Top 100 MLB prospects 2022: Keith Law’s rankings, with Orioles’ Adley Rutschman at No. 1

Welcome to this year’s ranking of the top 100 prospects in baseball. I’ve been compiling and writing such rankings for 15 years now, and those of you who’ve read them before will find the format here similar to those from the recent past. Today kicks off the prospect package with that top 100. My organization rankings, farm reports covering at least 20 prospects in each team’s system, and notes on prospects who might appear in the majors this year or who might be breakout prospects for the 2023 rankings will appear the week of Feb. 7.

We had a semi-normal year in 2021, with most of the minor-league season, just a bit delayed, and the welcome return of the Arizona Fall League, which allowed me to get out and see more players than I had the year before (albeit not as many as I did in 2019 and prior). I’m hoping this spring will bring something closer to the Before Times, although at this point, I’m more concerned about the impact of the lockout than from the pandemic. Fortunately, for the purposes of this list, I was able to speak to my usual sources in player development and scouting to gather information on players, and had access to the data I would expect to have from a typical minor-league season.

I tend to favor upside in prospects more than certainty, but there is value in both. A player who is all ceiling and no floor isn’t as valuable, in the trade market now or in considering his expected value in the long term, as one who has a somewhat lower ceiling but a much higher floor. I want players who might be stars, and after that I want players who might be above-average big leaguers — but I also try to keep in mind that many of these prospects won’t reach their ceilings, and to consider what other scenarios exist for their futures.

I refer to grades throughout the prospect rankings on the 20-80 scouting scale, where 50 is major-league average, 80 is the highest possible score, and 20 is the lowest. I’ll also use similar language, referring to tools that are above (a grade of 55) or below average (45 or less), or referring to plus (60) or even plus-plus (70) or maybe you should try another line of work (35). I try to discuss players’ tools, their frames, their level of athleticism and other physical attributes, as well as their skills, their aptitude, and other mental or intellectual attributes as well. This is comparable to how major-league teams evaluate players, although they will always have the advantage of access to more and better data than those of us on the outside can get. The least I can do for you is try to reflect how the industry thinks about players, and give you the most accurate possible picture of the prospects in these rankings through both the lens of my own evaluations and those of the people within the industry whom I most trust.

To be eligible for these rankings, a player must still be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award in 2022, which means they may not have more than 130 at-bats, 50 innings pitched, or 45 days on an active major-league roster heading into this season. Days on the roster in September now count against the rookie threshold, whereas days on the active roster in any September prior to 2020 do not count, a change MLB made to the rookie eligibility rules in 2020. Thus new Washington catcher Keibert Ruiz, who has 46 days on active rosters in the last two years, no longer qualifies. I also exclude players who have come here as free agents from Japan’s NPB or Korea’s KBO, because while they are rookies (and I would vote for them if I have a Rookie of the Year ballot), they are not prospects by my definition.

Note: All ages are seasonal ages, which refers to a player’s age at the midpoint of the year, so July 1, 2022.

1. Adley Rutschman, C, Baltimore Orioles

Age: 24 (as of 7/1/2022) | 6-foot-2 | 220 pounds
Bats: Both | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 1 in 2019

Previous ranking: No. 6

Rutschman answered every possible question he could have answered in a superlative 2021 season, one that, in a world that wasn’t addled by service time considerations, would have ended with him in the major leagues. He hit .271/.392/.508 in Double A, more than earned a promotion to Triple A, and hit better there (.312/.405/.490), walking nearly as often as he struck out on the season. That performance would probably make him a top-20 prospect even as a right fielder, but that he did so as a strong defensive catcher in every aspect of the game is what makes him the No. 1 overall prospect.

Rutschman is an outstanding receiver and game-caller, with a plus arm and a long history of showing advanced feel for the less concrete aspects of the catcher’s job. His grandfather, Ad Rutschman, was a longtime coach at NAIA Linfield College and the only person to win national championships as a coach in both baseball and football; his father, Randy, also has extensive coaching experience, particularly working with catchers.

Adley shows exceptional selectivity at the plate, rarely chasing, with a strikeout rate that put him in the top 15 percent of all Double-A and Triple-A hitters last year. His right-handed swing could get long in college, but in a small sample last year, he had better results hitting right-handed than left-handed. The only thing I see that could hold him back is the wear and tear of the position. A switch-hitting catcher with power, plate discipline and excellent defense across the board? Orioles fans should march on Camden Yards if he’s not the Opening Day starter.

2. Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Kansas City Royals

Age: 22 | 6-1 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 2 in 2019

Previous ranking: No. 27

This was as close a call between the top two prospects that I can recall having, probably since my No. 1 and 2 were named Mike and Bryce before the 2011 season — and having Witt second here is no slight to him. Witt destroyed Double-A and Triple-A pitching last year as a 21-year-old with just 37 games of experience outside of high school, all of that coming in the Arizona Rookie League in 2019. He did go to the Royals’ alternate site in 2020, gaining significant experience against older pitching — many of them players who would appear in the majors for Kansas City in 2021 — which may have helped him progress despite the lack of actual games. He also came into power sooner than I expected, with 33 homers on the season, half coming in Double A with the minor-league ball, so this wasn’t some Triple-A mirage.

Witt’s tools package is among the best in the game: He’s at least a 70 runner, has an 80 arm, has plus power, and his hands and feet make him a plus glove at shortstop. There’s some thought he might outgrow the position in time, though that’s hardly a lock. Witt’s father, the former Rangers starter and No. 3 pick in 1985, has a similar frame and did not become overly broad or heavy, even in retirement. It’s possible the Royals would move Witt Jr. to accommodate another shortstop, but I see his future on defense as similar to the career so far of Carlos Correa. The majority of scouts thought Correa would outgrow the position, but he has stayed lean and been an above-average defender throughout his major-league tenure. The one knock here, and it is a small one, is that Witt has some swing and miss in his game, with a tendency to get too long and overrotate just a little — something he may very well improve once he has a few hundred at bats in the majors under his belt. Right now, it’s the only separator between him and Rutschman. They both belong in the majors now and both have MVP-level upside.

3. Riley Greene, OF, Detroit Tigers

Age: 21 | 6-3 | 200 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 5 in 2019

Previous ranking: No. 34

Greene spent all of 2021 in the high minors, finishing with 40 games in Triple A, at age 20, with a performance that would have been impressive if he’d done it in A-ball. Greene has wicked bat speed, has already come into plus power with the chance for more, and has become a better runner and defender since entering pro ball. He’s more than playable in center, at least for now, and would probably be plus in either corner if he either outgrows the middle or is bumped for a better defensive centerfielder. One shocking negative in his stat line in 2021 is that he was caught stealing for the first time in his career, dropping his stolen base percentage all the way to 95 percent. (He’s 21 for 22.) He swings hard and can roll over his front foot, causing him to pull off the ball just slightly or swing over some pitches, reason enough that he would probably be better served returning to Triple A for the first month or so of this season rather than jumping right to the majors. There will probably always be some swing and miss to his game, but he makes such consistently hard contact that he looks like he’ll hit for average and power even if he punches out 27-28 percent of the time. I could see .300/.400/.550 seasons here, and if does that in centerfield, he’ll be on the shortlist of candidates for the best player in baseball.

4. Spencer Torkelson, 1B, Detroit Tigers

Age: 22 | 6-1 | 220 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 1 in 2020

Previous ranking: No. 18

Thank goodness the third-base experiment with Torkelson is over. He wasn’t good over there, but more importantly, it was a waste of everyone’s time, as his bat is clearly ready for the majors right now and any experiment with him at another position just threatened to slow his progress. He’s a monster at the plate with patience and power, great pitch recognition, and a solid two-strike approach. (The younger audience members might be unfamiliar with this term: It’s when a hitter changes his approach in any count with two strikes to try to reduce his chances of striking out and increase the chances of putting the ball in play, usually at the cost of some power. Most hitters used to do this. I swear.) Torkelson has all-fields power, and now that the hot corner is off the table, he should be more than adequate on defense at first base, with more time to improve now that he’s not trying to learn another position. The one area where he might fall short of expectations is in batting average, which did drop at each promotion he had in 2021. That’s the worst-case scenario. If he ends up a .250ish hitter it might seem like a disappointment, even though he’ll probably pile 75-plus walks and 30-odd homers on top of that, enough to make him a huge impact bat in the middle of a lineup.

5. CJ Abrams, SS, San Diego Padres

Age: 21 | 6-2 | 185 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 6 in 2019

Previous ranking: No. 8

Abrams’ year got off to an incredible start, as he hit .296/.363/.420 in 42 games for Double-A San Antonio, with 13 steals in 15 attempts to go along with it, all at 20 years old. Then everything went wrong. He fractured his left tibia and sprained the MCL in his left knee in a collision at second base the week before the Futures Game, missed the rest of the regular season, then bruised his left shoulder in Instructional league and missed the Arizona Fall League. The calamities probably cost him about 300 at-bats, and the broken leg meant he didn’t get the chance to move up to Triple A and face better competition in the second half. Abrams is an 80 runner with reports from instructs that he was running fine again, and a plus defender at shortstop with great actions and a quick release on throws. He could, if necessary, move to centerfield, where his speed would give him a chance to be plus, as well. He has great bat speed and has been working on adding strength to get more in-game power, although we didn’t see any of that in his brief time playing in 2021. He might have been ready to see the majors by now if he had been healthy in the second half, but he missed the time to work on small adjustments, like recognizing pitch types and locations from older pitchers who have better secondary stuff and command. He still projects as a star, whether at short or in center, especially if his elite speed is intact after that gruesome injury.

6. Gabriel Moreno, C, Toronto Blue Jays

Age: 22 | 5-11 | 160 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked/sleeper

Moreno exploded in Double A to start 2021, hitting a hilarious .373/.441/.651 in 32 games for New Hampshire, before a pitch broke one of his thumbs and kept him out more than two months. He returned for a few games in September in Triple A, then went to the Arizona Fall League and the Venezuelan Winter League, getting another 40 games of reps and raking in both places. Moreno is an incredibly athletic catcher, moving extremely well behind the plate, and has an above-average arm. He’s an above-average defender, handling short hops well and showing great facility to move the glove around, but could easily slide to other positions if the need arose, especially third base. At the plate, Moreno has a short, quick stroke that leads to a lot of contact. He has excellent plate coverage as well, so he doesn’t run many deep counts, at least not yet, and might end up getting most of his on-base percentage from his high batting averages. A premium defender behind the plate who puts the ball in play a ton and has some pop is a potential impact player on both sides of the ball, and his unusual athleticism for the position makes him the type of player you should bet will improve when he needs to.

7. Shane Baz, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

Age: 23 | 6-2 | 190 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 12 in 2017

Previous ranking: No. 69

The world got a glimpse of what Baz can do in his brief time in the majors last year. In three starts, he faced 49 batters, struck out 18 of them (37 percent) and walked just three. That came on top of an incredible run through the minors (and a stint in the Olympics), where Baz carved up Double-A and Triple-A hitters at similar rates, with 113 strikeouts and 13 walks between those levels. What you saw in the majors is what Baz can do as a starter: He can bump triple digits and will sit in the mid-to-upper 90s, although he sometimes starts out games with lower velocities and builds as the game goes along. His slider is a wipeout pitch, a grade 70 offering at its best, and his curveball has become an above-average or better weapon as well; major-league hitters had trouble with both pitches, and they both have strong spin rates. He barely used his changeup in the big leagues but has a solid/average one for a real four-pitch mix. The surprise in Baz’s development is how good his command and control have become. He fills up the strike zone and has already shown a feel for pitching that perhaps wasn’t evident when he was blowing away high school hitters with velocity. He looks every bit like a No. 1 starter, and he’s got the track record of durability so far to back that up.

8. Francisco Alvarez, C, New York Mets

Age: 20 | 5-10 | 233 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: No. 19

Alvarez was so good in Low-A St. Lucie to start the year that the Mets bumped him up to High A after just 15 games, even though he was just 19. He then hit .247/.351/.538 as the youngest regular anywhere in High A last year, making him one of the most productive hitters at that level, with a strikeout rate right around the median. Alvarez’s swing is easy and quick — his hand acceleration is great, and he’s very balanced from when he starts moving his hands through contact. And he’s a catcher with a plus arm and at least adequate/fringy receiving already, but enough agility to improve back there with more reps. He has 20-plus homer power already, with 30-plus in his near-term outlook, and he’s going to hit for higher averages once he’s no longer the youngest player at his level. The only knock on Alvarez’s upside is that he has a more mature body than some of the other catching prospects of his age around the game, so he may not have much more power coming to him, but the response is that he has plus game power already, and if this is all there ever is, so what? He could be as mobile as a statue and still be an above-average regular for a catcher with — dare I say it — a Mike Piazza-like upside if his bat keeps improving.

