At the October 2026 WilberData Showcase, Anthony Báez put up the two hardest-hit balls of the entire event: 102.0 and 100.2 MPH exit velocity — the top marks among every prospect in the 2029 international class who showed up that day. He trains out of Edinson Vólquez’s academy in the Dominican Republic, runs the 60-yard dash in 6.8 seconds, and hasn’t signed his first professional contract yet. For anyone tracking the international market, those three numbers together are hard to look away from.
What 102 MPH actually means at this age
Exit velocity — how hard the ball comes off the bat — is one of the most direct tools scouts use to project power at the professional level. In MLB, the average among regular hitters sits around 88–90 MPH; elite sluggers consistently operate between 95 and 98 MPH. A prospect who hasn’t signed yet posting 102.0 MPH at a showcase puts him in the same conversation as the best hitters in the league — at least in terms of raw bat speed.
The 60-yard time matters too. A 6.8-second 60 signals explosiveness and range in the field — tools that depreciate fast if they’re not there from the start. The combination of elite exit velocity and a competitive 60 time is exactly the profile MLB clubs are hunting when they hand out big bonuses every July during the international signing period.
The Vólquez academy and what it signals
Edinson Vólquez was the Dominican starter who earned a World Series ring with the Kansas City Royals in 2015, taking the ball in Game 1 of that postseason run. When a pitcher with that résumé opens an academy, he brings the same network and the same critical eye that built his career. Báez landing there isn’t a coincidence — Caribbean academies have their own selection standards, and Vólquez’s won’t be any different.
The academy name also works as a signal for scouts: it tells them the prospect has access to structured training, real facilities, and agents who know how the signing process works. In the 2029 international class market — where the biggest bonuses get negotiated months in advance — the development environment matters almost as much as the showcase numbers themselves.
What comes next for the 2029 class
The 2029 international signing window doesn’t open until July of that year, leaving nearly three years of follow-up showcases, scouting visits, and negotiations before any team puts money on the table. Báez’s profile can grow or shift in that time, and new names will emerge.
What the WilberData Showcase made clear is that there’s already a name with the numbers to be in the conversation right now. 102.0 MPH exit velocity isn’t something you manufacture with basic training — either you have it or you don’t. And based on what Báez showed this fall, he has it.
