Spring Training, the return of baseball in 2023.

All 30 teams are in Arizona to play the first games of 2023 to get ready for the long season coming up. Spring training is the first look at new players playing for new teams, and it also introduces some new rule changes that can potentially change the game entirely.

Spring Training lasts one month and there are multiple games everyday. Each team plays 35 games in total over the course of Spring Training. Many teams have new players and rising stars that they can show off in the preseason. Each team has a rising star who was invited to Spring Training but is not yet on the roster. Let’s meet those players.

Diamondbacks: Jordan Lawlar SS, Gabriel Monero C, Corbin Carroll OF, and Druw Jones OF. The top of this team’s system is nearly unmatched.

Braves: Jared Shuster LHP. Their farm system is thin but with the quality of their MLB roster I do not think it matters too much to them at the moment.

Orioles: Jackson Holiday SS, Gunnar Henderson 3B, Grayson Rodriguez RHP, and Adley Rutschman C. The Orioles have a very bright future and the best farm system in the league.

Red Sox: Mathhew Lugo IF. Not the best farm system so it may take a bit before they are back to being contenders.

Cubs: Pete Crow-Armstrong OF. He is arguably the best defensive outfielder in the minors but with the acquisition of Cody Bellinger he might stay in the minors for a little bit longer.

White Sox: Colson Montgomery OF. With the White Sox current right field situation Colson could potentially be on the Opening Day roster.

Reds: Christian Encarnacion-Strand 1B-3B and Elly De La Cruz SS. The shortstop is one of the most electrifying prospects in the minors and Encarnacion made the transition form 1B to 3B and handled the transition well.

Guardians: Logan Allen LHP. He had a tough time with the move up to Triple A but the Guardians have faith he will adjust and be better.

Rockies: Zac Veen OF and Ezequiel Tovar SS. The Rockies are ready to be aggressive with their prospects and can quickly bring up their prospects to get them ready for the bigs.

Tigers: Justyn-Henry Malloy 3B/LF. By midseason Malloy will more than likely be called up onto the roster.

Astros: Ty Buttery RHP, Justin Dirden OF, and Will Wagner IF. After winning the World Series the Astros still have good prospects and an amazing MLB roster.

Royals: Nick Loften OF and Tyler Gentry OF. Loften is a great prospect as he can play almost anywhere on the diamond and is not limited by position.

Angles: Ben Joyce RHP and Chase Silseth RHP. Ben Joyce is the hardest thrower in the draft as he was throwing 105 MPH in college. Chase Silseth is also the first player from the 2021 draft class to make an MLB roster.

Dodgers: Bobby Miller RHP. The Dodgers seem to have a new exciting starting pitcher every year and they seem to not want to trade him at all.

Marlins: Eury Perez RHP. With the Marlins ability to develop pitchers the future is bright for this young player.

Brewers: Sal Frelick OF, Joey Wilmer OF. It’s a toss up between the 2 prospects for who the best in their system is but WIlmer reportedly hit a ball 122 MPH last year.

Twins: Austin Martin SS/CF, Brooks Lee SS. Martin figures to see more time in the outfield this year but we’ll see how he performs in Spring Training.

Mets: Kevin Parade C, Francisco Alvarez C. The Mets have 2 of the best catching prospects in the minor leagues.

Yankees: Anthony Volpe SS, Oswald Peraza OF. Volpe is one of the only players who can play their way onto the 40 man roster, as for Peraza he already made the 40 man roster.

Athletics: Tyler Soderstrom C/1B. He is the clubs #1 prospect and he can really hit and play defense behind the plate but the team is trying him out at first.

Phillies: Andrew Painter RHP: This player has serious ace potential many experts are saying but he will only be 3rd in the rotation behind Wheeler and Nola.

Pirates: Quinn Priester RHP, Henry Davis C, Termarr Johnson 2B, Nick Gonzalez 2B: The Pirates look to have a very bright future as Priester is one of the top pitching prospects in the minors and they have multiple top 10 picks in their farm system currently.

Cardinals: Jordan Walker 3B/OF, Masyn Winn SS, Gordon Gracefoo OF, Tink Hence OF: All of these top prospects will be in camp and Walker stands out above the rest. The Cardinals announced he will be in the outfield however.

Padres: Jackson Merrill SS: The Padres have traded A LOT of prospects the last 2 years or so but with the trades they have built themselves an incredible MLB roster.

Giants: Ronald Guzman 1B/LHP: The former Rangers prospect plays first and is also a LHP. He throws hard and hits hard but I am interested to see what the Giants do with him.

Mariners: Bryce Miller RHP, Harry Ford C, Miller could help the Mariners this year but they are going to have him in relief and Harry Ford is looking to play for Great Britain in the WBC (World Baseball Classic)

Rays: Kyle Manzardo 1B: Manzardo is the Rays #3 prospect he hit 330/427/616 last year in the minors which is incredible and he will likely be in the Rays roster this year.

Rangers: Kumar Rocker RHP, Evan Carter C, Jack Leiter RHP: Leiter is one of the most famous prospects in the minors but they have great pitching coming up in their farm system but they are gonna have to wait to be the ace because of Jacob Degrom.

Blue Jays: Ricky Tiedemann LHP: No one had a louder breakout pitching prospect than Tiedeman last year.

Nationals: James Wood OF: He is the top prospect they got from the Juan Soto trade and he has come out as one of the top power hitters in the minors.

Outside of the players there are also important rules changes that are used in Spring Training before being introduced into the season.

The first and definitely biggest rule change was the pitch clock. Right when the pitcher receives the ball with the batter and catcher in the batter’s circle the time starts. If the batter is not in the box by the 8 second mark it results in an automatic strike. The pitch count is 15 seconds with no runners on and 20 seconds with runners on. This new rule change has shaved off 30 minutes making games much shorter.

Another big rule change is the shift in the infield is banned. You can still shift the outfielders but the infielders are not allowed to move from their position. The last major rule change is the size of the bases have increased from 15 inches to 18 inches.

Spring Training brings about new changes and new hope for the upcoming baseball season which begins on March 30th.