9. Julio Rodríguez, OF, Seattle Mariners

Age: 21 | 6-3 | 180 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: No. 24

Rodríguez is an offensive force, obliterating two levels last year at age 20, with high batting averages, patience and big power — enough that he could have at least gone to Triple A later in the season. The most impressive aspect of his pro career so far is how well he controls the strike zone, including making so much contact, despite long levers and a big swing. That swing is very easy, though, with good hip rotation and huge power to his pull side. He’s also shown the ability to go the other way for softer contact, a tremendous skill for a hitter who hadn’t shown anywhere near that advanced an approach before last season. Rodríguez is a 55 runner, if not a 60; and played some center this year, looking capable out there, although his size is going to lead him to a corner sooner rather than later. Rodríguez’s 2021 season answered a lot of questions about how good a hitter he was, and while there are still some adjustments to come as he faces pitchers who can better locate their offspeed stuff, he looks like a long-term cleanup hitter who’ll challenge for MVP awards with 30-40 homers, high OBPs and, at least, solid defense in right field.

10. Anthony Volpe, SS, New York Yankees

Age: 21 | 5-11 | 180 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 30 in 2019

Previous ranking: Unranked

Volpe was the Yanks’ first-round pick in 2019, off the same high school team as this past year’s No. 2 overall pick, Jack Leiter. Volpe was the shortstop on that club, but wasn’t the traditional, tooled-out high school shortstop; he was praised for his baseball IQ, his instincts, his feel for the game, but didn’t have a clearly plus tool at the time, or even that summer in short-season Pulaski. (Full disclosure: I thought the pick was a huge reach and had Volpe wildly under-ranked as recently as last February. I was wrong.) Volpe worked hard during the pandemic to add strength, and it’s evident now that he had a few plus tools all along, including his ability to hit and to play shortstop. He’s making better quality contact and driving the ball at a better angle now too, while his understanding of the strike zone looks like it’s elite. He hit .294/.423/.604 between Low A and High A as a 20-year-old, with 27 homers and 33 steals in 42 attempts, while playing above-average to plus defense at short all year. He’s almost certainly the reason the Yankees haven’t gone after one of the big shortstop free agents this winter, and I think they’re right. He’s going to be a star, and very soon at that.

11. Noelvi Marte, SS, Seattle Mariners

Age: 20 | 6-1 | 181 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked/sleeper

Marte’s U.S. debut went rather well, as he hit .271/.368/.463 as a 19-year-old in Low A, tying for sixth among all Low A hitters with 17 homers, while finishing in the top 15 at the level in both doubles and walks. Marte has a very easy swing with quick hands and already makes consistent, hard contact despite only turning 20 in October. He already has above-average game power and should end up firmly in the plus power range, with 25-plus homers a year in his peak, while he’s a plus runner who’s shown some aptitude for base stealing already. He’s a shortstop right now who could stay there if he doesn’t get too big, but might end up outgrowing the position and moving to third base, for which he already has the arm and hands to be a 55 or 60 defender. If he stays at short, he could be a top-five player in baseball with this combination of approach, power and speed, while even at third base he should end up among the best players at his position in the majors, and he’s probably no more than two years away from making his debut.

12. Hunter Greene, RHP, Cincinnati Reds

Age: 22 | 6-5 | 230 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 2 in 2017

Previous ranking: No. 28

Greene will hit 98-101 mph as a starter most nights, and has been up to 104 mph in games, although I don’t think that’s necessary or even advisable for him to try to do too often. Since being the second overall pick in 2017, he’s shown remarkable progress as a pitcher. In high school, he had the same incredible arm strength, but his offspeed stuff wasn’t great and he was also serving as his team’s shortstop, showing some power at the plate but below-average bat speed. He’s added a slider in pro ball, a pitch that’s already average to above-average and should end up plus given his arm speed; while he’s also improved his changeup substantially, allowing him to close his platoon split by more than half since 2018. His fastball doesn’t have great life or spin, so the continued development of those offspeed pitches is key. Greene had Tommy John surgery in 2018, then missed 2019 while rehabbing and 2020 to the pandemic, so he’d gone 33 months between regulation games when he took the mound this past May. He dominated Double A, and his home run troubles in Triple A boiled down to two disaster starts (seven home runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings), outside of which he had little trouble with the longball. His bigger issue remains allowing more good contact than he should given his stuff, but the trend line is positive as he continues to develop his arsenal. Greene was scratched from one August start with irritation in the AC joint of his throwing shoulder, returned to make five more starts, then was shut down as he reached his innings limit for the year, with 106 1/3 innings in his first year back, along with 139 strikeouts — enough to put him in the top 30 in minor league baseball. He’ll see the majors this year, and if nothing else, big league hitters will force him to use his whole repertoire and make more adjustments. His ranking here is a bet on that continued growth, on his incredible athleticism and makeup, and that he’ll end up outperforming other pitchers who’ve had better results in the minors so far.

13. Diego Cartaya, C, Los Angeles Dodgers

Age: 20 | 6-3 | 219 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: No. 75

We shouldn’t get too excited over any player’s 31-game sample, but Cartaya was already a serious prospect before this past season, receiving a $2.5 million bonus in 2018, then performing well in the Arizona Rookie League in 2019. He got into 31 games this year in Low A before a bad hamstring strain in late July ended his season, but he hit .298/.409/.614 when he played, with consistently high exit velocities and solid plate discipline all at 19 years old. Cartaya is going to be a monster at the plate with patience and power, and he’s improving as a defender across the board with enough of a baseline to leave no doubt that he’ll stay at the position. He needs more reps as a hitter and catcher, of course, with just 80 pro games under his belt, but he’s already so skilled for his age that he has No. 1 overall prospect upside.

14. Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Baltimore Orioles

Age: 22 | 6-5 | 220 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 11 in 2018

Previous ranking: No. 55

Rodriguez’s 2021 stat line is just comical: He struck out 161 batters in 103 innings across High A and Double A, good for a 40.4 percent strikeout rate, which was the highest of any pitcher in the full-season minors last year. He walked just 27 batters, was hard to hit, and only gave up 10 homers. He couldn’t have dominated any more given the way that Baltimore used him. Rodriguez gets it done with a big fastball (96-99 mph), and you can see from hitters’ reactions that the ball gets to them faster than they expect, resulting in some ugly swings even on fastballs out of the zone. He works with four pitches, with the slider the most promising; his curveball lacks the power it should have, and at least at these levels, his changeup has come out more like a BP fastball, especially since it has more spin than those pitches typically have and doesn’t get the same kind of action. He’s built like a workhorse starter, and his long stride makes great use of his 6-5 frame, although his arm can be a touch late, catching up because he generates such great arm speed. As I’ve written before, the Orioles have heavily restricted Rodriguez’s usage, so that he’s never thrown more than 100 pitches in a pro game, and in 2021 he never threw more than 89. Will the stuff be different when he’s planning to throw 95-105 pitches every time out, and might face hitters three times? We’re still just speculating. That’s not his fault, though, and his performance last year was unimpeachable.

15. Marco Luciano, SS, San Francisco Giants

Age: 20 | 6-2 | 178 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: No. 31

The Giants signed Luciano for $2.6 million in 2018, in the Before Times, for his physical projection and explosive bat speed. He’s already started to show some of that on the field, hitting 18 homers in 70 games in Low A last year, with a .278/.373/.556 overall line at the level — outstanding for a 19-year-old who was among the youngest players in his league. The Giants bumped him up to High A in August, and he struggled, punching out more than a third of the time without any power to show for it — a sign of his inexperience and difficulty laying off pitches he can’t drive. He has extremely quick hands and swings hard most of the time, and the ball flies off his bat with power from his pull side all the way over to right-center. Luciano is not a shortstop; yes, he played shortstop exclusively last year, but at 19 he is already a big kid, and he’s going to get bigger. The question around his position is not whether he can stay at short, but whether he can stay on the dirt. He has very sure hands and he’s athletic enough to do it, but he’s going to be the size of a strong safety before he’s 24, and he might end up in right field. His bat will still profile there, but he’ll lose some value with each move down the defensive spectrum. There’s huge upside here — maybe a third baseman who hits 35 homers a year with some walks — but also some risk in the hit tool and size, which could push him to an outfield corner when he reaches his peak.

16. Corbin Carroll, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks

Age: 21 | 5-10 | 165 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 16 in 2019

Previous ranking: No. 23

Carroll’s 2021 season ended after just seven games, when he suffered a significant injury to his non-throwing shoulder on a home-run swing and had to undergo surgery to repair it. He started off on fire, going 10 for 23 with two homers, but now he’s entering his age-21 season with just 215 pro plate appearances, none above High A. Carroll spent much of the rest of 2021 sitting in the front row at Chase Field with scouts, asking questions to try to make something of the lost year, while also rehabbing intensively every day over at Salt River. Carroll is a five-tool talent who could have been a candidate for the first overall pick if he were taller, but there’s plenty of power and bat speed in his 5-10 frame, and he should be a plus defender in center with plus-plus speed. The one real question about him, beyond specious complaints about his height from scouts who’ve listened to too much Skee-Lo, was how he’d fare against better pitching than the private-school competition he faced in high school. The limited sample we have so far is encouraging, and every scout who’s seen him seems to come away believing he’ll end up with a 60 hit tool. He has .300/.400 AVG/OBP potential, and a full season this year would probably put him in the overall top 5.

17. Nolan Gorman, 2B/3B, St. Louis Cardinals

Age: 22 | 6-1 | 210 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 19 in 2018

Previous ranking: No. 57

Gorman has always had power, but so much of the rest of his game was in question that the Cardinals were able to get his grade-80 power with the 19th overall pick back in 2018. He struck out 152 times in his first full pro season in 2019, including a 32 percent strikeout rate in High A, with somewhat less game power than expected. He made a huge leap in 2021, however, cutting his K rate to 22 percent, even though he spent the majority of the season in Triple A as a 21-year-old who entered the year with no experience above A-ball. It is easy power, too, thanks to a combination of aggressive hip rotation from a wide stance and a strong lower half. Gorman has worked on his defense to become passable at third or second, with room for further improvement, although he’s probably never going to be more than an average (net zero runs) defender at either spot. His bat will carry him — there’s still 35-40 home run power in there, and given the rapid improvement in his approach in 2021, there’s a greater chance than ever that he’ll get to it.

18. Marcelo Mayer, SS, Boston Red Sox

Age: 19 | 6-3 | 188 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 4 in 2021

Previous ranking: Ineligible

Mayer was the best high school prospect in the 2021 draft class, and the Red Sox were ecstatic to get him with the No. 4 pick, landing a high-upside hitter at one of the most important positions on the field. Mayer repeats his swing well, with good balance throughout, and his strong wrists and forearms point to more future power than his wiry frame might imply. Some small swing changes to help him transfer his weight through contact could unlock that power in short order, even before he fills out. He has excellent hands and strong lateral range at shortstop, with no doubt he stays there and the potential to end up plus. He showed solid command of the strike zone in the Florida Complex League this summer and had the advantage of facing better competition as a high schooler in California than most hitters elsewhere in the country, so there’s cause to believe he’ll be a solid on-base guy, as well. There’s a lot to work with here on top of a very strong foundation of defensive and offensive skills, giving Mayer a solid floor as a soft regular and the upside of a No. 2 hitter who saves 5 to 10 runs a year with his glove.

19. Reid Detmers, LHP, Los Angeles Angels

Age: 22 | 6-2 | 210 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 10 in 2020

Previous ranking: No. 65

Detmers’ major-league debut was a bit rocky, but bear in mind that he was just over a year out of the draft, missed most of 2020 due to the pandemic, and was working this year with bigger velocity that may require some more time for him to learn to use effectively. Detmers was a command lefty in college, earning 60 (plus) grades from scouts, but had a lower projection than other college starters because he was at 88-92 mph and didn’t have a clear knockout pitch. His velocity picked up in 2021, to the point where he averaged 93 mph on his four-seamer in the big leagues, and his slider improved as a result of the new arm strength. There’s natural deception in Detmers’ delivery, as his slider and curve come out with movement diametrically opposed to his fastball (and his rarely-used changeup, a distant fourth pitch for him), but he struggled in the majors with location. Maybe it was the different baseball, or learning to harness the new velocity, but Detmers had a track record in college of doing … not this, fastballs middle-up and sliders close to the heart of the zone. His ceiling now is tied to whether any of his pitches emerges as a clear swing-and-miss offering, but if he returns to plus command of a repertoire that should have three grade-55 pitches, that’s a solid No. 2 starter on any staff.

20. Henry Davis, C, Pittsburgh Pirates

Age: 22 | 6-2 | 210 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 1 in 2021

Previous ranking: Ineligible

Davis was the No. 1 pick in 2021, giving the Pirates the draft’s best college prospect while also allowing them to sign two other first-round talents with later picks in Anthony Solometo and Bubba Chandler. Davis is an offensive catcher with outstanding bat-to-ball and pitch recognition skills, along with plus game power. Behind the plate, his best tool is his cannon arm, but he faces the challenge of working on receiving and blocking as he also has to learn how to call a game and lead a staff. (This is yet another argument for college coaches to let experienced catchers call their own games.) He has an excellent work ethic and is a sponge for new information, which bodes well for his transition to catching regularly in pro ball this year. His bat should allow him to reach the majors as quickly as his glove develops, and this kind of offensive profile — contact, OBP with power — would make him a potential All-Star for that position.

