Author Topic: Top Prospect Lists 2018-2019 (Read 19160 times)

juliogotay · « **Reply #80 on:** September 20, 2018, 01:50:32 pm »

Quote from: Nate Colbert on September 20, 2018, 09:59:59 am

BA doing their Top 20 Prospects by League, starting off today with the PCL.

Kyle Tucker at #1, Yordan Alvarez at #6 and Josh James at #16.

Exes: Ramon Laureano at #12 (calling the trade for Brandon Bailey the "steal of the offseason").

I'm going to choose to view Laureano situation as a matter of having too much OF talent in the system you can never have too much pitching. (Bailey).

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #81 on:** September 20, 2018, 04:43:54 pm »

Quote from: Nate Colbert on September 20, 2018, 09:59:59 am

BA doing their Top 20 Prospects by League, starting off today with the PCL.

Kyle Tucker at #1, Yordan Alvarez at #6 and Josh James at #16.

Exes: Ramon Laureano at #12 (calling the trade for Brandon Bailey the "steal of the offseason").

From the chat this afternoon:

Al (Austin): Any consideration for other Grizzlies Trent Thornton, Rogelio Armenteros and Garrett Stubbs?

Kyle Glaser: Yes. What pushed them out is everyone in the PCL Top 20 projects in an everyday role, while Armenteros, Thornton and Stubbs all project as big leaguers but in a situational role. Armenteros is 90-92, top 94 and doesn’t spin the ball well, so he’s not a starter, but his fastball and ridiculous changeup are enough for him to be a good bullpen piece. Thornton projects as a long man and Stubbs as a part-time catcher, mostly because he hasn’t shown he can hold up under a starter’s workload and few believe he can. All good players, all have a chance to be capable major leaguers, but the guys ahead of them are expected to be more prominent and impactful.

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #82 on:** September 21, 2018, 02:06:31 am »

Jim Callis in response to a question about the top 3 pitching farm systems:

[After naming the Padres and Braves as the top 2]

"Settling on the third-best pitching system is a tough call between the Astros, Rays, Tigers and Yankees. Houston and New York have the deepest crops of mound talent among that group, but I'm going to give a very slight edge to Tampa Bay."

https://www.mlb.com/news/top-under-the-radar-prospects-to-watch-in-afl/c-295333936?tid=151437456

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #83 on:** September 24, 2018, 06:37:13 pm »

BA with the AA lists this week. Eastern League Top 20 list was today and ex Daz Cameron was ranked 7th. Former Astros' progeny Ke'Bryan Hayes (#4) and Cavan Biggio (#14) also showed up on the list.

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #84 on:** September 26, 2018, 02:15:50 pm »

Sickels has a writeup today on Kit Scheetz:

Quote

He was impressive enough in the Texas League that he’s being mentioned as a possible bullpen asset over the next year or two.

His fastball is in the upper-80s, maybe a tad faster than in college but not by much. He has both two-seam and four-seam types and is adept at coaxing grounders. He mixes in a curveball and slider, and he has an unusual arm angle that adds some deception. He throws strikes and one source describes him as “utterly fearless” on the mound.

All told, Scheetz projects as a viable bullpen lefty and could get a shot within the next year or two if he continues pitching like this.

https://www.minorleagueball.com/2018/9/26/17902332/thoughts-on-houston-astros-prospect-kit-scheetz

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #85 on:** September 27, 2018, 11:22:41 am »

Quote from: Nate Colbert on September 24, 2018, 06:37:13 pm

BA with the AA lists this week. Eastern League Top 20 list was today and ex Daz Cameron was ranked 7th. Former Astros' progeny Ke'Bryan Hayes (#4) and Cavan Biggio (#14) also showed up on the list.

And the Texas League Top 20 list out today: Yordan Alvarez (#4), Corbin Martin (#8) and Cionel Perez (#11) were all on it.

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #86 on:** September 28, 2018, 11:50:02 am »

Terrific article from Jim Callis on instructs (list of players attending in the fall/winter ball thread) and of course the head-turners are the hurlers:

RHP Jayson Schroder has an "up to 97 mph [FB] with heavy sink, flashes a pair of solid breaking pitches and is starting to develop a changeup".
RHP R.J. Freure with the "hammer curveball and a fastball that topped out at 96 mph" and is looking to lose weight. As has been previously noted for him and a quoted Pete Putila reinforces, the stuff plays but strike-throwing still a work in process.
RHP Mark Moclair racks up his massive number of strikeouts to a high spin rate CB.
RHP J.P. France gets a Will Harris comp from Putila with his low 90s FB featuring "natural cut" to go along with his CB.
RHP Manny Ramirez cited for his explosive arm and a FB sitting 95-97.
Position player to pitcher conversion Antonio Nunez has a fastball that touches 98. Putila: "It's something we haven't done a great job historically with, so we're trying to be more diligent finding position guys with arm strength to try on the mound."

https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-instructs-full-of-impressive-pitchers/c-296346636?tid=151437456

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #87 on:** September 28, 2018, 12:08:38 pm »

Brandon Bielak (#14) and JJ Matijevic (#19) on the Carolina League Top 20 Prospects list from BA. JB Bukauskas and Jairo Solis were noted as not having enough appearances to qualify.

