OPS/155 wRC+ in High-A (92 PA); .815 OPS/119 wRC+ in Low-A (318 PA)
Reggie Crawford — 25.1-year old LHP — did not pitch in 2025; 1.04 ERA/4.07 FIP in AAA in 2024 (8.2 IP); 4.66 ERA/4.93 FIP in AA in 2024 (9.2 IP)
Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page. All stats are from the 2025 season.