21. Josh Lowe, OF, Tampa Bay Rays

Age: 24 | 6-4 | 205 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 13 in 2016

Previous ranking: No. 59

Lowe had his best year as a pro in 2021, moving up to Triple A and setting career bests in homers, walks, doubles, slugging, OBP, batting average and stolen base success rate (he was 27 for 27, which will be hard to top). The Rays’ first-rounder back in 2016, Lowe has made steady progress up the system and had his one injury come during the lost 2020 season. The 2021 season was the first season where he had everything working, showing off his plus power and plus run tools, as well as his ability to get on base. Lowe was a third baseman and pitcher in high school but the Rays converted him to centerfield in his first full pro season, and he’s become an above-average defender there, with the arm to profile in right as well. He has 20 homer/20 steal potential, along with the patience to post OBPs above .350, which would make him at least an above-average regular wherever he plays, with 5-WAR upside if that 20/20 becomes more like 30/20.

22. Brayan Rocchio, SS, Cleveland Guardians

Age: 21 | 5-10 | 170 pounds
Bats: Both | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: No. 99

Rocchio is a switch-hitting shortstop with surprising pop for his size, above-average defense at short and a great feel for the game on both sides of the ball. I apologize if I’ve inadvertently reminded Guardians fans of anyone in particular. Rocchio does a little of everything, and his 2021 season, where he went .277/.346/.460 between High A and Double A as a 20-year-old, is even more impressive given that he didn’t get to play anywhere in 2020, not even the Guardians’ alternate site. Rocchio has a short swing with quick wrists, but he generates more power than you might guess for a wiry 5-10 middle infielder, with real strength in his wrists, with 15 homers in 108 games last year. Rocchio’s a 55 runner but doesn’t always show it, and he’s a below-average base stealer, perhaps the only real flaw in his game. It’s an exciting package, and he’s a player who’ll probably be underestimated right up until he hits his way onto an All-Star team.

23. Zac Veen, OF, Colorado Rockies

Age: 20 | 6-4 | 190 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 9 in 2020

Previous ranking: No. 43

The Rockies’ first-round pick in 2020, Veen began his pro career in May, going right to Low-A Fresno as a 19-year-old, and hit .301/.399/.501, finishing in the Low-A West league’s top 10 in homers, steals, doubles, average, OBP and slugging. Colorado moved Veen to the corner outfield this year, having him play both spots. Right field is by far the more likely outcome, and there’s potential for him to play center on a temporary basis in the future. Veen has already gotten stronger, adding about 15 pounds already since the 2021 season ended, and offers 30/30 upside once he reaches the majors. He has a beautiful left-handed swing, and fared well enough against lefties last year, with a .434 OBP against them and strikeout rate of 28 percent, giving cause to believe he won’t have much of a platoon split down the road. It’s an exciting package of skills on both sides of the ball, even with some swing and miss in his present game, and he won’t even turn 21 until after this upcoming season.

24. Robert Hassell, OF, San Diego Padres

Age: 20 | 6-2 | 195 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 8 in 2020

Previous ranking: No. 60

The Padres took Hassell with the eighth pick in 2020, betting on a strong hit tool and above-average speed, and his full-season debut more than fulfilled expectations. Hassell hit .323/.415/.482 as a 19-year-old in Low A, finishing second in the artist formerly known as the California League in OBP (behind a 27-year-old who did not belong at that level). Hassell has a short swing with very fast hand acceleration, so he can let the ball travel and commit later than most hitters. He’ll come into average power, but will probably always be a hitter for average/OBP first, with power a secondary part of his game. He’s an above-average runner who was a solid 55 defender in center this year and was 34 of 40 stealing bases (85 percent), finishing in the top five in the I’m-still-calling-it-the-California-League in steals as well. He’s such a good hitter for contact already, with just a 17 percent strikeout rate last year, that he might be on his way to a 65 or 70 hit tool at his peak. I’m sure Padres fans have some idea what an elite hit tool looks like, and while there’s always variance around any projection like that on that particular tool, Hassell might just be the heir to that crown, challenging for batting average and OBP titles in his mid-20s.

25. Austin Martin, IF, Minnesota Twins

Age: 23 | 6-0 | 185 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 5 in 2020

Previous ranking: No. 14

Martin’s pro debut had several unexpected twists, from a shift in his swing and approach that favored soft contact to a hand injury suffered on a slide to a trade from Toronto to Minnesota at the deadline. It would be easy to blame the power loss on the hand issue, but Martin’s swing had been heading this way already. He’s had a tendency to shrink himself by crouching and striding toward the plate, which improved his plate coverage but robbed him of his ability to drive the ball. When he’s more upright, he has gap-to-gap power, more 40-plus doubles and 15-plus homers than big home run power, with an elite batting eye that helped him to a .414 OBP last year in Double A, although some of that was his 24 times hit by pitches as well. In the field, he’s athletic enough to play almost anywhere, certainly to be a plus defender at third base, but he’s had throwing issues since the start of his junior year and at this point is probably going to end up in centerfield or at second base. He’s a plus runner with bat speed and quick-twitch to him that should make the Twins’ player development people giddy, and now he gets a full offseason to work on getting back to driving the ball. He’s lost some of his luster, but not his ability. There’s still a .300 AVG/.400 OBP guy in here, with the ability to play somewhere up the middle and add value on defense, too.

26. Jack Leiter, RHP, Texas Rangers

Age: 22 | 6-1 | 205 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 2 in 2021

Previous ranking: Ineligible

The top pitcher in the 2021 draft class, Leiter went second overall to the Rangers, coming off a spring with some incredible highs (a no-hitter that was part of a 20-inning streak where he gave up zero hits) and lows (a three-week stretch where he gave up five homers in two starts, then had to miss an outing). The son of longtime big leaguer Al Leiter and former high school teammate of Anthony Volpe, Leiter is a command right-hander with a fastball that misses bats even at average velocity, although he can top out at 95-96 mph. At Vanderbilt, he got a ton of swings and misses on his slider, although his curveball looks like it’ll be the better pitch. He has plus control and should end up with at least above-average command, thanks to a delivery he repeats with ease. Leiter is maybe 6-1 and doesn’t offer a lot of projection, so the odds of him adding much velocity are not very high (but it’s still possible). He looks more like a solid No. 2 starter at his peak, one who gets it done without a clear plus pitch because he throws everything for strikes and can miss enough bats with his fastball.

27. MJ Melendez, C, Kansas City Royals

Age: 23 | 6-1 | 190 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 52 in 2017

Previous ranking: Unranked

The Royals saw their plate discipline numbers do a 180 across the system last year, and Melendez was one of the main beneficiaries of their new emphasis on hitting plans for their hitters. Melendez has always had plus-plus power and a ridiculous arm, but was a hacker through the 2019 season when he hit .163/.260/.311 with a 39 percent strikeout rate in High A, a disastrous season that in hindsight only underscores how incredible his transformation has been. In 2021, he hit .288/.386/.625 between Double A and Triple A, and cut his strikeout rate to 22 percent. He struck out 50 fewer times in 112 more plate appearances. It’s a funny thing, but when you always hit the ball hard, and then you start making a lot more contact, you get really good results, like hitting 41 homers to lead all of minor league baseball. The Royals did help Melendez with his mechanics as well; he’s always been a busy hitter, with a high leg kick and huge hip rotation, but he’s calmed the latter part down enough so he’s no longer overrotating and his timing on his leg kick is better. Coming into some of his strength has helped him develop a stronger base and stay more upright through contact as well. Couple the mechanical adjustments with a whole new plan at the plate and you get a premium offensive catcher with that cannon arm. He can still be too energetic behind the plate but has improved his receiving in the last two years; now it’s going to be his bat that carries him.

28. Brennen Davis, OF, Chicago Cubs

Age: 22 | 6-4 | 210 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 62 in 2018

Previous ranking: No. 51

Davis is an outstanding athlete who starred in baseball and basketball in high school, and this year some of that projection he had as an amateur showed up in games, as he hit 19 homers in total across three levels, finishing in Triple A as a 21-year-old. Davis has gotten quite a bit stronger since the pandemic wiped out the 2020 season, and now he’s driving the ball to all fields, with a balanced swing that generates that power from his upper and lower halves. He still runs well, although he’s lost some speed as he’s filled out, and there’s a greater chance that he’ll end up in right field than there was a year ago, although he could probably be an average defender in center for a team without an elite glove out there. The power/OBP skill is what really sells Davis, who looks like he’ll be a very different player than anyone who saw him as a skinny 18-year-old might have guessed, with 30-homer upside and a chance to stay in the middle of the field.

29. George Valera, OF, Cleveland Guardians

Age: 21 | 5-11 | 185 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left

Previous ranking: No. 76

Valera signed for $1.3 million way back in 2017, but due to multiple injuries and the lost 2020 season, he still has just 599 pro plate appearances, or just over one year’s worth. When he’s played, however, he’s shown exceptional patience and easy all-fields power, with 100 walks and 28 homers already in that brief career, all before he turned 21 this past November. Valera only played 86 games last year due to an oblique strain and had a weird season at the plate, barely facing any left-handed pitchers — they accounted for about 18 percent of his plate appearances — which skews his overall line, especially since he struck out in more than a third of those plate appearances against southpaws. He plays with a lot of panache — I believe “swaggy” might be the more contemporary term, fellow kids — and bat-flips his home runs like a boss. He has bat speed, big strength and an advanced eye at the plate, along with solid-average defense for right field, and there’s just an electricity to the way he plays. He’s not a finished product, due in no small part to his limited playing time, but he might be a 30-homer/80-walk guy at his peak.

30. Jordan Walker, 3B, St. Louis Cardinals

Age: 20 | 6-5 | 220 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 21 in 2020

Previous ranking: Unranked

Walker was the Cardinals’ first-round pick in 2020, selected by the late area scout Charles Peterson (who died two months later of COVID-19), and at the time seemed like a high-risk/high-reward pick who had a chance for four plus tools but might really struggle to hit. St. Louis challenged Walker with an assignment to Low A to start 2021, and he put up a .374/.475/.687 line in a month in Palm Beach — not a great place to hit — before a promotion to High A, where he hit .292/.344/.487 the rest of the way as the only 19-year-old to play regularly in the High-A Central league. He’s already shown the ability to make adjustments at the plate in-season, although pitchers at the higher level were able to get him to chase more often, even when he was doing more damage when he did make contact. He’s a plus runner who projects to at least 60 power, but he’s already big for third base (listed at 6-5, 220, which is what he weighed when he was drafted) and has a long way to go to stay there, with right field a far more likely long-term position. His debut was one of the most impressive — and surprising — of anyone from the 2020 draft class, but there’s still a wide range of possible outcomes around his hit tool. He has 30/30 upside with 55 defense in right field and mid-.300s OBPs, which would make him at least an above-average regular who has some All-Star seasons.

31. Jordan Lawlar, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks

Age: 19 | 6-2 | 190 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 6 in 2021

Previous ranking: Ineligible

Lawlar had the best package of tools in the 2021 draft class, and if he hits like the Diamondbacks expect, he’ll be a five-tool player who’s among the best players in his league when he reaches his peak. Arizona took Lawlar with the sixth pick out of a Dallas-area private school, drawn to his athleticism, his plus speed and plus arm, and potential for plus power in time. He has quick wrists and shows good bat speed, although he didn’t face much quality pitching with his high school team, and didn’t get to play as much over the preceding summer due to the pandemic. Unfortunately, Lawlar hurt his non-throwing shoulder in his second pro game in the Arizona Complex League, requiring surgery to fix a tear in the posterior labrum and ending his season, although it did mean he could spend some quality time with Corbin Carroll at Chase Field. It’s a lost opportunity for some at-bats but shouldn’t affect him in the long term. It comes down to the hit tool: If Lawlar hits, he’ll be in the running for the top overall prospect next year.

32. Josh Jung, 3B, Texas Rangers

Age: 24 | 6-2 | 214 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 8 in 2019

Previous ranking: Just missed

Jung mashed his way through Triple A last year, hitting .326/.398/.592 at the top two levels of the minors, even though it was his first full pro season since the Rangers made him the eighth overall pick in 2019. Jung hurt his foot in spring training and had a late start, but answered the one remaining question about his bat by hitting 19 homers and 22 doubles between two stops last year in just 78 games. The Rangers left Jung at third base after trying him at some other spots in 2020 at their alternate site, and he’s a solid-average defender there, although his bat is going to carry the day. He hits the ball hard, consistently, and makes contact at an above-average rate. A .300/.360/.520 season is well within reach once he’s established himself in the majors.

