(Editor’s note: These rankings have been updated to remove Kumar Rocker, who previously was at No. 28 but did not sign with the New York Mets, and add a new player, Keibert Ruiz, at No. 50; Austin Martin’s team was changed to reflect his trade to the Minnesota Twins.)
Now that the draft is over and we’ve passed the All-Star Break, I’m updating my ranking of the top prospects in professional baseball, with a top 50 here that includes players who were just drafted last week.
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This list differs from my offseason rankings in one important way: I exclude any players currently in the big leagues, whether or not they have exhausted their rookie eligibility. Thus Jarren Duran and Jarred Kelenic aren’t here, since both are in the majors. They could be on this winter’s list if they return to the minors without reaching the limits for rookie status.
1. Adley Rutschman, C, Baltimore Orioles
I don’t think this is really debatable at this point; Rutschman is a plus defensive catcher who is hitting .268/.394/.472, with just one fewer walk than strikeout, in Double A, despite coming into the year with just 130 pro at-bats. There’s no real reason to keep him at that level at this point, and if the Orioles were trying to win this year, they’d probably have him in the majors already. I’d advocate for a September call-up just for developmental reasons, since we’ve seen plenty of good hitting prospects struggle at first with big-league pitching. With this power/patience package, even if he doesn’t always hit for average, he still has an everyday floor, with a chance for some down-ballot MVP years thanks to that 30 homer upside.
2. C.J. Abrams, SS, San Diego Padres
Abrams is the only other player I even considered for 1-1, but he broke his left tibia and sprained the MCL in his left knee a few weeks ago and he’ll be out for at least three months. Speed is a significant part of Abrams’ game, so I’d at least like to see him back and running with 80 speed again, although he has done so much of everything else so far — hitting .296/.363/.420 as a 20-year-old in Double A this year — that he’d still be a top 5 prospect in baseball even if he were just a 60 runner now. He’s going to stay at shortstop, which at some point will force the Padres to make a decision; if Abrams does move, he could be a plus defender in center as well.
3. Hunter Greene, RHP, Cincinnati Reds
Greene has been up to 104 mph this year, unsurprising given how hard he’s thrown ever since he was a 17-year-old senior in high school, but he’s also fully recovered from 2019 Tommy John surgery and showing real signs that he’s developing more as a complete pitcher. Greene’s introduction to Triple A was rough, as he allowed four homers, all solo, in four innings at Omaha, but he’s allowed just one more home run in five outings since then. His fastball can be too true, and despite its unbelievable velocity he can’t just rely on that pitch to miss bats, so the development of his slider, which is more of a 50/55 now but projects to be a plus pitch, is key. The Reds will have to deal with the temptation to bring Greene up to help their beleaguered bullpen, even though he needs to continue to work on his entire arsenal as a starter.
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4. Shane Baz, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays
Baz was part of the Chris Archer trade that brought Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow to Tampa, and might turn out to be the best player in the deal, as he’s been up to 99 mph as a starter with a plus changeup and hard slider. He started in Double A and walked just 2 guys in 7 starts before a promotion to Triple A, where he’s been only slightly less dominant, still striking out 36 percent of batters at the higher level with just a few more walks. He has No. 1 starter upside as long as he stays healthy, which so far hasn’t been a concern.
5. Gabriel Moreno, C, Toronto Blue Jays
Moreno broke his thumb in mid-June, which might be the only thing stopping his ascent to the majors right now, as he hit .373/.441/.651 in 32 games in Double A as a 21-year-old before the injury, while showing plus defensive skills across the board for the Fisher Cats. Moreno has quick hands and excellent bat control, with a short swing that should produce average power but a ton of hard contact, while he’s made substantial progress as a receiver. His hand strength may not be all the way back until next year due to the injury but it’s not a factor for the long term. He’s a future star.
6. Bobby Witt, Jr., SS, Kansas City Royals
Witt Jr. got off to a slow start in Double A this year, but after Northwest Arkansas’ first two series, he hit .322/.390/.643 over 50 games before a promotion to Triple A this past week. There’s still some swing-and-miss here, and he might have a similarly slow ramp-up when he reaches the majors, but he does everything else, showing power, speed, an 80 arm, and good range at shortstop. I know there’s been talk of moving him to another spot with Adalberto Mondesi at shortstop in the majors, but I would move Mount Rushmore to leave Witt at shortstop for now.
