At this point, he projects for average in-game power, roughly 15-18 homers annually. For game power, 50 equates to 15-18 homers per year, 55 is 19-22, 60 is about 25, 65 is about 30, etc. As a 19-year-old in Low-A, Amador hit .292/.415/.445 with 15 homers, 26 stolen bases and more walks than strikeouts. He has huge power and beats up on minor league pitching, but the question is if his contact qualities and pitch selection will be good enough at the big league level for him to hit to get to that power. He is shorter than you'd prefer an elite pitching prospect at 6-feet tall, but was a plus athlete with a plus-plus-slider, mid-90s heat and plenty of changeup and command to make it all work. Early in 2022, he was sitting 95-99 and hitting 100 mph, throwing mostly just his heater and his slider (take a look), but it's not like he forgot how to throw his curveball and changeup -- he was just running a 34% whiff rate throwing those two pitches 94% of the time. Oh, and he's still just 19 years old. What the longest game in MLB history says about baseball today, Which teams will reach the NBA conference finals? I mention Alonso as the comp because he also has a simple, low-maintenance swing and massive power that he regularly gets to in games. His splitter and curveball are both at least average and Bradley's command projects to be above average. Type: Glove-over-bat center fielder, but probably still a league-average hitter. In that case, Baltimore could slowly ramp him up to have the option to use him at full bore down the stretch and (whispers) in the playoffs. The Texans would jump at the chance to take Bryce Young He's probably not a star but he's going to be a useful big leaguer for a while, and maybe a really good one. He's polished, and the concrete is pretty dry for his age -- he just needs to prove it at higher levels. Type: Shortstop/third base tweener with plus power and patience. O'Hoppe delivered what many (including myself) thought would be a breakout 2022 season, hitting .275/.392/.496 with 15 homers in 75 games in Double-A for the Phillies before the trade. As a bad outcome, that's still a solid-average everyday player, so there's very little risk. After publishing my final rankings, I heard lots of buzz that Rushing would go in the 20s and I would've slid him up into that range in the days before the draft, buying into his hit/power combo and trusting that he'd figure out a way to stick behind the plate. Type: Lanky right fielder who is above average at everything. Lee was a late-first-round prospect in high school, but teams were ultimately scared off by a back issue. He'll also need to be challenged enough by hitters to be forced to use all four pitches and sharpen them up a bit. Here's a past one, for example. He only threw 18.1 innings in 2022 due to non-surgical knee and shoulder issues, after his Spring Training outings had scouts and analysts raving. I graded him as a second-rounder that spring -- he was sitting 90-92 with 55-grade stuff -- and was when he lasted until the 91st pick. The next two players are catchers who either could be a first baseman with below average contact skills while the other likely never hits 20 homers. Ranking the top MLB prospects for all 15 NL teams, roughly the 200th-ranked prospect in basebal. Each coach submits a Top 25 with a first-place vote worth 25 points, second place 24, and so on down to one point for 25th. They're similar in offering long-term performance, tools and having successful MLB time under their belts. He has progressed well as a hitter, showing electric bat speed and feel to get to his plus raw power in games. Walker could hit 40-plus homers multiple times, but there are a couple subtle adjustments needed, as mentioned above. While he's learned to tap into his power effectively, Peraza profiles around average as both a contact, approach and in-game power threat. 49 on this list), so they're often compared. That's also gone something like scouts expected, as he's now facing competition closer to his talent level. 21 overall in the 2021 draft as a high-floor lefty from Kansas State with a plus changeup and above-average command but a fastball, slider, and curveball that were all fringy. He now sits at 94 to 98 with a plus run-and-ride to his heater, a plus-or-better-flashing hybrid 83 to 85 mph breaking ball and a changeup that's also above average at times. Now Manzardo may be knocking on the door of the big leagues late in 2023, just two years after being a divisive draft prospect. Type: Plus fastball/breaking ball you see in late innings, but enough feel to be a starter. A 10-15 homer likelihood eats into his overall upside, but he may be plus at everything else on the field and has lots of pro scouting support for his ranking after an excellent 30-game stint in Double-A after signing. I find it difficult to come up with comparisons for the players at the top of these lists as they are outliers in many ways, which you then