33. Edward Cabrera, RHP, Miami Marlins

Age: 24 | 6-5 | 217 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: No. 20

Cabrera reached the majors last year, but we didn’t see the best of him, as he had some clear trouble adjusting to the different baseball even back when he first moved to Triple A. He missed the first month of the minor-league season while recovering from an inflamed nerve in his biceps, then dominated the lower minors, striking out 37 percent of batters between High A and Double A with a 5 percent walk rate. He moved up to Triple-A Jacksonville and continued to miss bats, with a 37 percent strikeout rate again, but he walked three or more batters in every start but one at that level, and his strike percentage dropped again in the majors. It was surprising given Cabrera’s history and the sheer quality of his stuff — he can work at 94-100 mph, and his changeup can be a plus-plus pitch — but he threw a lot of in-between pitches that Statcast coded as changeups but looked and had the characteristics of bad four-seamers. And when he left those middle-middle — surprise, surprise — he got hit-hit. Cabrera has the size (6-5, 220 or so) and delivery to start, and the two weapons, along with a slider that he can bury away from right-handers, to be a starter. I’m not ready to let 55 innings, all with the big-league baseball, tarnish his outlook.

34. Alek Thomas, OF, Arizona

Age: 22 | 5-11 | 175 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 63 in 2018

Previous ranking: No. 61

A three-time top 100 prospect, Thomas went from a hit-over-power kind of prospect before 2021 to a hit-and-power kind of prospect during the season — not a 30-homer guy in time, probably, but someone who could hit .300 with 20 bombs regularly in his peak years. Thomas has natural feel to hit, even with a slightly awkward setup, consistently putting the bat on the ball at above-average rates everywhere he’s played. He was 19 the last time he played in real games before the pandemic, and came into more strength in the interim. He hit as many homers in a half-season in Double A than he did in all of 2019, then had a blast in the thin air of Reno, with eight more homers in 34 games. Thomas is intelligently aggressive at the plate, looking for a pitch he can drive with the ability to put the ball in play if he doesn’t get it. He’s a plus runner who has never had success on the bases, running at about a 60 percent success rate throughout his career, and should be a 60 defender in center. He doesn’t have the same pure upside as system-mates Carroll and Lawlar, but he projects to be an above-average regular with a high floor and should be in the majors before the midpoint of this season.

35. Tyler Soderstrom, C, Oakland Athletics

Age: 20 | 6-2 | 200 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 26 in 2020

Previous ranking: Unranked

Soderstrom was the 26th pick in 2020, so his pro debut came this year when he went to Low A to start the minor-league season. He played just 57 games for Stockton, but hit .306/.390/.568 with 12 homers and just a 24 percent strikeout rate. He would have ranked second in the league in slugging and fifth in OBP if he’d played in enough games, even though he was among the 10 youngest hitters in the California League’s remnants. Everyone seems to agree that Soderstrom is going to hit. He has a powerful swing and a very balanced approach, with just a small toe-tap and step that still generates a ton of force, although he can spin off his front foot on occasion, leaving him too open and vulnerable to stuff spinning away from him. His defense behind the plate is well behind his bat, enough so that it’s probably a better move for the A’s to just move him to third base now and let him hit his way to the majors, as the Royals and Nationals did with Wil Myers and Bryce Harper as prospects. Soderstrom’s season ended on July 23th after he took a pitch to the collarbone and then developed a back problem while rehabbing, which also robbed him of some reps behind the plate and also doesn’t bode well for his ability to stay at the position anyway. His bat is going to be major-league ready by the end of 2023, but his glove won’t, and since his potential for a .300/.360/.500 line will profile just fine at third base, the A’s should make this decision sooner rather than later.

 36. Matthew Liberatore, LHP, St. Louis Cardinals

Age: 22 | 6-4 |200  pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 16 in 2018

Previous ranking: 50

Liberatore continues to progress in all aspects of the game, from physical maturation to developing his offspeed pitches to improving his feel for pitching, further fulfilling his status as a former first-round pick. He works at 92-95 with good downhill plane and has a four-pitch mix, all of them major-league average or better. The curveball is clearly plus — helping him hold lefties to a .244/.307/.339 line — while the changeup is improved but less consistent. Right-handers hit 17 homers off him last year, so establishing the changeup more as a viable weapon against them will be the key for him to become a mid-rotation starter or better. He’s made so much progress already since signing in 2018, despite still having just 235 innings in pro ball, that I’m betting he gets there.

37. Nick Yorke, 2B, Boston Red Sox

Age: 20 | 6-0 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 17 in 2020

Previous ranking: Unranked

The most maligned pick of the 2020 draft by far went out and proved all of the criticism — yes, including mine — wrong with a .325/.412/.516 line across Low A and High A, especially impressive for a 19-year-old who’d barely played since 2019. Yorke has a fantastic and simple right-handed swing that helps him use the middle of the field and gives him superlative coverage of the strike zone; he’s showed above-average power already, probably lacking the projection for much more but with 15-20 homers a reasonable expectation for his major-league power output. He’s limited to second base by a below-average arm and average speed, although he’s a better runner underway than out of the box. It’s an extremely impressive bat across the board, from the swing to the understanding of the zone to the ability to drive the ball to the gaps, and with no reason to think he won’t stay at second base, he projects as at least an above-average regular there, with batting average champion upside.

38. Cristian Pache, OF, Atlanta Braves

Age: 23 | 6-2 | 215 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: No. 3

Pache began 2021 in the big leagues, didn’t hit, went on the injured list, came back, didn’t hit some more, went on the injured list, was optioned to Triple A, and never returned to the majors, even when Ronald Acuña Jr. tore his ACL. Pache has only had 72 plate appearances in the majors so far, far too few to change his long-term outlook, but there’s no sugar-coating just how not-ready for big-league pitching he is. Good fastballs got him and so did offspeed stuff, after which there isn’t much left to hit. Pache came into 2021 with less than a month’s worth of games above Double A, and the lack of reps against real pitching in 2020 may have hurt him more than most players, given how immature his approach and pitch recognition are. Pache remains an elite defender in center, and he has power if he can hit enough to get to it, so the bar for him to clear to be a regular is not that high — a .300 OBP and 20-25 homers would make him an above-average regular given his defensive value. I firmly believe he’ll get there, but it may take another 400 plate appearances in Triple A before he’s ready to contribute in the majors.

39. Vidal Bruján, 2B, Tampa Bay Rays

Age: 24 | 5-10 | 180 pounds
Bats: Switch | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: 35

Bruján returns to the top 100 for a fourth straight year, although it’ll probably be his final one, as he’s more than ready to help the Rays (or any team) in the majors in 2022. He’s an outstanding athlete who has great bat speed and a long history of high contact rates — he’s never punched out 70 times in any season, and his strikeout rate in Triple A of 15.4 percent was the highest of his career. His swing is direct and short, but with enough loft in the finish for average power. Bruján is a plus defender at second, and has played some shortstop, but the big news in 2021 was that the Rays tried Bruján a little bit in center, and he looked good enough to play there more in the future. He’s at least a 70 runner and that speed is kind of wasted at second, while centerfield takes better advantage of it. He could be in the lineup right now for at least two positions for just about any club, and a threat to steal 50 bases in his peak years while playing plus defense at second or in center.

40. Ronny Mauricio, SS, New York Mets

Age: 21 | 6-3 | 166 pounds
Bats: Both | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: No. 32

Mauricio signed with the Mets for $2.1 million back in 2017, and had a fairly quiet full-season debut in Low A in 2019, hitting .268/.307/.357 with just four home runs. He came back from the pandemic stronger, and it showed in his production, as he hit 20 homers in 453 plate appearances last year, mostly in High A. And I think that’s just the beginning for his power potential. A true switch-hitter, Mauricio has loose, quick wrists, and generates surprising power from his wiry frame because of his bat speed and the strength he already has in his forearms. I don’t think he’s going to stay at shortstop; for one thing, his defense there is too erratic, and for another, he’s got a lot of room to add muscle and has already grown quite a bit in height and weight since he signed. He reminds me a lot of a young Alfonso Soriano, who never got that big but hit 30-plus homers seven times in the majors and 412 in his career, and who did move off shortstop even when he was still an above-average runner. The Mets would probably be thrilled with that outcome.

41. Brett Baty, 3B, New York Mets

Age: 22 | 6-3 | 210 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 12 in 2019

Previous ranking: Just missed

Baty was a controversial first-round pick from a data perspective because he was 19 1/2 on draft day, exceptionally old for a high-school hitter. He could flat-out hit, though, and had huge power from his 6-3 frame, so the Mets took him with the 12th pick. Baty mashed last year in High A at 21, and continued to hit in Double A and the Arizona Fall League (where everyone hit, though — you actually hit .285 there last year), with less power than expected but strong walk and contact rates. He hit the ball on the ground too often last year, but that’s one of the easiest flaws for player development staffs to fix. And Baty hits the ball hard enough that once the Mets get him lifting the ball a little more often, he’s going to end up with 25-plus homers; Vlad Guerrero Jr. used to hit the ball on the ground too often, too. Baty has worked hard to maintain his conditioning, slimming down a little since high school, when it looked like he’d end up too big to play anywhere but first. At this point, it’s no worse than even money that he’ll stay at third for the near future, unless he just gets pushed off by a plus defender down the line. He has the core ingredients for an impact bat who hits for average, gets on base, and has doubles and home run power, and any concerns about his age are over.

42. Cole Winn, RHP, Texas

Age: 22| 6-2 | 190 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 15 in 2018

Previous ranking: Unranked

Winn was the Rangers’ first-round pick in 2018, didn’t pitch that summer due to his workload in the spring, then threw 65 innings in Low A in 2019, which constituted his entire pro career prior to 2021. Texas still promoted him two levels to Double-A Frisco this past year, making his across-the-board improvement even more impressive – he cut his walk rate by a third, boosted his strikeout rate by 50 percent, and then earned two late-season starts in Triple A. Winn is a four-pitch guy who works 93-95 with a plus changeup that he’ll work to both sides of the plate, while both breaking pitches have improved since we last saw him in 2019, with the curveball ahead of the slider. He was more of a command guy (rather than a big stuff guy) in high school, and now he’s regained that touch and feel while working with a better repertoire. It all looks like a No. 2 starter upside, someone who’s consistently better than league-average for a long time, especially since Winn has such a good feel for pitching for his age.

43. Jordan Balazovic, RHP, Minnesota Twins

Age: 23 | 6-5 | 215 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 153 in 2016

Previous ranking: 63

Balazovic hurt his back in spring training, which kept him off the mound until June, but returned throwing harder than he had been before this spring and had a solid year in Double A that also showed he still has development ahead of him. The Canadian right-hander, taken by the Twins in the fifth round in 2016, is now sitting just under 95 mph, bumping 97, with an above-average slider and changeup. He’s developed that changeup more by moving to a more split-like grip, resulting in greater tumble on the pitch and giving him a better weapon against left-handed batters; it might also work against righties who try to sit on his fastball. He’s a good athlete who repeats his delivery well, getting some deception from the way he hides the ball, and has shown the ability to work to both sides of the plate already. He’s 6-5 and built like a workhorse starter, with the pitches to be a mid-rotation guy or better, just needing about another half-grade of command to get there.

44. Orelvis Martinez, SS, Toronto Blue Jays

Age: 20 | 6-1 | 188 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: 98

Signed for $3.5 million in 2018, Martinez finally got to make his full-season debut in 2021, hitting .279/.369/.572 in 72 games for Low-A Dunedin, leading the Low-A Southeast League in slugging by 60 points even though Dunedin is a tough park for power hitters. Including a late-season promotion to High-A Vancouver, he hit 28 homers in 98 games, with an acceptable 25 percent strikeout rate, all as a 19-year-old playing the left side of the infield. He’s a fringe runner with a plus arm, already getting too big for shortstop but very likely to end up a solid defender at third base. His value is in his bat, though, as he has excellent bat speed and is short to the ball with plus power already, projecting to 30-plus bombs in the majors. His ultimate value will come down to where he plays and whether he can keep his contact rate up as he faces better pitching, with the potential to be an impact cleanup hitter when he hits his peak years.

45. George Kirby, RHP, Seattle Mariners

Age: 24 | 6-4 | 215 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 20 in 2019

Previous ranking: Unranked

Kirby was the Mariners’ first-round pick in 2019 out of Elon College and had an impressive yet brief pro debut that summer in the short-season Northwest League, throwing 23 innings without walking a batter. He returned from the lost pandemic year with more velocity, working at 96-100 mph as a starter without any loss of command or control. He has a four-pitch mix, with the changeup his best secondary offering, but he doesn’t have great ability to spin the ball and the breaking pitches are both closer to average. Kirby only threw 65 innings in 2021, in part because he missed a month with a tired right shoulder, so there’s at least a small question of whether he can hold this plus-plus velocity for an entire season. He’s a likely mid-rotation starter, with a chance for more if the stuff ticks up and holds up for a normal workload.

