PHOENIX — Slade Caldwell knows only one way to play — fast. So when he fractured his right fibula last summer during Team USA baseball trials, he wasn’t going to take his time getting back on the field. The injury cost him his senior football season but four-and-a-half months later, he was back on the diamond, playing at full speed.
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“I got back on the field as quick as I could because I couldn’t really stay away from the game,” he said last month at the MLB Draft Combine in Phoenix.
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ first-round pick (No. 29) has made the game look pretty easy so far. A left-handed hitter and thrower, Caldwell has the speed to stick in center field and the on-base skills to be a top of the order threat. The back-to-back Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year hit .512 as a junior and .485 as a senior at Valley View High School in Jonesboro, Ark.
Caldwell, who turned 18 last month and is one of the youngest players in this year’s MLB Draft class, plays with a frenetic energy. Perhaps not surprisingly, given their similar skillsets, Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Sal Frelick is one of Caldwell’s favorite current players to watch. Pete Rose and Lenny Dykstra are two others whose style of play appeals to Caldwell.
Like Frelick — who is listed at 5-foot-8 — Caldwell has had to convince scouts that he can compete at the top level despite being smaller in stature. Listed generously at 5-9, Caldwell is, in reality, a couple inches shorter than that. But the lifelong fitness buff who says he began doing Kid CrossFit when he was six or seven already has a muscular frame.
The biggest question for Caldwell at the next level is whether that strength will translate enough to produce the quality of contact needed to hit for power in the big leagues, writes The Athletic’s Keith Law. Law, who ranked Caldwell No. 12 overall, likes his compact swing and ability to cover a lot of ground in center field.
“The impact with the bat is the question — if you think he’ll hit the ball hard enough to keep his batting average up, he projects as a strong regular,” Law writes.
There are no questions about Caldwell’s hit tool. He rarely struck out the last two seasons while reaching base in more than half of his at-bats. He says the time he and his dad, Mitch, spent together playing stick ball when he was in grade school helped him develop his elite bat-to-ball skills.
“We would get a little quick stick, like a broomstick, and hit beans and Skittles,” he said. “Just being able to put the bat on the ball was always the biggest thing for me.”
Slade Caldwell (@slade_caldwell) smacks the pitch the other way to left field for a lead off double. @BlazerHardball (AR) 2024 • @OleMissBSB signee
Profile: https://t.co/DHvzTY3tGu pic.twitter.com/7ZmtuRLi99
— Five Tool Arkansas (@FiveToolAR) April 27, 2024
Once on the bases, he terrorizes opposing catchers. A plus runner, Caldwell set a state record with 170 stolen bases in his four years at Valley View —51 of those coming his senior season. He relishes his role as a potential lead-off spark plug.
“I’ve always been the type to see a lot of pitches, and you always want to have your most competitive guy in the lead-off spot,” he said.
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Caldwell also tortured opposing hitters as a two-way player at Valley View, succeeding as a left-handed starter with a 1.63 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings this season.
Growing up in Arkansas, Caldwell’s favorite team was the St. Louis Cardinals, and his favorite Cardinals player was Matt Holliday. Holliday actually recruited Caldwell to Oklahoma State, though Caldwell eventually opted to commit to Ole Miss. Over the past few years, Caldwell has gotten to know Matt’s younger son, Ethan, on the showcase circuit. Ethan’s older brother, Jackson, went No. 1 overall in 2022, and Ethan is projected to do the same next spring.
Caldwell says it was surreal to meet Matt Holliday during the recruiting period.
“First you’re playing against his kid, and then all of a sudden, you see him walk over and talk to your dad, and you’re like, ‘What are you talking about?’” he said with a laugh.
The next meeting between Matt Holliday and Mitch Caldwell could come while both proud dads are watching their sons play professional baseball.
(Photo: Mary DeCicco / MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Melissa Lockard is a senior editor and writer for The Athletic. She edits MLB content and focuses her writing on MLB prospects and draft coverage, with a particular focus on the Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants. Before joining The Athletic, she covered baseball for a variety of outlets, including Scout.com, 2080baseball.com and FoxSports. She is the founder of OaklandClubhouse.com. Follow Melissa on Twitter @melissalockard
