Bubba Starling, Ronald Guzman and Dwight Smith, Jr. all shared the outfield together as teammates in the 2010 Under Armour All-American Game.

Although they are no longer teammates on their journey to the major leagues, the three of them collectively are making big contributions to their parent ball club.

All three players were big-time prospects, including Guzman, whom the Texas Rangers signed out of the Dominican Republic.

Bubba Starling

All three made the transition from Under Armour All-Americans to being drafted in 2011, signing big-time bonuses so that the teams that drafted them wouldn’t miss out on the potential talent that lay ahead.

Starling was the Royals 5th pick overall in that year’s draft, signing for a bonus of $7.5 million over three years. The three-sport athlete at Gardner Edgerton during his high school days, struggled out of the gate, but is looking to become a big prospect for Kansas City, working his way up the organizational ladder. He started off red-hot for High-A Wilmington in the Carolina League, hitting .386 in 12 games with four doubles, two home runs and 12 RBI.

Still at only 22 years-old, Starling has time on his side and the opportunity to play every day at Double-A Northwest Arkansas with the Royals practicing patience with his offensive development.

Ronald Guzman

The Rangers signed prospect Ronald Guzman out of the Dominican for a bonus of $3.5 million and at 20 years of age, is off to a great start for Low-A Hickory in the first 19 games, hitting .289 with three doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI.

Guzman is a first baseman and has the size at 6’5″ that Rangers top brass absolutely love. As he continues to fill out and mature physically, the power will continue to develop.

The ability that Guzman has to hit in general excites the organization, because as a 17 year-old, Guzman hit .321 with 15 doubles, three triples in 52 games for the Rookie-Level Rangers in the Arizona League in 2012.

Dwight Smith, Jr.

Dwight Smith, Jr. comes from a baseball bloodline; his father, Dwight Smith, Sr. played eight seasons in the majors for the Cubs, Angels, Orioles and Braves.

Smith, Jr., the 53rd overall pick in the ’11 Draft, received an $800,000 signing bonus from the Toronto Blue Jays, and has slowly made the ascend up the organizational ranks. He began this season at Double-A New Hampshire after a solid 2014 season at High-A Dunedin where he hit .284 with 28 doubles, eight triples, a dozen home runs and 60 RBI in 121 games.

So far with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the 22 year-old Smith is hitting a team best .321 and showing nice patience and approach at the plate, driving the baseball to all parts of the ballpark.

Finding their stride and display their talent playing every day in the minors should pay huge dividends down the road for these highly-touted prospects.