7. Reid Detmers, LHP, Los Angeles Angels
Detmers had the best command and control in the 2020 draft class, but his ceiling was limited by his average fastball and the expectation that it wouldn’t get much better, since he was 21 and didn’t seem to offer any projection. He’s been up to 97 as a starter this year, however, with two above-average or better weapons in his slider and changeup, striking out 97 men in 54 innings (43 percent of batters faced) in Double A already. With this kind of stuff and his present command, he could be an ace.
8. Francisco Álvarez, C, New York Mets
Álvarez’s bat would play anywhere; he’s showing ridiculous power for a 19-year-old, with 10 homers in 56 games and a lot of hard-hit line drives. He wrecked Low-A pitching for two weeks — Low A is not what it used to be, but still, Álvarez hit .417/.567/.646 there — and then moved up to High-A Brooklyn, where he’s still taking good at-bats and showing power. The one weakness in his game right now is throwing; he has arm strength but has thrown out just 17 percent of runners this year between the two levels. As long as he stays behind the plate, he’s a potential MVP.
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9. Riley Greene, OF, Detroit Tigers
Greene is part of a trio of Tigers hitting prospects with Double-A Erie, including Spencer Torkelson (on this list) and catcher Dillon Dingler (who’d be on a top 100), who are marching towards the majors to provide some offensive support for the Tigers’ ongoing rebuild. Greene has played centerfield almost exclusively this year, but he’s more likely to end up in a corner outfield spot — where he could be a plus defender, given how well he’s moving around now. His bat will play anywhere; he has power and bat speed, and has actually hit better against left-handed pitching so far than right-handed, a good sign given how often young left-handed hitters struggle with platoon issues. He’s also just 20 in Double A and hitting well, with just a bit more swing and miss than you’d like, so he might get to the majors behind his two college-draftee teammates, but he’s a strong regular with some All-Star upside.
10. Spencer Torkelson, 1B/3B, Detroit Tigers
Torkelson, the No. 1 overall pick last June, destroyed High A for a month before the Tigers promoted him to Double A, where he’s continued to show patience and power but has had an inexplicably low BABIP of .222, a fluky number that I think masks how good he’s been overall. He’s been splitting time between third and first, but he’s a below-average defender at the former spot and I don’t think he’ll be ready to play it competently in the majors when his bat is ready to rock. He’s a 30-homer, high-OBP guy who’ll be the Tigers’ cleanup hitter for a long time, wherever they decide to play him.
11. Cristian Pache, CF, Atlanta
I think there’s a lesson here in not promoting glove-first prospects too quickly; Pache hasn’t looked ready for the majors at all, with 25 strikeouts this year in 68 PA before Atlanta sent him down, and he hasn’t hit as well in Triple A either. Pache is an 80 defender in center with 65-70 raw power, but his plate discipline has always lagged behind other parts of his game and it really showed in the majors, especially on changeups. I’m still bullish on his long-term outlook, given the power/defense combination and his age — he’s 22, younger than two players just drafted in the second round last week — but he definitely needs time to hit the reset button at the plate and shouldn’t be back up until he’s shown better pitch recognition.
12. Austin Martin, SS, Minnesota Twins
Martin’s swing has become a bit more inside-out this year than it was in college, possibly because of a hand injury he sustained on a slide in mid-May, but as of publication he was still getting on base at a high clip — .409 so far on the season in Double A, .428 since the start of June — just without power. He’s been splitting time between shortstop and center field, with the latter the more likely position of the two, especially as his throwing hasn’t been great when he has to move to his right at short. He hasn’t had an extra-base hit in a month, which is almost certainly a result of that inside-out approach, but he’s doing all the other things he’s supposed to be doing, and has a strong leadoff profile once he gets back to his usual swing.
