Jhonkensy Noel is our No. 17 prospect, receiving 23% of the vote on Wednesday and edging out the competition by five votes.
As has become a recurring trend, Noel was a member of Cleveland’s illustrious 2017 foreign signing class and is the fourth member of that class to make the Covering the Corner top 20 prospect list.
The Dominican Republic native possesses enormous power, which he demonstrated early on, hitting 10 home runs as a 16-year-old in the Dominican Summer League in 2018.
Noel had a breakout season in 2021, hitting.393/.426/.693 with 11 home runs in his full-season debut at Lynchburg, enough for a remarkable 189 wRC+ over 38 games before being promoted to High-A, where he continued to impress with a 136 wRC+.
Noel shot up the prospect rankings, but then his progress paused. He began 2022 at High-A and was barely above average, struggling to make contact but hitting for incredible power when he did, with 19 home runs while batting 219. He was promoted to Double-A and had similar problems, hitting.242 and blasting another 13 home runs.
Noel spent his whole age-21 season in 2023 at Triple-A Columbus. The power was evident as he blasted 27 home runs, 23 doubles, and 85 RBIs, but contact was once again an issue as he hit just.220/.303/.420 and had a wRC+ below 100 for the first time in a full season at 77.
Noel has played third base, first base, and corner outfield throughout his minor league career. At 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, he’s not exactly a burner on the basepaths nor an excellent defender, but the ball still explodes off his bat.
Expect Noel to start the 2024 season in Triple-A. He’s still young, as he’ll be 22 for most of the season. Last season, his walk rate of 8.4% was reasonable, as was his strikeout rate of 24.8%. If he can maintain or enhance those numbers while also improving his contact and barrel rate, he still has the potential to contribute to Cleveland’s MLB success.
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