46. Brady House, SS, Washington Nationals

Age: 19 | 6-4 | 215 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 11 in 2021

Previous ranking: Ineligible

Nobody hit the ball harder than House did in the 2021 draft class, not from the high school ranks or the college ranks, and that’s why the Nats — who love to draft for superlatives, an approach that has served them well over the last 12 years — took him with the 11th overall pick. House is 6-4, 215 pounds already, which all but guarantees a move to third base, although he’ll play shortstop in the near future; he has the cannon to play pretty much anywhere and he’s loose and athletic enough to stay on the dirt for now. It’s the incredible power that makes him an elite prospect though, not just big-fly power like Joey Gallo (not that there’s anything wrong with Joey Gallo), but consistently hard contact on everything, and to all fields as well, from his pull side all the way over to right-center. There were some concerns in the spring about how well he would hit better pitching, whether the exit velocities papered over more fundamental concerns about his bat. He played just 18 games in the Florida Man League, hitting .322/.394/.576 with a strikeout rate just under 20 percent, which is a tiny sample but at least showed him making a lot of contact with the wood bat. This year in Low A should answer that question more fully, but if he shows continued success with putting the ball in play at that level, he’ll be a top-25 prospect, a potential Aaron Judge bat over at third base.

47. Kahlil Watson, SS, Miami Marlins

Age: 19 | 5-8 | 178 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 16 in 2021

Previous ranking: Ineligible

Watson was a clear top-10 talent in the 2021 draft, but fell all the way to the 16th pick, where the Marlins were more than happy to select him. Watson is a true shortstop with plus running speed and bat speed, and he’s strong for an undersized guy, projecting to at least average power. He’s aggressive in the box, but doesn’t chase out of the zone as much as that might imply. He played just nine games in the Florida Complex League, but hit .394/.524/.606 with more walks than strikeouts before he was shut down with a week or so left in the season. Maybe he slipped because he’s 5-8, but the Marlins might have gotten one of the biggest steals of the draft class, with a potential star if he stays at short in the long term.

48. Cade Cavalli, RHP, Washington Nationals

Age: 23 | 6-4 |230  pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 22 in 2020

Previous ranking: Just missed

Cavalli was the Nats’ first-rounder in 2020, and showed that kind of premium stuff throughout his pro debut in 2021. He’s 94-98 as a starter, although he can see the velocity taper towards the end of his outings, with a plus slider in the upper 80s and a mid-80s changeup he uses against lefties that’s at least solid-average. Cavalli overpowered hitters at two levels before a promotion to Triple A presented him with his first real adversity, as he doesn’t have the command yet to attack hitters who can catch up to his velocity and lay off his stuff out of the zone. There were signs of trouble in Double A, where he walked 14 percent of batters, but he could get away with it by blowing guys away — fastballs up, sliders down and away to righties, changeups down to lefties who were geared up for the fastball — without locating. He also reached Triple A at the end of a long year, and had to adjust to the different baseball at that level — have I mentioned how profoundly stupid it is that we don’t use the same baseball at all levels, from the complexes to the major leagues? It’s bad enough that most amateurs hit with composite bats in the spring, but MLB has complete control of the minors now. One sport. One ball. It’s not that hard. Anyway, Cavalli’s Triple-A performance did have some mitigating factors, and he’s about as well-built for 200 innings as any prospect on this list. I’m still bullish that he’ll end up a mid-rotation starter who can carry a big workload, but the next step for him is learning to locate his stuff better. He’s a solid athlete and his delivery is very repeatable, so there’s cause to think he’ll get there.

49. Harry Ford, C, Seattle Mariners

Age: 19 | 5-10 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right  | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 12 in 2021

Previous ranking: Ineligible

Ford is an incredibly athletic kid who offers tantalizing upside on both sides of the ball, but also spurs wide divisions among scouts over whether he can even stay behind the plate. He’s a plus runner with elite bat speed, and has plus raw power with the projection to get to 70 or more. His bat can be in and out of the zone too quickly, however, which may limit his game power as he faces better pitching. Behind the plate, he’s a good enough athlete to work his way into becoming an average receiver and thrower, but despite that athleticism, he doesn’t move easily or flexibly enough to make that the most likely outcome given how far he has to go. His speed should let him move to any of several other positions, like third base, center field, or even right field at worst. There’s some risk in the bat as well, but the hit/power/speed upside would make him an above-average regular or more at any position.

50. Bobby Miller, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Age: 23 | 6-5 | 220 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 29 in 2020

Previous ranking: Unranked

The Dodgers took Miller out of the University of Louisville with the last pick of the first round in 2020 (before any supplemental picks), so the 6-5 right-hander didn’t make his debut until this year. The pick already looks like a steal, as Miller rolled out with four pitches, 94-98 on his four-seamer with good riding life, a plus slider at 84-89, and above-average weapons in his curve and changeup. He missed time with an oblique strain, but threw 56 regular-season innings with 70 punchouts and just 13 walks, then struggled a bit in three AFL outings. He has a stiff front leg when he lands and has had minor injury concerns, so there’s some small reliever risk here, but he has the weapons, the control, the history of getting lefties out, the size, just about every other box you’d want a potential front-line starter to check.

51. Daniel Espino, RHP, Cleveland Guardians

Age: 21 | 6-2 | 205 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 24 in 2019

Previous ranking: Unranked

Espino was the 24th pick in 2019, part of a run of hard-throwing high school pitchers the Guardians took in 2018-19. He made his full-season debut in 2021, where he posted the highest strikeout rate (40.5 percent) of any pitcher who threw at least 75 innings at any level. Espino came into 2021 in better shape to get through a full season, and progressed over the course of the year as well, learning to use his fastball more effectively and seeing development on his offspeed stuff. He’s pitching more vertically now, going up with the four-seamer (which can touch 100) and staying behind the ball more, resulting in hitters missing the pitch more than they did even in high school. His slider projects to be plus, and has supplanted his curveball as his primary breaking pitch, while his average changeup has been good enough to help him dominate lefties as he was right-handed batters. Espino’s main issue now is command and control — he walked just over 10 percent of batters this year, but he’s also generally inefficient and has to work to generate some more weak contact rather than trying to finish every at bat with a strikeout. I doubt he’ll ever get to above-average command, but even average command with this stuff would make him a No. 2 starter.

52. Colton Cowser, OF, Baltimore Orioles

Age: 22 | 6-3 |195  pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 5 in 2021

Previous ranking: Ineligible

The fifth overall pick in the 2021 draft, Cowser became the highest drafted player in Sam Houston State history, and their first player taken in the first round since Glenn Wilson in 1980. Cowser had one of the best hit tools in the college class last year, maybe the best one, and then hit .347/.476/.429 for Low-A Delmarva in 25 games after he signed, with more walks than strikeouts. He has great bat speed and excellent hand-eye coordination, all of which should lead to high contact rates even as he moves up the ladder, but to get to power, he’ll have to make some mechanical adjustments, like creating some separation between his hip rotation and his hand movement, and keeping his weight back for longer. He has room on his frame to add some more strength, and he could end up a 20-25 homer guy with some tweaks. His floor as a corner outfielder who hits for a high average with some doubles power would still make him an everyday guy.

53. Michael Busch, 2B, Los Angeles Dodgers

Age: 24 | 6-1 | 210 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 31 in 2019

Previous ranking: No. 74

Busch is quite the anomaly: The Dodgers drafted him as a first baseman, converted him to second base and it worked. Busch has a beautiful left-handed swing that puts good loft on the ball, showing plus power against right-handed pitching, and he has long shown an advanced feel for the strike zone. He spent all of 2021 in Double A despite having just 10 games of pro experience before this year, and hit .267/.386/.484 in 107 games, with 20 homers and 70 walks. He struggled to do damage against lefties, with a .198/.355/.354 split against them, but wasn’t exactly overmatched against them, drawing walks and making contact, just without the impact. That’s a smaller hill to climb than one where a left-handed batter is striking out excessively on left-handers’ breaking stuff. With Busch playing solid enough defense at second, his bat makes him a clear regular, with a chance to be an All-Star if he improves his results on balls in play against southpaws.

54. Nick Pratto, 1B, Kansas City Royals

Age: 23 | 6-1 | 215 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 14 in 2017

Previous ranking: Unranked

Pratto came off a 2019 season where he hit .191/.278/.310 with nine homers and a 35 percent strikeout rate as a first baseman in High A, and the only thing keeping him from ex-prospect status was his youth. Two years and a swing overhaul later, Pratto is now very much a current prospect, hitting 36 homers in 2021 with a .383 OBP and an acceptable 29 percent strikeout rate, more than enough to have him profile as a potential everyday player right now. The Royals helped Pratto revamp his swing, eliminating some of the loop length that slowed his time to the ball and allowed him to drive the ball to the whole field instead of just his pull side. He has also vastly improved his awareness of the strike zone, part of the Royals’ system-wide overhaul of how they teach hitters to approach at-bats, although he can be too selective with pitches in the zone, and he’s always going to have some swing and miss in his game. He’s an above-average defender at first who should post high walk rates, helping him even if his batting averages aren’t great, and getting him to 25-30 homers a year.

55. Luis Matos, OF, San Francisco Giants

Age: 20 | 5-11 | 160 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked/sleeper

Matos has an unorthodox approach, nearly barring his lead arm, but despite that obstacle, he has exceptional plate coverage and rarely punches out, with his 12.4 percent rate last year in Low A the worst of his brief career so far. Matos has tools, from fast wrists to above-average power to above-average running speed, with a chance to stay in center, and the bat speed to be able to continue to hit against better velocity. He does have that arm bar, but he’s otherwise extremely balanced through contact, with a strong lower half and good timing on his hip rotation to let his legs generate power. There’s risk here with the bat and that he might slow down enough to move to a corner, but there’s also upside here given his exceptional contact rates — among the 25 minor leaguers with the lowest strikeout rates (min. 400 PA), he was the youngest – and potential to get 15-20 homer power in the majors.

56. Triston Casas, 1B, Boston Red Sox

Age: 22 | 6-4 | 252 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 26 in 2018

Previous ranking: 87

Casas made some small changes to his setup last year, but the bigger shift was how he worked the count, especially getting into his legs more when he was ahead in the count so he could drive the ball more consistently. He still has a strong two-strike approach to put the ball in play, with great contact rates for a corner power bat — he actually cut his strikeout rate from 2019 to 2021 despite two promotions and the interruption of a trip to the Olympics. After some experiments at third, Casas only played first last year, and that’s going to be his best position. There should be another gear of power here, and he might end up a .280/.370/.520 sort of bat at first base, with 25-30 homers a year.

57. Quinn Priester, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates

Age: 21 | 6-3 | 210 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 18 in 2019

Previous ranking: No. 73

Priester was the classic high school projection guy when the Pirates took him in the first round in 2019 — he had solid-average velocity, the makings of a good curveball and changeup, a repeatable delivery, and a good frame to add weight and gain velocity. He’s been trending upward, hitting 97 mph in starts, now showing better velocity and improved secondaries for several innings and then tapering off as he builds up — where you’d expect a high school pitcher to be in his first full pro season. He’s a four-pitch guy now, with both the curve and his new-ish slider flashing plus, while his control improved over the course of his 2021 season. He’s still a projection guy, with No. 2 starter upside, and so far he’s where he should be on that path.

58. Taj Bradley, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays

Age: 21 | 6-2 | 190 pounds
Bats: R | Throws: R
Drafted: No. 150 in 2018

Previous ranking: Unranked

Bradley was the Rays’ fifth-round pick in 2018 as a classic high school projection arm, and over the course of 2020 and 2021, his projection has turned into reality, as he’s seen all his stuff tick up and his body start to mature. Bradley dominated Low A and High A last year at age 20, with a 31 percent strikeout rate and 8 percent walk rate, working with a mid-90s fastball and a power slider at 84-89 that helped him destroy right-handed batters. His changeup has improved as well to the point where it’s solid-average, so he’s able to get left- and right-handed batters out enough to profile as a starter. His delivery works, keeping him online to the plate, with deception from a high 3/4 slot and a short arm action he repeats well. His command and control have both jumped since 2019, with the latter probably average now and the command around grade 45, and given his athleticism and his rapid development to date, he has the potential to get to above-average command with three above-average pitches, which would make him — wait for it — an above-average starter in the majors.

59. Mackenzie Gore, LHP, San Diego Padres

Age: 23 | 6-2 | 197 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 3 in 2017

Previous ranking: No. 2

Gore had a miserable 2021, losing his delivery early in the spring, spending several weeks in Peoria at the Padres’ complex to try to rework and simplify it, and having only intermittent success after his return. He was also still 93-98. His changeup is easy plus, maybe a 70. His slider is plus. His curveball has backed up some, but when he hits it it’s above-average. He’s still incredibly athletic. His arm stroke is shorter now, and he’s had days when he’s repeated it well and thrown strikes, but he’s also had days where he slips back into old habits. There’s still a No. 1 starter ceiling here; only the probability has dropped, but it ain’t zero, folks. I’m not walking away from this kind of upside and athleticism, even with a lost season on his resume.

