Max Stassi

Stassi carries on the family's baseball tradition, and he has a chance to be the best offensive catcher in this year's deep catching crop. He is related to Myril Hoag, an outfielder who played during the 1930s and '40s for the Yankees and St. Louis Browns and was an all-star in 1939, and Stassi's father is his high school coach. Stassi got off to a sizzling start this spring, hitting .593 with nine homers in his first 21 games. For a high schooler, he's an exceptionally advanced hitter. He attacks the ball, uses the entire field and has above-average bat speed. Defensively, Stassi is solid but not outstanding. Other catchers are superior in catch-and-throw skills, but scouts agree that Stassi should have no difficulty remaining behind the plate. A bothersome shoulder injury restricted him to DH duty for about a month, but he has since returned to catching full time.