From the chat, apparently Tyler Ivey wasn't far off from making the list. Scouts still like Jonathan Arauz's glove even while the bat remains a huge question mark.

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #88 on:** October 03, 2018, 03:52:22 pm »

Quote from: Nate Colbert on June 22, 2018, 08:21:44 pm

MLB.com did their midseason re-shuffle of their Top 100 Prospect rankings. Tucker moves up from #17 in their preseason rankings to #10 currently, Whitley drops slightly from #9 to #11 and Yordan Alvarez moves on to the list at #54.

And now they have their end of season Top 100 rankings:

5. Tucker
8. Whitley
42. Alvarez
95. Josh James

http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2018?list=prospects

jbm · « **Reply #89 on:** October 03, 2018, 04:04:17 pm »

Quote from: Nate Colbert on October 03, 2018, 03:52:22 pm

And now they have their end of season Top 100 rankings:

5. Tucker
8. Whitley
42. Alvarez
95. Josh James

http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2018?list=prospects

If James is still eligible for the list, slotting him at 95 is comical. Sometimes, you just need to forget previous rankings and age considerations and just trust your eyes. If you held a draft with only those 100, he's going in the first round.

Lefty · « **Reply #90 on:** October 03, 2018, 07:56:47 pm »

Quote from: jbm on October 03, 2018, 04:04:17 pm

If James is still eligible for the list, slotting him at 95 is comical. Sometimes, you just need to forget previous rankings and age considerations and just trust your eyes. If you held a draft with only those 100, he's going in the first round.

How many of that top 100 have a chance to impact the postseason this year?

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #91 on:** October 09, 2018, 06:32:11 pm »

BA with their Top 20 NYPL Prospects list today. Alex McKenna was the 7th ranked prospect in the league though the description of his future defensive role was disappointing--playable in CF in limited exposures only due to "only average speed and a fringe-average arm".

Ex Gilberto Celestino was the #1-rated prospect.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/new-york-penn-league-top-20-prospects/ (subscribers only)

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #92 on:** October 11, 2018, 05:14:51 pm »

An Elian Rodriguez sighting from instructs:

"The fastball worked between 91-to-94 mph with both two-seam and four-seam grips mixed in. He showed high-spin ride up in the zone on the four-seam and consistent armside run when mixing the sinker, commanding spots better to the third base side of the plate. Rodriguez’ 78-to-80 mph curveball is the separator, a pitch with above-average potential given its flashes of tight spin and sharp down action. Rodriguez is a prospect on the strength of his potential for two above-average pitches in the fastball and curve. Realistically, guys who have big stuff and struggle to find the zone like this wind up in the ‘pen, but I’ll be interested to see if Rodriguez can turn a corner next year—and if he’ll start 2019 with a full-season club after a slow crawl through the lowest rungs of Houston’s system."

https://2080baseball.com/spotlight/elian-rodriguez/

And a Matt Ruppenthal sighting as well:

FB 90-92; Has shown more than low-90s in the past. Elevates often to take advantage of quality FB ride due to high spin rate.
CB 80-82; Hard spin, tight rotation, shapely down action. Separator, has a feel for it, big league breaking ball.
FB/CB primary two pitches. Very aggressive with CB, throws frequently, works with predictable FB up, CB down approach.

https://2080baseball.com/spotlight/matt-ruppenthal/

Also a report on Mark Moclair:

FB 93-95; Above-avg velo, consistent mid-90s. Late hop up in the zone, limited lateral movement otherwise.
CB 78-80; Tight spin with sharp bite and above-avg depth. Big league curveball.
CH 84-85; Third pitch, but in his mix. Shows it more to lefties, flashes dive action down to armside.
SUMMARY: Showed interesting three-pitch mix in a quick instructs look, want to see more. Fits middle relief profile.

https://2080baseball.com/spotlight/mark-moclair-instructs-notes/

Video only on a number of other players:

RHP Antonio Nunez (93-96 FB, 82-85 SL, vid shows lots of control problems as one would expect) https://2080baseball.com/draft-prospect-video/antonio-nunez/
RHP Gabriel Valdez (92-95 FB, 81-85 SL) https://2080baseball.com/draft-prospect-video/gabriel-valdez/
RHP Jose Rivera (91-95 FB, 79-80 CB, 87-89 SL, 82-83 CH) https://2080baseball.com/draft-prospect-video/jose-alberto-rivera/
RHP Manny Ramirez (93-96 FB, 79-80 CB, 87-89 CH) https://2080baseball.com/draft-prospect-video/manny-ramirez/
RHP Tommy DeJuneas (93-96 FB, 86-89 SL, 85-88 CH) https://2080baseball.com/draft-prospect-video/tommy-dejuneas-2/

The video on DeJuneas was actually from a Carolina League playoff back on Sep. 5 rather than from instructs.