60. Sam Bachman, RHP, Los Angeles Angels

Age: 22 | 6-1 | 235 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 9 in 2021

Previous ranking: Ineligible

Bachman had the best pure stuff of any starting pitching prospect in the 2021 draft, running his fastball up to 102 mph, along with a plus slider in the low 90s, which resulted in him striking out 41 percent of opposing hitters for the University of Miami (Ohio). He missed two starts in the spring with a tired shoulder, which scared some teams off, but returned with the same stuff, helped by a coaching staff that brought him back very gradually from the time off. There’s some effort in his delivery — you don’t throw 102 mph without effort unless you’re Hunter Greene — but his arm action is fairly compact; he just doesn’t generate as much power from his lower half, with minimal hip rotation to generate more torque. He’ll need to use his changeup more often in pro ball to get lefties out, and has to stay healthy, of course, but he has No. 1 starter upside with those two plus-plus pitches.

61. Michael Harris, OF, Atlanta Braves

Age: 21 | 6-0 | 195 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 98 in 2019

Previous ranking: Unranked

Harris was Atlanta’s third-round pick in 2019 out of a Georgia high school, and was so impressive in his pro debut in the Gulf Coast League that Atlanta had him finish the summer in Low A. He started 2021 like a house on fire in High A, struggled in mid-summer, then started to make some adjustments at the plate, notably seeing more pitches to finish strongly. If this top 100 were something I did weekly (please, no), he probably would have surged on the list, dropped off in July and then re-entered around Labor Day. Harris is tooled out, a 70 runner who played 70 defense in center and showed plus power against fastballs. He struggled with pitch recognition, especially against offspeed stuff, and his production dipped as a result in midseason. There’s some reason to think he made a real adjustment later in the year, however, with a 10 percent walk rate in the second half as well. He doesn’t have to be Eddie Yost to have value; he’s going to save a bunch of runs in center, and the 25 homer/20 steal upside I discussed in my comment on him last February is still very much in play.

62. Miguel Vargas, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers

Age: 22 | 6-3 | 205 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

Vargas defected from Cuba back in 2015, then signed with the Dodgers and debuted in 2018, and all he’s done since then is hit — his professional line stands at .316/.384/.480, with just a 15.6 percent career strikeout rate, all of which has been consistent right up through Double A. He’s a very strong right-handed hitter who’s still coming into some power, with strength already in his hands and wrists to drive balls the other way. He’s gone from having no chance to stay at third base to having a very small chance to stay there; he’s not very athletic or twitchy, with an above-average arm but probably lacking the quickness on his feet to play third base at an average level. He may end up at first base, although the Dodgers have tried him at second as well, and the potential hit to his value is what keeps him out of the upper tier of prospects. His offensive upside as a .300+ hitter for average with 25-30 homers and 50-60 walks a year would make him a solid regular even if he does have to go to first.

63. Geraldo Perdomo, SS, Arizona

Age: 22 | 6-2 | 203 pounds
Bats: Switch | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: 91

Perdomo wasn’t ready for the majors when he got an emergency call-up to start the 2021 season, and struggled badly when he went to Double A a few weeks later, so the Diamondbacks sent him to Salt River for a few weeks to rework on his swing and improve his conditioning. He returned to hit .321/.407/.530 in 35 games in Double A the rest of the way, and finished the season with a far more successful cup of coffee in Arizona, making much harder contact in his return. He’s a switch-hitter with good bat speed both ways, but it’s cleaner and more direct from the left side, where he hit all six of his homers last year (even with good loft in his right-handed finish). He’s a plus defender and at least a 60 runner with plenty of arm strength for the left side of the infield, and he’s shown good control of the strike zone throughout his brief career. Even if he never comes into double-digit homers, he’s a solid regular, but these small swing adjustments and his physical maturation point to at least 12-15 homers down the road.

64. Eury Perez, RHP, Miami Marlins

Age: 19 | 6-8 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

Perez might have been the biggest riser among pitching prospects in the game last year, as he went from not even earning a mention on my Marlins list last year — because I’d never heard his name — to a top-100 prospect this year. Perez turned 18 just three weeks before the minor-league season started, and then carved up both levels of full-season A ball, punching out 108 batters in 78 innings against 26 walks, with a 1.96 ERA to boot. The 6-8 right-hander works at 93-96 mph, topping out at 98 mph, with room to add velocity as his body fills out, with a slider and changeup that both flash plus. He’s control over command right now, around the zone but without locating as effectively as he’ll need to as he moves up the ladder. It’s already an uncomfortable at-bat for hitters given his height and his slightly low 3/4 slot, and he could easily pack another 30 pounds on that frame, by which point he might be hitting 100 every start. Without projection, he’s still a future mid-rotation starter; with projection, and considering his youth and inexperience, he could be an ace.

65. Oneil Cruz, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates

Age: 23 | 6-7 | 220 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

Cruz became just the second player 6-7 or taller to play shortstop in an MLB game when he took the field for the Pirates in October, joining Joel Guzman, who played nine innings at short for Tampa Bay in 2007. If you think that’s probably not a great sign for Cruz, you’re right — the odds are heavily against anyone even at 6-5 staying at shortstop for the long term. But he can really hit, and hits the ball hard, like a 6-7 guy should — he hit five balls into play in the majors and one was at 118.2 mph, which is in the top percentile for all balls hit into play in the majors last year. Cruz hit .310/.375/.594 in 68 games, mostly in Double A, around a right forearm strain, with 17 homers and 19 steals in 22 attempts, while playing exclusively at shortstop. He has four plus tools in his hit, power and run tools, plus a cannon for an arm. And if he’s not a shortstop, there’s a position somewhere where he’ll be plus — maybe it’s third base, at worst it’s an outfield corner. Maybe he’s a unicorn and becomes a superstar at short. The base rate says players his size don’t stay at short, though, so it’s probably a good thing that he projects to be an impact hitter at any position.

66. Bryson Stott, SS, Philadelphia Phillies

Age: 24 | 6-3 |200  pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 14 in 2019

Previous ranking: Unranked

Stott was the Phillies’ first-rounder in 2019 out of UNLV and signed quickly enough to play 48 games that summer, but 2021 was his full-season debut, and it went so well he finished the year in Triple A. Stott hit .299/.390/.486 with solid defense at shortstop, hitting for a higher average with less power than I would have projected, especially since he played the bulk of his season in homer-friendly Reading. He’s cleaned up his swing since he was drafted, syncing up his hands and his hips and shortening his path from when he loads his hands to contact, which might cost him a little power but almost certainly explains his results last year. He held his contact rate steady as he moved up the ladder and had better results on balls in play, even as he faced better pitching. He’s a 55 defender at short who has good range in both directions and enough arm to throw from the hole. I’ve heard some concerns that pitchers in Triple A or the majors might be able to pitch away from his bat path more effectively, but he could lose some of his offensive production and still be an everyday guy. He looks like he might be more of a .280-290, 15+ homer, strong OBP guy, and that at shortstop is a very valuable player.

67. Luis Campusano, C, San Diego Padres

Age: 23 | 5-11 | 232 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 39 in 2017

Previous ranking: 42

Campusano got a cup of coffee in the majors to start the 2021 season, going 3 for 34, and then went to Triple-A El Paso and hit like he’s always hit, although the ballpark and the Triple-A ball surely helped him as well. He’s still the Padres’ catcher of the future, with excellent bat control and a history of making hard contact, running his exit velocity up to 109 in his brief major-league stint. He has a compact swing and still has great bat control, although his strikeout rate in Triple A was his highest so far in pro ball. Behind the plate, he’s continuing to improve, at least average behind the plate with decent framing skills, and he has a plus arm that hasn’t translated into controlling the running game yet. He has above-average everyday upside, if not more, but the 2021 season was more of a plateau than a step forward for him. There’s no one blocking him in San Diego, so he’s likely to spend most of this year in the majors.

68. Jose Tena, SS, Cleveland Guardians

Age: 21 | 5-10 |160  pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

Tena was just 20 years old in 2021 but finished above the median for all High-A hitters in average, OBP, and slugging despite his youth, all while playing solid-average defense at shortstop. Tena has plus bat speed and an aggressive approach, attacking early in the count, with good plate coverage that allows him to put a lot of pitches in play, even just beyond the zone, a good tool that he needs to develop into more of a skill by becoming more selective. He’s strong for an undersized guy, hitting 16 homers in 107 games last year and projecting to at least that many when he gets to the majors, and an above-average runner who has the arm for shortstop or third base, although he could always move to second and become an above-average defender there if he’s bumped by a premium defender at shortstop. Tena has shown he can make adjustments in-season, though, starting slow in the Arizona Fall League and improving his pitch recognition as the fall went along. His bat speed and wrist strength will allow him to hit enough to be a regular or better anywhere on the infield, but becoming more patient would give him a chance to be a star.

69. Elly De La Cruz, SS, Cincinnati Reds

Age: 20 | 6-2 | 150 pounds
Bats: Switch | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

De La Cruz is the highest-beta prospect on this list — he has a chance to be a superstar, and he has a non-trivial chance to have no major-league value at all. He has incredible tools, with 70 speed, a 70 arm, absurd bat speed, and plus power already even though he’s barely begun to fill out his 6-4 or 6-5 frame. (He’s listed everywhere at 6-2, which was his height when he signed, but unlike me, he grew after he turned 16.) His wrists are loose and quick, and the ball flies off his bat in a way you wouldn’t expect from a kid who’s still lanky and wiry. His approach at the plate leaves a lot to be desired, however; there’s a lot of chase and not much pitch recognition, in part because at lower levels he knows he can put his bat on the ball even if he guesses wrong. You could see hints of this in his 50 games in Low-A Daytona, where he was one of the youngest players at the level, with 10 walks against 65 strikeouts. He has the quickness and actions for shortstop, but not the consistency, and of course he’s going to get a lot bigger from here and may need to move to another position. There are a lot more Reggie Abercrombies and Charlton Jimersons in MLB history than there are Sammy Sosas and Alfonso Sorianos, but the upside for De La Cruz is in that 6+ WAR territory, especially if he manages to stay on the dirt.

70. Heliot Ramos, OF, San Francisco Giants

Age: 22 | 6-1 | 188 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 19 in 2017

Previous ranking: 58

Ramos was young for Double A last year at 21, and didn’t hit well for Richmond, but the Giants bumped him up to Triple A and got similar results from him. The 19th overall pick in 2017, Ramos has filled out physically and looks like he should be able to overpower the ball and make hard contact even with some swing and miss. He shows plus raw power in BP and occasionally in games, while pitchers at the higher levels saw some vulnerability to soft stuff and he didn’t make a counter-adjustment. He’s a solid-average runner who has mostly played center so far, but his body is going to push him to right field, where his plus arm will help him become an above-average defender. He may be a 150-strikeouts-a-year kind of hitter, but who hits .280 with 20-25 homers and a fringy OBP, making him a solid regular who would have to improve his pitch recognition to become more.

71. Mark Vientos, 3B, New York Mets

Age: 22 | 6-4 | 185 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 59 in 2017

Previous ranking: Unranked

Vientos returns to the top 100 after a two-year absence after a breakout year in Double A, hitting .281/.346/.580 for Binghamton before hitting three homers in 11 games to finish the year in Triple A. He did strike out more than you’d like, 29 percent of the time, but his pitch recognition and strike zone awareness are better than his strikeout and walk rates imply, as the Mets have worked on getting him to be more selective in the zone and focus on pitches where he can do the most damage. His exit velocities have consistently been among the best in the Mets’ system, and he projects to be a 30-35 homer guy in the next few years. Even though he’s transformed his body since he was an amateur, he may not stay at third base, and first base would put a big dent in his prospect value, so the Mets have started trying him a little bit in left field; the early returns weren’t great, but if he can be a 45 defender there, his bat will carry him. If he manages to hold on at third, he could be a four-win player.

72. Matt McLain, SS, Cincinnati Reds

Age: 22 | 5-11 | 180 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 17 in 2021

Previous ranking: Ineligible

McLain was a top-10 talent in the 2021 draft, and a first-rounder (who didn’t sign) back in 2018, but slid to the 17th pick, possibly because his spring was interrupted by a broken thumb. He had a breakout year for UCLA before the draft, then carried it right on into pro ball, where he hit .273/.387/.424 in a month with Low-A Daytona, setting him up well to try to reach Double A by the end of this year. McLain is a shortstop for now, although he’s probably no more than a 50 defender there and a contending club would probably push him to second in favor of a plus defender; the Reds even drafted one after McLain, taking Jose Torres, a gifted shortstop with a below-average hit tool, in the third round. McLain’s real standout tool is his bat, as he has great feel for the barrel, controls the zone, and shows gap power, a bit like Jonathan India (who was No. 88 on last year’s top 100) but with less future power than the reigning Rookie of the Year and more speed. He’s also likely to move quickly through the minors with his advanced hit tool, especially if the Reds decide to just move him to second base now because Jose Barrero is ahead of him. He lacks the ceiling of some of the other players ahead of him on the list, but projects as a longtime regular who might make the occasional All-Star team in his peak batting average seasons.

