I know, I know. Baseball season is “technically” over, but KT Hoffman’s debut queer sports romance The Prospects is a line drive straight to your heart. Every baseball season starts with one thing: hope. The hope that your team will go farther, run faster, and make it to the playoffs.
And that’s the case for the Beaverton Beavers, a minor league team in the Pacific Northwest, and Gene Ionescu’s second family. Gene – who everyone simply calls Ionescu – is the first trans player in professional baseball, and he’s the heart of the Beavers: he lifts spirits, chases down hits, and is a beacon for his team. That is, until former college teammate and rival Luis Estrada gets traded to the Beavers at the start of the season. The two have showdowns both on and off the field, and Estrada threatens to suck the joy out of the sport for Ionescu. Hoffman puts the two in tight quarters, and as they have to work through their issues, a friendship is reignited and blossoms faster than Estrada can run the 90-feet to first base. What works so well for The Prospects is the way Hoffman fully fleshes out the characters: Ionescu sometimes struggles with imposter syndrome and can’t be happy all of the time, while Estrada grapples to manage his anxiety, especially as the tension between the two players mounts. But it’s the genuine hope in this book that makes it such a charming read. I found myself rooting for the Beavers, for Ionescus and Estrada, and for the future of professional baseball where trans players are as accepted as KT Hoffman has imagined them to be.
(Yes, I’m a sucker for a baseball book. Go back and check out my reviews of The Resisters by Gish Jen and The Cactus League by Emily Nemens.)
This review first appeared in the November 2024 print edition of Out in Wichita. Click here to see the review in print
shelly. walston. writes. 