(Photo by Icon Sportswire)
Today marks the fifth day of an 11 article special that is designed to help get you all caught up and informed on MLB prospects for your fantasy baseball leagues. My colleague Brennen Gorman and I are going to be releasing mid-season top prospect lists for every position and we will release our lists on the following schedule:
Top 30 Catchers
Top 30 1st Baseman
Top 30 2nd Baseman
Top 30 Shortstops
Top 30 3rd Baseman
Top 25 Outfielders
Top 50 Outfielders
Top 150 Overall Hitters
Top 150 Overall Pitchers
Adam’s Disagreements – July 23th
Brennen’s Disagreements – July 24th
We have included a rough prime projection for each player as well as an estimated ETA. We tried not to include players that have cemented roles in the majors at the time of this writing, so guys like Juan Soto and Mike Soroka will not be included. Note that we place an emphasis on upside, namely power and speed guys, while also prioritizing closeness to the majors when the value is close. Feel free to ask questions or drop a comment, we are always happy to discuss! Without further ado, onto the list!
Rank | Player | Organization | Level | Age | Projection | ETA |
26. | Anthony Alford | Toronto Blue Jays | AAA | 23 | .252/.334, 17 HRs, 22 SBs | Late 2018 |
27. | Heliot Ramos | San Francisco Giants | A | 19 | .241/.306, 25 HRs, 16 SBs | 2021 |
28. | Jose Siri | Cincinnati Reds | AA | 22 | .269/.294, 17 HRs, 19 SB | 2020 |
29. | Oscar Mercado | St. Louis Cardinals | AAA | 23 | .271/.333, 13 HRs, 18 SBs | Late 2018 |
30. | Leody Tavares | Texas Rangers | A | 19 | .273/.327, 13 HRs, 17 SBs | 2021 |
31. | Seuly Matias | Kansas City Royals | A | 19 | .231/.292, 31 HRs, 3 SBs | 2022 |
32. | Khalil Lee | Kansas City Royals | AA | 20 | .244/.340, 18 HRs, 11 SBs | Late 2019 |
33. | Jeisson Rosario | San Diego Padres | A | 18 | .278/.357, 15 HRs, 17 SBs | 2022 |
35. | Corey Ray | Milwaukee Brewers | AA | 23 | .240/.311, 16 HRs, 21 SBs | Late 2019 |
34. | Monte Harrison | Miami Marlins | AA | 22 | .234/.307, 18 HRs, 20 SBs | 2020 |
36. | Austin Hays | Baltimore Orioles | AA | 23 | .267/.303, 24 HRs, 3 SBs | Early 2019 |
37. | Kyle Lewis | Seattle Mariners | A+ | 23 | .263/.325, 22 HRs, 1 SB | Late 2019 |
38. | DJ Peters | Los Angeles Dodgers | AA | 22 | .236/.315, 26 HRs, 1 SBs | 2020 |
39. | Trevor Larnach | Minnesota Twins | 21 | .256/.344, 26 HRs, 2 SBs | 2021 | |
40. | Jhailyn Ortiz | Philadelphia Phillies | A | 19 | .237/.318, 27 HRs, 2 SBs | 2021 |
41. | Drew Waters | Atlanta Braves | A | 19 | .268/.319, 18 HRs, 14 SB | 2021 |
42. | Cedric Mullins | Baltimore Orioles | AAA | 23 | .273/.326, 15 HRs, 6 SBs | Mid 2019 |
43. | Ryan McKenna | Baltimore Orioles | AA | 21 | .265/.334, 15 HRs, 8 SBs | 2020 |
44. | Josh Naylor | San Diego Padres | AA | 21 | .274/.336, 19 HRs, 1 SB | 2020 |
45. | Tirso Ornelas | San Diego Padres | A | 18 | .274/.348, 20 HRs, 2 SBs | 2021 |
46. | Alexander Canario | San Francisco Giants | ROK | 18 | .273/.345, 19 HRs, 5 SBs | 2023 |
47. | George Valera | Cleveland Indians | ROK | 17 | .281/.352, 17 HRs, 3 SBs | 2023 |
48. | Kristian Robinson | Arizona Diamondbacks | ROK | 17 | .250/.328, 21 HRs, 16 SBs | 2023 |
49. | Julio Rodriguez | Seattle Mariners | ROK | 17 | .252/.337, 21 HRs, 3 SBs | 2022 |
50. | Lazaro Armentaros | Oakland Athletics | A | 19 | .246/.331, 20 HRs, 6 SBs | 2021 |
Adam’s thoughts:
- This list is building off of the top 25 OFer list from yesterday that my colleague Brennen Gorman released. I have focused on upside throughout a lot of this list and that’s why you’ll see lots of guys with ETA’s that are not particularly close. Most on this list offer interesting power and or speed upside and I think that’s more valuable than chasing closeness when you’re looking at OFer options this deep.