73. Gunnar Henderson, SS/3B, Baltimore Orioles

Age: 21 | 6-2 | 210 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 42 in 2019

Previous ranking: Unranked

Henderson was the Orioles’ second-round pick in 2019, getting an over-slot bonus in the second round, but played just 29 games that summer and lost the 2020 season to the pandemic, so last year was his full-season debut. He crushed Low A for a month and a half before a promotion to High-A Aberdeen, where he showed power and patience but had more issues with contact, especially on offspeed stuff close to the strike zone. His swing can be grooved and uphill, which gives him more power but worse ability to adjust to different pitch speeds and locations. Henderson played about two-thirds of his games at shortstop in 2021 and the rest over at third base, since he spent a good part of the season playing with Jordan Westburg, who played the same two positions. At shortstop, Henderson looked perfectly capable, but at third base he was easily plus, maybe a 70 defender. He may not hit for much average with his current swing, but with 25-plus homers, some on-base skills, and elite defense at third base.

74. Ryne Nelson, RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks

Age: 24 | 6-3 | 184 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 56 in 2019

Previous ranking: Unranked

Nelson was a two-way guy for two years at Oregon, then worked in relief and as a starter in his junior year, walking 41 men in 65 innings for the Ducks. Arizona still took him in the second round, betting on his athleticism and that his arm speed might pick up once he was used correctly. They were right; he touched 99 this year, worked 93-96, with potential plus pitches in both his slider and his splitter. He kept getting better as the season progressed; after a rough start in Double A where he walked 15 men in his first four outings, he walked nine men total in his last 10 starts, striking out 78 in 58 innings. Nelson works with a no-windup delivery, uncommon but not necessarily a problem for a starter, getting on top of the ball well and giving power to everything he throws. The Diamondbacks’ trio of top pitching prospects (Nelson, Drey Jameson, Brandon Pfaadt) could go in any order, but Nelson is the safe bet who offers the strongest combination of current stuff and command.

75. Ivan Herrera, C, St. Louis Cardinals

Age: 22 | 5-11 | 220 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: 68

Herrera had just 18 games at High A in 2019 but moved up to Double A in 2021, where he showed strong secondary skills but didn’t hit well on balls in play, with just a .261 BABIP on the year that’s not in line with his underlying skills. Herrera has an advanced approach for such a young hitter, with good plate coverage and an evident plan to get to something he can drive. He’s made himself into a capable defender behind the plate with an above-average arm, and has earned raves from the Cardinals’ staff for his work ethic. He has power, with 17 homers in 99 games last year, and if he brings that harder contact more consistently, he should be in the majors by the end of the year, perhaps to take over from Yadier Molina for 2023.

76. Andy Pages, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers

Age: 21 | 6-1 | 212 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked/sleeper

Pages hadn’t played above the Pioneer League before 2021, but moved to High A as a 20-year-old and hit .265/.394/.539, finishing eighth in all of minor league baseball with 31 homers and 14th with 77 walks. Pages has 70 raw power and an advanced feel to hit for his age and experience level, along with average speed and an 80 arm that will serve him well in right field. His swing is balanced and very rotational, so between his hands and legs he can generate consistent hard contact; he’s already cut his strikeout rate from 28 percent in short-season to 24 percent last year, and it doesn’t have to go down any further to make him an above-average everyday player in right.

77. Liover Peguero, SS, Pittsburgh Pirates

Age: 21 | 6-0 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

Peguero is a very athletic shortstop who’s already a plus defender there, and has a solid approach at the plate for a 20-year-old, needing to add strength now to get to more consistent hard contact. Acquired from Arizona in the trade that sent Starling Marte to the desert (and brought back oft-injured right-hander Brennan Malone), Peguero made his full-season debut in 2021, jumping all the way to High A, where he hit .270/.332/.444, with 14 homers and 28 steals in 34 attempts. He did miss some time with a knee contusion in May, but it didn’t affect his running or his defense after he returned. Peguero has good bat speed, but there’s some swing and miss in the zone here that his overall stat line doesn’t necessarily reveal, and he’ll have to narrow his pitch selection as he faces better arms this year in Double A. He has a high floor as a utility infielder because of his defense and potential for 20 homers, with 20/20 upside as a true shortstop as long as he continues to gain strength and tightens his approach on pitches in the zone.

78. Jasson Dominguez, OF, New York Yankees

Age: 19 | 5-10 | 190 pounds
Bats: Switch | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: 66

Dominguez’s professional debut did not, in fact, cause the heavens to quake or birds to fly backwards, but he more than held his own for an 18-year-old who had zero game at bats prior to 2021. The Yankees were aggressive with him, sending him to Low A Tampa after just a week in the Florida Complex League, and he punched out over 30 percent of the time in the higher level, but made a lot of hard contact and took some walks. He struggled with better-quality stuff, which is unsurprising for a player of his age and inexperience; even after this past year, he still has just 228 pro plate appearances, not even a half season’s worth. The huge tools that earned him a $5 million bonus from the Yankees are intact — he’s a plus runner with an easy-plus arm, shows good range in centerfield, and has plus raw power — but his skills are about what you’d expect from his age and lack of repetitions. He may have been overhyped when he signed, but now would be the wrong time to jump off the Martian Express.

79. Joey Bart, C, San Francisco Giants

Age: 25 | 6-2 | 238 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 2 in 2018

Previous ranking: 41

Bart had a disappointing year in Triple A, missing time with a quad strain, playing lethargic defense, and striking out nearly 30 percent of the time. The No. 2 overall pick in 2018, Bart is capable of playing plus defense with a plus arm, and may have been going through the motions in Triple A after spending part of 2020 in the big leagues. He has pull power and some pitch recognition, with swing and miss issues that make him more likely to be a .230/.300/.450 guy than a high-average hitter. Assuming his defensive issues were a temporary matter of being at a level where he didn’t want to be, with the majors beckoning this year, he still projects to be an everyday catcher for a long time, perhaps without the star potential the Giants wanted when they drafted him.

80. Shea Langeliers, C, Atlanta Braves

Age: 24 | 6-0 | 205 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 9 in 2019

Previous ranking: Just missed

Langeliers hasn’t risen to the status of the many elite catching prospects in baseball, but it’s not a mark against his defense — he can throw with the best of them, he’s a solid-average receiver and he has plus power, just lacking the hit tool upside of the likes of Gabriel Moreno and Francisco Alvarez. At the plate, he’s more of a mistake hitter right now, but during the pandemic he gained the strength to punish those mistakes, with 22 homers in 92 Double-A games before a late promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett. Langeliers threw out 42 percent of opposing base stealers last year, after throwing out 41 percent in his debut season in 2019, but he’s somewhat stiff behind the dish, so while his hands are good he may never be more than an average or slightly better than average glove man. He’s close to major-league ready and could probably be a backup for Atlanta right now, with everyday upside as long as he keeps crushing mistakes.

81. D.L. Hall, LHP, Baltimore Orioles

Age: 23 | 6-2 | 195  pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 21 in 2017

Previous ranking: 49

Hall was off to the best start of his career in 2021 when his elbow barked with a stress reaction — not a ligament tear, which means he didn’t need Tommy John surgery but still missed the remainder of the season after throwing just 31 2/3 innings. His stuff was as good as ever, with all three pitches at least flashing plus, his fastball still up to 96-97, his curveball still hard and sharp, helping him punch out 46 percent of the left-handed batters he faced. He’s very athletic, with the ability to repeat his delivery and field his position well; on nights when he keeps himself under control, he can be unhittable. It’s top of the rotation stuff if he stays healthy, and he’s expected to be ready to go for spring training, when we’ll see if he can pick up where he left off last June.

82. Kyle Harrison, LHP, San Francisco Giants

Age: 20 | 6-2 | 200 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 85 in 2020

Previous ranking: Unranked

Harrison tied for eighth among all minor-league pitchers with 157 strikeouts in 2021, and was the only guy in the top 10 who threw less than 100 innings. He punched out 35.7 percent of opposing hitters, good for fifth among minor-league starters. Harrison has premium stuff, sitting mid-90s, touching 98, with good ride on the pitch thanks to a low 3/4 slot that also makes him very tough on left-handed batters. He throws a slurvy slider now but could probably throw a harder slider and a distinct curveball, while his changeup is solid-average but rather dusty from lack of use. He actually had a reverse platoon split last year thanks to a .547 BABIP — not a typo — against lefties, which, and I cannot emphasize this enough, will not continue. He’s still developing as a pitcher, rather than someone who can dominate with his fastball, but his command and control showed improvement as the season went on. He’ll have to cut the walks, and figure out some stuff with his secondaries, but he might have No. 1 starter upside and at worst his ceiling is that of a well above-average starting pitcher.

83. Roansy Contreras, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates

Age: 22 | 6-0 | 175 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

Contreras came out last year throwing bullets, working at 95-98, up from 92-95 when we last saw him in 2019, but his elbow complained in late June and the Pirates shut him down for two months. He returned in September, made his major-league debut, and pitched in the AFL, all with the same stuff he’d shown before the layoff, which isn’t a guarantee that he’ll be healthy for 2022 but is the best possible outcome. Contreras is a four-pitch guy now, having added a slider in the mid-80s to go with his improved and now very high-spin curveball. He also has a power changeup with screwball-like action in the upper 80s which has been effective against right-handed hitters as well as left. Contreras is a smaller guy, so when his elbow started to bother him, reliever concerns resurfaced as well, although there’s no mechanical reason to think he can’t at least be a five-and-dive starter, with the repertoire and control to do it at some point in 2022.

84. Drey Jameson, RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks

Age: 24 | 6-0 | 165 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 24 in 2019

Previous ranking: Unranked

Jameson made a ton of adjustments in 2021, his first full season in pro ball (after a year when he didn’t go to the team’s alternate site), from mechanical changes to adding a pitch to learning how best to deploy all of his weapons. Jameson can now sit 96-98 with his four-seamer but has introduced a two-seamer at 90-92 to get some quicker outs, along with a plus slider and above-average changeup. He’s very athletic, which he has to be given his hurry-up delivery. He’s online to the plate and gets on top of the ball well, but he comes off the rubber quickly and only someone this athletic could repeat his delivery. He’s more a control guy than command and probably always will be given how he pitches, but he’s probably going to miss a ton of bats and get weak contact when he doesn’t. He’s the big upside guy among the Dbacks’ Big 3 pitching prospects, less of a sure thing than Ryne Nelson or Brandon Pfaadt, but the guy most likely to end up a No. 2 starter.

85. Brice Turang, SS, Milwaukee Brewers

Age: 22 | 6-0 | 173 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 21 in 2018

Previous ranking: No. 96

Turang was the Brewers’ first-round pick in 2018, a highly regarded high school shortstop with good actions and sure hands but some questions around what his offensive game might eventually look like. In pro ball, he’s shown an excellent approach at the plate but has yet to do much damage when working himself into good counts. Turang hit just six homers last year, but has more power than that, with 15-18 homer upside, needing to add a little strength but mostly to learn to put the ball in the air more often — he can hit the ball hard enough, but his groundball rate spiked to over 50 percent when he reached Triple A and faced the major-league baseball. In the field, he’s excellent on routine plays, a solid 55/60 overall, although I’ve had scouts suggest he might be a better defender in center than at short. He’s already reached Triple A and will play at 22 this whole year, with a core skill set that gives him a high floor as at least a great super-utility player, with above-average regular upside as a shortstop who gets on base with moderate power.

86. Brayan Bello, RHP, Boston Red Sox

Age: 23 | 6-1 | 170 pounds
Bats: Right  | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

Bello can run his fastball up to 100 mph, and pitches at 95-97 with some feel, although he still has a fair amount of development to go before he’s going to be a big-league starter. He’s a four-pitch guy who needs those offspeed weapons because hitters can get on his fastball even with its velocity, which emphasizes the need for him to further work on his changeup (although he had no real platoon split last year) or perhaps try a splitter. His slider can get up to 90 mph and should be a plus pitch in time. His arm is fast, but there’s some effort and he has a smaller frame, similar to that of the late Yordano Ventura in physique and arm speed. There’s definite reliever risk, but if he moves to the bullpen he’ll probably be 97-100 with a slider up to 90-92, and he has mid-rotation starter upside if he can improve both his fastball command and the quality of his secondaries.