13. Corbin Carroll, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
This was going to be Carroll’s big coming-out party, and he started with a bang, hitting .435/.552/.913 in the first week of play in High A … and hurt his shoulder on a home run swing, requiring season-ending surgery. He could be back for winter ball, but probably won’t be back till spring training, so that’s another lost year of at-bats, but he still looks like a superstar in the making, with an incredible approach at the plate, power (preferably not the labrum-tearing kind), plus speed, and plus defense in center. As long as the shoulder doesn’t hold him back — and sometimes it does, if hitters try to protect the shoulder on follow-through — he still has All-Star upside. We just have to wait another year.
14. Marcelo Mayer, SS, Boston Red Sox
There was no runaway top prospect in this year’s draft class, but Mayer was the closest thing we had to a consensus No. 1, bringing the mix of floor and upside that tends to separate the best high school prospects from the rest. Mayer, who went fourth overall to the Red Sox, is a true shortstop who should develop into a plus defender there, and has the potential to hit for both average and power once he fills out.
15. Henry Davis, C, Pittsburgh Pirates
The top college position player in the draft class, Davis emerged this spring as a serious power threat with advanced feel for the strike zone and a 70 arm behind the plate. There was some disagreement among scouts over his glove, but I saw more than enough to buy into him as a long-term catcher, between his hands, his energy behind the plate, and his work ethic. He should move as quickly as his defense allows, which may also have helped him go first overall to the Pirates.
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16. Zac Veen, OF, Colorado Rockies
The Rockies’ first-round pick in 2020 has had a tremendous pro debut so far as a 19-year-old in Low A, hitting .283/.399/.487 for Fresno with 27 steals in 62 games, even showing no platoon split so far despite being a left-handed hitter. The Rockies moved Veen to right field, which was his most likely long-term position anyway. He has a great swing, a better feel for the strike zone than I thought, and should end up with 65 or 70 raw power and above-average speed. Colorado hasn’t developed a position player like him since Story and Arenado.
17. Marco Luciano, SS, San Francisco Giants
San Jose has never been a good place to hit, but Luciano doesn’t seem to mind, hitting .282/.379/.560 there with 16 homers already, leading the Low-A West (ex-California) League even though he’s young for the level at age 19. He’s not a shortstop, though — he’s already too big for it and I am not entirely sure where the positional wheel will stop spinning given his size. He’s only played short this year, but I think a move to third is in the offing, and his bat will play enough there to still make him a potential star and No. 2 hitter.
18. Julio Rodríguez, OF, Seattle Mariners
Rodríguez had no trouble with High A to start the year and has since moved up to Double A, where he’s now hitting .280/.410/.500 in 61 PA despite being the second-youngest regular at that level (behind Cardinals third base prospect Malcom Nuñez). Rodríguez has gotten even bigger since last we saw him, with huge power aided by a big stride forward in the box; he’s patient and will run deep counts, but he’s also still learning some pitch recognition, as we saw in the Futures Game a week and a half ago. He might end up a 40-homer guy with high walk rates, an old-school cleanup hitter who plays solid defense in right.
19. Nate Pearson, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays
Pearson still has No. 1 starter stuff, but his trouble staying healthy is enough of a concern to slide him down from where he was before the season. This year it’s been a sports hernia and groin injuries, which have set him back to the point that the Jays are talking about moving him to the bullpen for the rest of this season, which could also help the Jays in their playoff push. He can show multiple plus pitches and hit 100 mph when healthy — even sometimes when he’s not fully healthy — and they seem committed to letting him start again next spring, which is the right call given his upside.
20. Brennen Davis, OF, Chicago Cubs
Davis was great in 50 games in Low A in 2019 in between injuries, but he’s been even better this year between High A and Double A, hitting .273/.385/.500 at the latter level as a 21-year-old. If you watched the Futures Game, you saw his bat speed and his game power, with homers on a 95 mph fastball and a hanging curveball. He’s played center and right for Double-A Tennessee, probably because he might outgrow the former and end up in a corner. He is striking out just under 30 percent of the time in Double A, so his arrival in Wrigley might not be imminent, but there’s 25 homer/plus defense in rightfield upside here.