have to compare among the other outliers in the big leagues, and they rarely match up perfectly to another player. Hit: 30/55, Game Power: 35/65, Raw Power: 65/70, Speed: 60/55, Fielding: 45/55, Throwing: 55/55, Type: A 6-7 plus runner with plus-plus power, Reminds me of: More toolsy version of Kyle Tucker. I'll split the difference and call both Mayer's hit and power tools 55-grade ability (.270 with 20-25 homers), but either could also be a 60, and there are no concerns that he can post at least average defensive performances at shortstop. Similar to Carter above, Cowser is a lanky 6-3, a solid center fielder with above average speed, plus hit and pitch selection abilities and good-not-great power. White was a favorite of mine in the 2018 draft. He makes up for it with his arm and he has made progress in all the soft skills like game-calling while physically staying loose and flexible. Type: If it all clicks, it looks like Max Scherzer. The second is "reminds me of." It has worked out so far because he has plus stuff with plus athleticism and when you can marry that with good makeup, it's often all that matters. Type: Maybe a catcher, with 30-homer upside. The Guardians turn mid-to-late-round college pitchers into real prospects at a frightening rate, and Bibee is the latest example. Also, Justin Verlander was sort of like this in the low minors -- and that's after spending three years in college. Throw a dart.". Lesko was on the national scouting scene as early as his freshman year in high school, when he was sitting in the low-90s, mixing in a plus changeup and understandably putting up goofy numbers. This is a somewhat familiar song to prospect watchers; Nate Pearson was sort of like this a few years ago, Forrest Whitley before him, and so on. As a 16-year-old from Venezuela, Alvarez was in the top tier of his international signing class. His in-zone miss rate (i.e. Davis missed about half of the 2022 season with a broken wrist and later some lingering soreness, so we can't fully judge him on his 2022 surface stats, but he has been a bit below expectations thus far. Alcantara is a superlative athlete with plus raw power, plus speed once he gets going and an above-average arm. Type: 6-foot-5 likely third baseman with plus power and arm strength. Wood likely loses a step or two and slides over to right field as he ages, but he's a decent center fielder with an outside shot to remain there. The profiles are similar -- Carter has a notch more hit/on-base ability and Cowser has a notch more power -- but the O's development group has a strong track record of improving hitters like this. I mentioned above in the Termarr Johnson blurb that he and Collier were the two prep hitters in the Atlanta area and recognized by scouts as early as their freshman years for having high first-round potential. The sales pitch was a real hit tool with a pretty lefty swing and good approach, but average raw power and a first-base-only fit. Hit: 35/60, Game Power: 30/50, Raw Power: 55/60, Speed: 60/60, Fielding: 40/55, Throwing: 60/60, Type: Plus athlete with plus feel for the game. 15 overall in the 2020 draft. ESPN MLB Insider Kiley McDaniel launched his annual list of the Top 100 Major League Baseball Prospects today on ESPN+. It Elly De La Cruz is going to become appointment viewing once he gets to the TV league, in the same way that Oneil Cruz and Fernando Tatis Jr. lit up Statcast on a nightly basis when they hit the big leagues, Velo: 95-99, Fastball: 65/70, Slider: 55/60, Curveball: 50/60, Changeup: 45/55, Command: 40/50, Reminds me of: (leans in, whispering, looking around) Justin Verlander. He will likely find a happy medium on the contact vs. power spectrum in the coming years, but even when striking out a lot, Williams had above-average pitch selection. Jung was 19th on last year's list -- and a strong second-tier AL ROY candidate. Soon after that his velo was starting to climb, his secondary stuff was accordingly getting more crisp, and his command wasn't suffering. I ultimately ranked him third, but it was essentially a three-way coin flip with Druw Jones and Termarr Johnson, who are all still tightly packed. Those aren't major concerns right now, though, as he's got massive power in games, is young and talented enough to make adjustments, and is much younger than the pitchers he is facing. Because De La Cruz is trying to do damage, has long arms and lifts the ball successfully, he's never going to hit for a great average, as the bat just won't stay in the zone as long as a Luis Arraez type. He lasted until the 22nd pick in the 2021 draft and was 13th on my board. He's 6-4 but has below-average raw power and clearly prioritizes getting on base. He also stole 28 bases and still looks like an above-average defender at shortstop, so all the elements are here. The real reason for excitement here, like during that initial pitch by an agent, is that after a strong first full pro season, Montgomery may now have