- Anthony Alford is the top name on this list, and I think if he proves he can stay healthy, he has major fantasy skills that could make him a really valuable player. He started 2018 slowly, struggling through May (played just 6 games in April due to injury) hitting just .148/.200/.164, but bounced back nicely in June slashing .276/.370/.471 with 3 HRs and 5 SBs. He’s close to the majors and has 60 raw power and 70-grade speed, that’s an intriguing player!
- The minors HR leader Seuly Matias (26 HRs as of this writing which is 2 clear of the next highest in the entire minors and 5 clear of the next highest in the South Atlantic League that Matias plays in currently) offers legit 70-grade raw power and he gets to it frequently. Unfortunately, that power comes with major contact issues as he currently has an awful 37.1% K rate and a very much below-average 23.4% swinging-strike rate (for reference, MLB average this year is 10.7%). The result is a high risk/high reward type of prospect.
- Jeisson Rosario is a very interesting prospect that seems to be underrated in a lot of fantasy baseball circles. He’s currently hitting .280/.385/.358 with just 1 HR but 16 SBs and is supporting that line with an impressive 13.8% walk rate and a 19.6% strikeout rate (9.3% swinging-strike rate). Scouts suggest that he has at least average raw power and if he can learn to tap into it more, he could be a well-rounded fantasy player in the mold of a Christian Yelich type.
- DJ Peters who is pictured above is another interesting power-hitting prospect with 70 raw power and the ability to get to it often. He currently has 18 HRs on the season and has a .240/.330/.476 line with it at AA. He impressed in Spring Training by hitting .409 and slugging .864 over 15 games.
- Trevor Larnach is the top-rated OFer on this list from the 2018 MLB draft. He’s currently unassigned after being a part of the College World Series champion Oregon State Beavers that delayed his MLB signing. He’s another power-hitting prospect with 70 raw power, and unlike some of the others, he has some decent bat control that is highlighted by a .348/.463/.652 line with a 20.9% K rate this season in the NCAA.
- There’s a very interesting group of talented teenage OF prospects at the bottom of the list that are all playing Rookie-Level ball this season. Alexander Canario is a tooled up CF prospect with elite bat speed and above-average bat control that was the Dominican Summer League All-Star game MVP last year. George Valera is perhaps the most polished hitter from the 2017 international amateur class and he’s handling an aggressive assignment this year well with as many walks as strikeouts so far. Kristian Robinson is very tooled up including 70 raw power and 60 speed but is more raw than the others on this list. And Julio Rodriguez offers plus raw power and strong approach that is highlighted by an impressive .333/.426/.492 line this year in the Dominican Summer League over 141 PAs. All have a chance to be special, and all should be on radars in dynasty leagues that roster 150ish prospects or more.
Jhailyn Ortiz is one of the more disappointing prospects for me this year. He excelled as one of the younger bats in the NYPL last summer. After the season, Phillies director of player development Joe Jordan said, “If you put every player in our system on a board and say every one of them gets to their potential, this guy would arguably be the best player. He has that kind of ability.”
His numbers have totally collapsed from last year. His line sits at 237/.294/.392. But he does have four homers in his last 10 games so maybe he’s turning it around
What happened to the top 150 hitting and pitching prospects scheduled for July 11 and 12? I was enjoying this series.
What happened tot his series?
when will you publish the rest of the series