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #93 on:** October 11, 2018, 05:31:29 pm »

Found some add'l info on Saldana here at https://2080baseball.com/draft-prospect-video/abdiel-saldana/ and am modifying the earlier writeup I did on him accordingly:

RHP Abdiel Saldana
The smallish (he's listed at 5'11") Panamanian has spent 5 years with the Astros but is still just 22. Excellent numbers this year for BC with 100 punchouts and just 26 free passes in 108 innings. And he allowed just 1 HR all season. Not surprising then that he led the minor leagues with a 2.38 FIP (minimum: 100 IP). 90-92 FB, 83-84 SL, 77 CB, 85-86 CH. Apparently that changeup is quite the killer--teammate Carson LaRue called it "absolutely unbelievable" in a WTHB interview last year.

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #94 on:** October 12, 2018, 10:29:36 pm »

https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/using-fly-ball-distance-to-find-sleeper-prospects/

I have a number of problems with certain aspects of the article but overall an interesting attempt to correlate avg FB distance and player age versus future major league success. From an Astros' fan perspective, the section on "Double-A FB Dist+ & Age" would be of most interest. You get your Yordan Alvarez accolades plus you see Andy Pineda identified as a sleeper prospect. That's of course the V-Cats outfielder who spent 16 games and 71 plate appearances with the Hooks. Which would seem an awfully small sample size to be drawing an inference on but what the heck do I know.

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #95 on:** October 15, 2018, 03:25:37 pm »

BA with their Top 20 GCL Prospects list today. SS Freudis Nova comes in at #8 on the list.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/gulf-coast-league-top-20-prospects/

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #96 on:** October 18, 2018, 06:10:50 pm »

From today's MLB Pipeline Q&A:

Question: Which Arizona Fall League player not currently in the top 100 do you anticipate making the biggest jump into the rankings?

Jim Callis: My answer to this one is that Astros right-hander J.B. Bukasukas should make the biggest leap next year among AFL players not on our Top 100 Prospects list. Now that he's healthy, Bukauskas could advance rapidly. It's still uncertain whether he'll be a starter or reliever in the long run, but if he can harness his impressive stuff he should make an impact in either role.

https://www.mlb.com/news/afl-players-likely-to-make-next-years-top-100/c-298099314?tid=151437456

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #97 on:** October 19, 2018, 12:44:59 am »

Asked about other guys who have stood out thus in Arizona Fall League...

Quote

Eric A Longenhagen: Sure, Trammell looks as expected (which is good), Abraham Toro-Hernandez and Luis Barrera have been terrific. Lots of guys, it’s a great league.

This shit is almost becoming boring regards Whitley...

Quote

Eric A Longenhagen: Have seen him twice: 93-97 t98 with big downhill plane, plus-plus changeup in the low-80s with vertical action. 11-5 curveball is a 60, slider and cutter each flash 60. Doesn’t have surgical command but he locates his stuff in general areas where they’ll play (the cutter is always to his glove side and when it misses, it misses off the plate away where he can’t get hurt, etc.) He has monster stuff.

https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/eric-longenhagen-chat-10-18-18/

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #98 on:** October 24, 2018, 07:46:43 pm »

The takeaway might disappoint some but I think a fairly positive view on Ronnie Dawson based on looks in the AFL:

"Lacks bat for everyday role on contender. Ideal 4th-OF with ability to play all three OF positions and contribute adequate offense in bench role."

https://2080baseball.com/reports/ronnie-dawson-2/

And a not so optimistic take on JBB, again based on recent looks in the AFL:

"Mid-rotation stuff but lacks command and durability to profile in rotation. Leans heavily on secondaries to turn lineups over; will struggle third time through lineup; best fits leverage, multi-inning RP role where he can handle innings load."

https://2080baseball.com/reports/j-b-bukauskas/

Nate Colbert · « **Reply #99 on:** October 26, 2018, 07:12:07 pm »

Interesting quote from Mike Elias re Ronnie Dawson:

"(Dawson) has taken his speed and gone from, frankly, someone that we viewed as just an OK left fielder in college to now a really good minor league center fielder,” Elias said. "It gives him more bandwidth in terms of moving up the chain if he can play center field. It gives him more margin for error with the bat.”

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/ronnie-dawson-emerges-as-all-around-threat/