plus bat control, pitch selection, bat speed, and raw power -- so it's just a matter of how he wants to use those abilities at the plate, to be more contact- or power-oriented. How the Savannah Bananas are changing the rules of baseball. His slider is a clear third pitch but is average more often than not, so the whole package profiles as a midrotation type. Type: Refrigerator box filled with dynamite. Susana didn't get much attention when he was included in the Juan Soto trade as he was the fourth-best prospect in the haul, behind James Wood, MacKenzie Gore and Robert Hassell. Turang has been famous to scouts for years, looking like a real candidate to be the No. Stroud had a great pro day and it further solidified his case as one of the two best QBs in this draft class. Caminero kicks off a three-man "maybe they haven't totally earned it on paper yet, but lots of smart people are buying in, so I am too" group as winners of a straw poll for spots near the end of the list. This makes the plane as close to flat as possible. He is an above-average runner with an above-average arm and glove at shortstop, a solid approach, and average raw power from the left side. Johan Rojas, CF, Philadelphia Phillies That hasn't happened, as he still has a lanky build and runs well, but is exclusively playing a corner outfield spot. His numbers were actually better in 2022 than 2021 and his slider became his best secondary pitch. He is an average defender at first base, left field and right field, so there are clearly some options to get him in the lineup. Type: Another out-of-nowhere college pitcher for Cleveland. He also played with current Mets 3B Mark Vientos and likely 2023 1st rounder Enrique Bradfield Jr. (Vanderbilt). Meyer was a personal favorite going back to his freshman year at Minnesota. 13 overall in the 2021 draft out of a Florida high school. Jake Eder, LHP, Miami Marlins Waldichuk is probably a midrotation starter but his polish, funk and 40-man roster status mean he might be that by midseason. That has basically been how it has played out, but the numbers have been eye-popping: .327/.426/.617 with 22 homers, 59 walks, and 65 strikeouts in 93 games at High-A and Double-A. Harrison also does a very en vogue thing in pitching these days: He gets down the mound well, delivers from a low slot, and throws a fastball that isn't a heavy sinker like many low-slot fastballs are. The hesitation is that Jung showed an uncharacteristic aggression at the plate when he returned, walking under 4% in 49 Triple-A and MLB games last year after running close to 10% walk rates the rest of his career. At draft time, Painter offered a 6-7 frame with plus physical ability, starter command projection and four above average-to-plus pitches. He has become more aggressive as his velocity has crept up to 90-93 mph with his plus command and plus ride that help it play up. This isn't a true comparison, because most players don't have a one-for-one perfect analog. He made it all the way to the Orioles at the No. There have been questions about Wells' ability to stick behind the plate dating to high school, but he has made steady progress and now looks like an average defender -- though his arm is below average. Waldichuk is doing a lot in his delivery but it allows him to get way down the mound from a lower slot with run and ride on his fastball, helping it play up from its 93-95 mph velocity. Ranking all 30 MLB systems for 2023 I expect these two to be ranked next to each other again next year and at this trajectory, they'll be fighting for the top spot on the list. You'll also notice a heavy dose of left-handed hitters, many playing the premium position of shortstop, early on in the rankings. Rankings Home. Povich is still likely to give effective bulk innings, likely as a starter, maybe as soon as the second half of 2023. Merrill played high school ball in Maryland, alongside James Wood (ranked 13th above) in some youth events. Where all squads stand now that the biggest free agents are off the board following this year's free agency frenzy. This year, Painter will need to upgrade the command a notch, though his stuff is good enough that average control (throwing it over the plate) and fringy command (hitting his spot) could be enough to make him one of the Phillies' top five rotation options pretty soon. The sales pitch today is the same as draft time in 2020: plus hit/approach/power and the feel to get to it in games. Arroyo and Williams are back-to-back here because they're pretty similar prospects. Graceffo wasn't a big name when he went in the fifth round of the 2021 draft with athleticism and command at Villanova his main selling points. Most importantly, Moreno is a definite catcher. Salas has plus bat control, a decent approach and solid-average raw power along with a good enough glove to maybe stick at shortstop, though he might also slide over to second base.
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