87. Brandon Pfaadt, RHP, Arizona Diamondbacks

Age: 23 | 6-4 | 220 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 149 in 2020

Previous ranking: Unranked

Pfaadt was the Diamondbacks’ fifth-round pick in 2020 out of then-D2 Bellarmine University, which has produced just one big leaguer in its history, right-hander Todd Wellemeyer, and signed for just $100,000, but has turned out to be their best prospect from that class. Pfaadt is a big, physical right-hander, 6-4 and 225-plus, who fills up the strike zone with three pitches, touching 97-98 but sitting 93-94 with good sink and some natural cut. He doesn’t have a clear plus pitch, but repeats his efficient delivery well for average command already, dominating two levels of A ball before running into some home run trouble in Double A (12 in 33 innings, although nine of those came in two starts). He may not have the pure upside of some of Arizona’s other arms, but he has a fastball that plays, a great delivery, and a strong build for 30-plus starts a year.

88. Sal Frelick, OF, Milwaukee Brewers

Age: 22 | 5-9 | 175 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 15 in 2021

Previous ranking:  Ineligible

Frelick started his spring at Boston College on fire, with talk that he might end up a top-six pick come draft day, but the power didn’t last through conference play, which in turn is probably how he ended up available to the Brewers at No. 15 pick. Frelick is a high-contact centerfielder with more strength than you might guess from his 5-9 frame, perhaps never getting to 10 homers a year but with plenty of power to make hard contact against big-league pitching. He walked more than he struck out in his three years at BC, and then drew 21 walks against 25 strikeouts in pro ball, finishing the summer in High A. His swing is compact and quick, he’s a plus runner, and he plays plus defense in center with some experience at second base from summer wood bat leagues. Garrett Mitchell might have more upside, but he has far more risk, making Frelick the Brewers’ more likely centerfielder and leadoff man of the future.

89. Kevin Smith, SS, Toronto Blue Jays

Age: 25 | 6-1 | 190 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 129 in 2017

Previous ranking: Unranked

Smith hit .209/.263/.402 in Double A in 2019 with below-average defense at shortstop, on top of a poor performance in High A the year before, and anyone who’d bet on him reaching the big leagues in the next season probably would have gotten incredible odds on it. He started to rework things at the plate in the middle of that season, continuing it at the alt site in 2020, and it paid off in 2021, as Smith hit .285/.370/.561 in Triple A with a career-best walk rate and big cut in his strikeout rate. He’d made some adjustments in 2019 to try to get to more high fastballs, but it cost him coverage to the rest of the zone, while in 2021 he was back to his previous swing while also working to be more selective early in counts, looking for pitches where he can do damage. He’s also staying quieter at the plate, keeping his head steadier and loading his back hip earlier to get to more power without sacrificing contact. It’s worked, and as a middle infielder who’s an above-average defender at multiple spots and has power, he has a chance to have a long, productive career.

90. Asa Lacy, LHP, Kansas City Royals

Age: 23 | 6-4 | 215 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Left
Drafted: No. 4 in 2020

Previous ranking: 30

Lacy’s pro debut was a disaster: he walked 41 men in 52 innings, 17.3 percent of batters faced, before the Royals shut him down in late July to deal with a muscle injury in his shoulder; it didn’t require surgery but may explain the sudden loss of the strike zone. His stuff looked as good as ever, as he was up to 99, sitting mid to upper 90s, with a 55 to 60 slider and changeup that would show plus, with that last pitch good enough to give him a reverse platoon split. He looked better in the Arizona Fall League, with similar stuff and just one outing in four where he had control issues, but there’s still reasonable doubt whether he’ll return to the kind of control he showed as an amateur, when the Royals made him the No. 3 overall pick in 2020 (and he was good enough to merit discussion at No. 1). If he does, he’ll be a top-50 prospect again, maybe even top 20, with ace stuff from the left side and a big, durable build.

91. Mick Abel, RHP, Philadelphia Phillies

Age: 20 | 6-5 | 190 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 15 in 2020

Previous ranking: Just missed

Abel was the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2020, the first time in a decade they’d taken a high school pitcher in the first round (since Jesse Biddle), and he was clearly the best prep arm in that class, with a big fastball and curveball along with size and a strong delivery. He made his pro debut last year in Low-A Clearwater and saw improvement in his stuff with some trouble with command and control. He’s a four-pitch guy now, working 92-95 regularly as a starter, although he’s been up to 97-98 in shorter stints, with the changeup becoming a real weapon for him last year, even ahead of the curve and slider. All of his offspeed pitches show you enough now to project them as future plus pitches, with the changeup already there or very close to it. He has good carry on the fastball and occasionally gets a little cut to it, so it also plays up against left-handed batters. He walked 14 percent of batters he faced last year, but that was skewed by his last few starts, where he walked 13 men in 14 innings. His season ended after that due to a sore shoulder, although he’s healthy and expected to be ready to go for minor-league spring training. There’s top of the rotation upside here as long as he stays healthy and returns to the kind of command and control he showed as a high school underclassman.

92. Dustin Harris, 1B, Texas Rangers

Age: 22 | 6-2 | 185 pounds
Bats: Left | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 344 in 2019

Previous ranking: Unranked

Harris was Oakland’s 11th-round pick in 2019 out of St. Petersburg College, then went to Texas along with outfielder Marcus Smith in a trade for Mike Minor in August of 2020. So I think it’s fair to say nobody quite anticipated the year he had in 2021, where he hit .301/.389/.483 in Low A, moved up to High-A Hickory at the start of August, and hit .372/.425/.648 at the higher level. Harris has a simple, strong, direct swing that produces a lot of hard contact (obviously), having made several subtle adjustments to his approach that unlocked his power — he had two homers through July 5, then hit 18 more the rest of the way. He’s played first and third, neither of them very well, and may try some left field next year, but this kind of bat should play anywhere on the field.

93. Nick Gonzales, 2B, Pittsburgh Pirates

Age: 23 | 5-10 | 195 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 7 in 2020

Previous ranking: Unranked

Gonzales had a huge year despite missing a month with a hand injury, although he was old for High A and benefited from playing in a strong hitters’ park in Greensboro. The No. 7 overall pick in 2020, Gonzales has plus power both to his pull side and the other way, hitting more homers to right-center than anywhere else this year. He’s more a mistake hitter with power than a hit-first guy, struggling in my looks with fastballs up and in and some breaking stuff in the zone as well. Gonzales has played some short in his career but the Pirates have played him almost exclusively at second base, where he’s a 45 defender, but he has enough instincts in the field that he could be an emergency shortstop for a game here or there. He looks like a low-OBP, 20-25 homer guy at second base, and given the low level of offense at that position right now, that would make him an everyday guy, with upside if he tightens up his ability to make contact inside the zone.

94. Curtis Mead, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays

Age: 21 | 6-2 | 171 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

The Rays picked up Mead in a minor trade from the Phillies for left-hander Cristopher Sanchez in a trade in November 2019, when Mead had only played in the GCL. He debuted in full-season ball this year, and hit .321/.378/.533 between Low A and High A, along with a four-game stint in Triple A in September, leading all minor-league hitters with 38 doubles. He has a quiet approach at the plate, staying upright most of the way through contact, with just a small toe-tap and very quick, late hand acceleration. He hits the ball hard to all fields, with his power more the line-drive sort than big home run power for now. He’s also improved his defense at third substantially since 2019, when it was unclear what his position might be, although he’s played some first and second and should get some reps in the outfield corners as well. He might end up with a 60 or better hit tool, hitting .300ish with 40 doubles in a full major-league season, and that would make him a regular at third or even in right.

95. Oswald Peraza, SS, New York Yankees

Age: 22 | 6-0 | 165 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

Anthony Volpe wasn’t the only Yankees shortstop prospect to have a breakout year, as Peraza hit .297/.356/.477 with 38 steals in 48 attempts at three levels, finishing in Triple A. Peraza is a plus defender at short, perhaps the best defensive shortstop in the strong Yankees’ system, and would have the arm and hands to move to third base if the Yankees made Volpe their shortstop of the future. At the plate, Peraza has strong hands and wrists and at least 55 game power now, projecting to plus, but it’s more power than hit right now despite what the stat line might indicate. He needs to improve his plate discipline to be able to succeed in Triple A or the majors, as he swings at too many pitches he either can’t hit or just can’t hit well, and isn’t likely to become an above-average OBP guy in the future. He’s going to be a 20-plus homer guy, with plus defense at short and value on the bases, which would make him a regular on many teams, even if he doesn’t end up doing so for the Yankees.

96. Jose Miranda, 3B, Minnesota Twins

Age: 24 | 6-2 | 210 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 73 in 2016

Previous ranking: Unranked

Miranda showed signs of his 2021 breakout in instructs the year before, and in 16 games in the Puerto Rican Winter League that offseason, but what he ended up doing was beyond anyone’s expectations: He hit .344/.401/.572 between Double A and Triple A, despite no history of success anywhere above Low A before this past year. Miranda has a clean, simple swing that has always produced a ton of contact, but hadn’t had much to show for it as the contact quality wasn’t there. Last year, thanks to strength gains he’d made in the intervening year and a half, he hit the ball harder, consistently, with 32 doubles and 30 homers, tying him for seventh among all minor leaguers in extra-base hits last year. The Twins have tried him at several positions, including second, first, and left, but so far he’s looked best at third base, where he’s still only fringe-average and may not get better given how much he’s filled out. Even if he’s giving five runs back on defense, he’ll still be a solid regular with this bat, and perhaps a move to left or first allows him to play average defense somewhere.

97. Drew Romo, C, Colorado Rockies

Age: 20 | 6-1 | 205 pounds
Bats: Both | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 35 in 2020

Previous ranking:  Unranked

Romo was a surprise pick when Colorado took him in the sandwich round in 2020, in large part because scouts thought his commitment to college was too strong, and a surprise assignment to full-season ball at 19, in large part because scouts questioned his bat way back in high school. Romo then hit .314/.345/.439 for Low-A Fresno, with just a 14.7 percent strikeout rate and, most shocking of all, 23 steals in 30 attempts. He also nailed 35 percent of opposing runners, caught and framed well, and showed advanced game-management skills for a teenager. His bat will probably always lag his defense, but he has a short swing good barrel awareness that results in high contact rates. The offensive bar for a catcher who’s an asset behind the plate isn’t very high; MLB catchers hit a composite .229/.305/.391 in 2021, the worst line of any position. Romo already has the floor of a quality backup who plays a long time in the majors, but it looks more like he’ll be a regular whom coaches and pitchers love because he contributes in all of the other ways that matter.

98. Eddys Leonard, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers

Age: 21 | 6-0 | 160 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

Leonard had just one game above short-season coming into 2021, but hit so well at both levels of A-ball, with a .297/.390/.539 line, that the Dodgers had to put him on the 40-man in November. Leonard has a fantastic swing, hammering fastballs even up in the zone and producing hard line-drive contact, enough to rank him in the top 25 of all minor-leaguers in extra-base hits with 29 doubles and 22 homers last year in just 107 games. He’s mostly played shortstop and second base, although the Dodgers tried him out in center for 11 games last year; he could stay at short and maybe end up a 55 defender there, but he’s an above-average runner and centerfield might be a better option given the Dodgers’ other talent in the infield. The bat is going to play anywhere, though, and if he shows he can crush better offspeed stuff the way he crushed tough fastballs last year, he’ll be in the top 25 next winter.

99. Jordan Groshans, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays

Age: 22 | 6-3 | 205 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right
Drafted: No. 12 in 2018

Previous ranking: Unranked

Groshans had another injury-interrupted season where he performed well when he was able to play, hitting .291/.367/.450 despite jumping two levels to Double A — and that after playing only 23 games in Low A back in 2019. He’s already shown some advanced skills at the plate, from his swing decisions to his ability to drive the ball the other way, with the potential for 20+ homers once he adds a little more strength. Groshans played more shortstop than third base this year, but he’s not a shortstop, and while he might end up a solid-average defender at third, he’s going to have to work on his flexibility and avoid getting too tightly wound as he continues to bulk up. He has a plus arm that will help him at third or, in the worst case scenario, if he has to move to right field. He’s a well-rounded player who does a little of everything but hits with the feel of a player who’s older and has more than the 619 pro plate appearances he has, so he should be a solid-average regular even if he never takes a big leap in power or has to move off the dirt.

100. Alex Ramirez, OF, New York Mets

Age: 19 | 6-3 | 170 pounds
Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Previous ranking: Unranked

Ramirez signed for $2.05 million in July of 2019, and made his pro debut in 2021 as one of only two 18-year-olds in the Low-A Southeast League. He was slightly overmatched at the plate, but showed incredible defensive skills in centerfield with great reads and plus speed, and flashed what should be grade 60 or even 70 power when he fills out. He’s 6-3 and still close to the 168 pounds he was when he first signed, although he’s likely to put on 25-30 pounds of muscle as he fills out. It’ll come down to control of the strike zone, as with so many young hitters; if he shows he can do it enough to get to the power, he’ll be a plus-plus defender in centerfield who hits 25-30 homers a year.

(Top image: John Bradford / The Athletic; Photos: Getty; Douglas P. DeFelice, Scott W. Grau / Icon Sportswire, Dustin Bradford)