Being a season ticket holder for the Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A affiliate Altoona Curve has presented me with a lot of really cool opportunities, but some of my favorite memories come in examining players to see who the next big star may be. This season, I saw plenty of big prospects, surprisingly good unranked names, and more. And after the day that I’m currently writing this, the Double-A season has unfortunately officially ended. However on a positive note, I can now begin to reflect on a few topics I’d like to cover, including the best players I saw this year. And with that, I bring you the 5 players who I saw at Double-A that impressed me the most at Double-A Altoona. For the sake of this article, I will only be covering players who played for the away team, as to avoid focusing on my home town team.

Player #1: Coby Mayo, 3B, Bowie Baysox

I first saw Coby Mayo in Altoona during an early series in April when the Curve took on the Bowie Baysox. During this series, the player I expected to be most impressed with was top prospect Heston Kjerstad, but it was indeed Mayo. Mayo during this series flat out killed the baseball, as he barreled up almost every pitch he saw. Mayo wouldn’t just impress me with his power, as he would also showcase really good bat-to-ball skills, which probably helped him with finding so many barrels. As I previously mentioned, Mayo is primarily a third baseman, and he stuck there most of the series. However, this would be the one area of his game where I was slightly unimpressed, as he missed a few balls he probably should have had. Most Orioles fans were already familiar with Mayo’s name, but during this series, he was not a top 100 prospect. Yet after the most recent Pipeline update, Mayo is now the number 27th best prospect in all of Minor League Baseball. Mayo would hit 17 homers, 14.7% BB%, 24.8% K%, slash .307/.424/.603 with a .449 wOBA, and a 177 wRC+ before his promotion to Triple-A later in the season. Since being promoted, Mayo has hit 11 homers, 15.1% BB%, 22.8% K%, slash .263/.384/.511 with a .392 wOBA and a 123 wRC+ for the Norfolk Tides. In every way besides his defense, Mayo blew me away during his time in Altoona.

Player #2: Hunter Goodman, 1B/OF, Hartford Yard Goats

Hunter Goodman would bring his talents to my hometown of Altoona during a series in late May. Similarly to Mayo, I did not expect Goodman to be the biggest standout player on a team which consisted of Zac Veen, who was an early first round pick back in 2020. However, Goodman was the man who stood out the most. Goodman possessed a very strong power tool, as he hit quite a few extra base hits during this series. Goodman also displayed a solid eye, as he drew a pretty large amount of hitter friendly counts during this series. Goodman would look like a sold defender for the most part, as his bat was still definitely the tool that stood out to me. Obviously, my first thought when it came to Hunter was that his strong power bat, and projectable profile would prove to be a very strong ability to have in Coors Field. Goodman would spend 91 games and 400 plate appearances for the Yard Goats before his promotion to Triple-A, where he would hit 25 homers, 78 RBI, 10.3% BB%, 24.5% K%, slash .239/.325/.523 with a .369 wOBA and a 126 wRC+. Following this 91 game stretch in Hartford, Goodman would send his talents to Triple-A, where he would continue to rake. In 15 games for Triple-A, Goodman would hit 9 homers, 6% BB%, 25.4% K%, slash .371/.418/.903 with a .528 wOBA and a 199 wRC+. After this insane stretch with Triple-A, Goodman would earn his Major League call-up. Although he hasn’t played great, he’s barely played, and still has a chance to make a huge impact in the future.

Player #3: Griff McGarry, RHP, Reading Fightin Phils

Griff McGarry would make his one and only start against my hometown Altoona Curve during a series in mid July, and he would blow me away in every way. McGarry would square off against a personal friend of mine and top pitching prospect Anthony Solometo on MLB Pipeline’s game of the day, and he would show out. The strong, right-handed pitcher would throw arguably the best game of his career against the Curve, as he would go 7 innings, while allowing just 3 hits, no walks, no runs allowed, while also striking out 10 batters. This game has been easily the best game of McGarry’s 2023 season, and I was really impressed with what I saw. McGarry’s fastball is by far his best pitch, as it has a lot of late life, which caught a lot of Curve hitters off guard. Utilizing his fastball high in the zone, that extra run makes it look incredibly harder and rising more than it actually is. McGarry’s fastball paired with a really solid slider was a nasty combination during his start in Altoona. His slider has a lot of break, and when paired well with his fastball, they became an unhittable combination. With a solid curveball also being used in two strike counts, this pairing of three pitches is a dangerous arsenal that kept the Curve hitters incredibly off balanced. McGarry also throws a changeup, but I was slightly unimpressed with the pitch as he didn’t seem to throw it confidently. After this start, McGarry would earn his Triple-A call-up, after he pitched to a 3.13 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 54.2 innings pitched. After opponents hit just .163 against Griff, it’s easy to see why he was promoted. Although he has struggled mightily in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, I was impressed with what I saw during his start.

Player #4: Brady House, 3B, Harrisburg Senators

During the Curve’s last homestand in September versus the Harrisburg Senators, I couldn’t be more thrilled with the amount of talent I would see. Aside from Brady House, I would get a chance to see Dylan Crews, Robert Hassell, James Wood, and Trey Lipscomb. However, Brady House would impress me the most of any of these stars. House would impress me with incredible bat-to-ball skills, paired with a really good amount of power as well. House made a lot of hard contact, and was constantly a tough out at the plate. House would hit a lot of extra base hits, including a pair of homers which would be his first two Double-A shots. Typically when it comes to strong, power hitting third baseman, you see a lot of pull side power, and not much opposite field action. However, Brady House was not one of these players, as his second home run of the week was hit very hard over the right field wall. House displayed a good amount of baseball IQ in the field, as he was a solid defender with all things considered. House has flown through the minors in 2023, as Double-A was the third level he’s played in this season. House would spend 36 games in Double-A, which tied his previous most games played at a level in 2023. Across 36 games for the Senators, House would hit 3 homers, 4.7% BB%, 28.4% K%, slash .324/.358/.475 with a .372 wOBA and a 127 wRC+ which are super impressive stats all across the board. Many people wrote off House during his second season, as he was unimpressive in many advanced metrics, but he has surely put these people to rest in 2023. Although his plate discipline could use some work, House blew me away in Altoona, and he should continue to be a dominant force for the Washington Nationals in years to come as they continue their rebuild.

Conclusion

This season, I was blessed to watch a lot of truly spectacular talent all across the board, but the players I mentioned in this article were the ones who stood out to me the most when I was watching them. Obviously, there were more players I saw this year which I considered beyond talented, but I wanted to highlight the players who made the biggest impact on me in person, who may not be household names yet.