21. Jordan Lawlar, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks
Lawlar was in the mix at No. 1 overall but ended up going sixth to the Diamondbacks, who were ecstatic to get the player whom they rated first in the class. He’s a quick-twitch athlete with great bat speed and the potential for plusses in all five tools, with the hit tool the biggest question (if it weren’t a question, he probably would have gone first overall). He is already 19, the same age as many prospects already in Low A, so there’s a slight time pressure to get him moving up to the ladder, although he could start next year in full-season ball and be fine.
22. Diego Cartaya, C, Los Angeles Dodgers
Cartaya got a $2.5 million bonus from the Dodgers in 2018, made his pro debut in the complex in 2019, and has been unbelievable so far in Low A as a 19-year-old, hitting .298/.409/.614 with solid defense behind the plate. His season started a little late, but he’s been unstoppable in 31 games since late May, with consistent exit velocities over 100 mph as well. He’ll need more refinement on defense, and the sample on the bat is still small, but I don’t see any limit on how good he can be.
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23. Jack Leiter, RHP, Texas Rangers
Leiter was the No. 1 prospect on my draft board in the first half of the spring, before a pair of bad outings and a surprise week off put some questions around his durability, but he finished very strongly and still ended up the second overall pick. Leiter misses a ton of bats with his fastball, and uses it to set up all three of his offspeed pitches, making each of them more effective in turn. His curveball is potentially his best secondary weapon, but it wasn’t consistent this spring; he did often show he could pitch effectively without it, however, and there really aren’t questions about his feel for pitching or his baseball IQ. I don’t think he has No. 1 starter ceiling, but if he stays healthy he has an extremely high floor for a pitching prospect, and the most likely outcome is that he’s an above-average starter.
24. Matt Liberatore, LHP, St. Louis Cardinals
Liberatore came to the Cardinals in the Randy Arozarena trade, but he’s going to make Cardinals fans feel better about the deal soon enough. Liberatore has been up to 95 in the rotation, but it’s his curveball and changeup, both plus pitches at their best, that will make him an above-average starter. His fastball doesn’t have huge life or spin, but he also seems to know how to pitch off of it, and his delivery has always been good. He’s also added a slider in pro ball, which does fit his arm slot better and I suppose gives him a second breaking ball if the curveball isn’t working. He’s been homer-prone in Triple A, mostly on the fastball, and that’s the one thing that keeps him from projecting as an ace.
25. MacKenzie Gore, LHP, San Diego Padres
Gore was my No. 1 pitching prospect coming into the year, but he’s in purgatory right now; he lost his release point back in April and his fastball command went with it, so the Padres sent him to their spring training facility in Peoria to work on restoring his mechanics. He’s also seen a recurrence of the blister problems that plagued him in 2018. When he’s healthy and mechanically right, he has better stuff than any pitching prospect in the minors — four legit pitches that you could all grade as plus, athleticism for days, and, once upon a time, above-average control. We won’t know where he stands until he’s on a rubber again.
26. Noelvi Marte, SS, Seattle Mariners
Marte finally made his stateside debut this year, and he’s looked even better than advertised, showing an advanced bat for his age with present plus power and far better defense at short than expected. Marte is one of the youngest players in full-season ball and is hitting .275/.359/.477, ranking fifth in the Low-A West league in homers with 12. He’s actually a month younger than Marco Luciano, who is outhitting Marte in the same circuit but less likely to stay at short. The cavalry is coming in Seattle, for the first time in over a decade.
27. Daniel Lynch, LHP, Kansas City Royals
Lynch was tipping his pitches in the majors, according to the Royals, and they’ve been ironing out some mechanical stuff in Triple A, where he’s had a few disaster starts but mostly been missing bats. He’ll get up to 99 and can comfortably pitch at 94-97, but the fastball is too true to be his primary pitch, so he comes at hitters with a four-pitch mix that features a wipeout slider and a vastly improved changeup. It doesn’t matter if he can’t command them, or keep hitters from sitting on the fastball, so while his ceiling remains very high, there’s at least a little cause for concern in the short term. (For more on Lynch and other Royals prospects, read our own Alec Lewis’ interview with Royals assistant GM JJ Picollo.)
28. Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Baltimore Orioles
With lefty D.L. Hall on the shelf with a sore elbow, Rodriguez is the Orioles’ unquestioned top pitching prospect, and he has torn through High A and Double A so far this year, posting a 1.86 ERA with 97 strikeouts and just 13 walks allowed in 63 innings. The Orioles still haven’t unleashed the full Grayson, as he’s averaging less than five innings a start at age 21 – he’s actually gone more than five innings once all year, and he hasn’t thrown more than 83 pitches in any start. I’d like to see how his stuff looks and plays when he’s turning a lineup over three times, rather than two. Right now, it’s a plus fastball that sits 96-99 and an above-average changeup with a developing breaking ball, and I can’t imagine that’ll be that much worse when they finally take his training wheels off.
29. Robert Hassell, OF, San Diego Padres
Hassell went 8th overall last year on the Padres’ belief that he could really hit, and it turns out that, yes, he can really hit. Hassell is probably a hit over power guy in the end, but he’s already hitting .306/.400/.460 as a 19-year-old in Low A. He has a pretty, classic left-hander’s swing, with some loft for maybe average power, but with his ability to square up the ball and advanced plate discipline, he’s almost a throwback hitter who’ll contend for batting average titles. He’s also played better defense in center than anticipated, based on what he looked like in high school. With him and C.J. Abrams, the Padres have multiple players who could end up All-Star center fielders on the way.
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30. Matt McLain, SS, Cincinnati Reds
McLain was supposed to be a top ten pick this year, and I don’t really know what happened to make him slip to the Reds at pick 17, but they’re probably not asking too many questions. McLain broke out this spring as a junior for UCLA, hitting .333/.434/.579, making harder contact, walking as often as he struck out, and playing the best defense of his life at shortstop. A year earlier, he looked like a second baseman whose bat might be light for the position; now there’s a great chance he stays at short and he has an above-average hit tool with future average power. The Reds could use a true shortstop who can hit — it’s been one of their few organizational weaknesses in recent years — and lo and behold, here he is.
31. Josh Lowe, CF, Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays have already called up two of their top prospects, but Lowe might be the player they need the most. A plus center fielder with patience and power, Lowe is hitting .287/.360/.556 in Triple A, while Rays centerfielders as a whole are hitting .228/.291/.329 in the majors this year. Lowe might rack up strikeouts in the majors, but he isn’t currently in the top 20 in the Triple-A East league in that category. I know the Rays’ current centerfielder is well paid, but Lowe is ready.
32. Kahlil Watson, SS, Miami Marlins
Watson was supposed to be in just about every team’s mix in the top 6 except maybe Baltimore’s, but when this year’s draft came around he ended up going 16th overall to the Marlins. He’s a very strong kid for 5-foot-9, with power, speed, and arm strength, projecting to stay at shortstop, with some questions about how much swing and miss there might be given how hard he swings the bat. There are some ifs around his game but he was discussed in the top six for good reason; if — there’s that word again — he works on his defense and continues to hit the ball as hard as he has before, he’ll be an occasional All-Star.
33. Luis Campusano, C, San Diego Padres
Campusano’s season hasn’t been ideal from a development standpoint, as he was in the majors for a stretch but didn’t get regular playing time, although he showed strong exit velocities when he did play and his ceiling hasn’t changed. He’s always hit the ball hard, and has posted strong contact rates at every level, along with solid-average defense behind the plate. He’ll be back, and I feel very confident that he’ll be better once he gets to play every day.
34. Jasson Dominguez, OF, New York Yankees
The 18-year-old Dominguez has been in Low A for all of six games so far as I write this, and he’s gone 9 for 25 with a double, a triple, and a homer, and just four strikeouts. I have never seen an 18-year-old this physically maxed out, but the flip side of that is that we’re not waiting for any kind of growth — he’ll move as fast as his approach at the plate allows, and the faster he gets those repetitions against better pitching, the sooner we’ll see him in the majors. I wouldn’t be shocked to see him debut by the end of 2022. He’s going to outmuscle Low-A pitching and it looks like he’ll make adjustments as the pitching gets better — although we did see at the Futures Game that he’s not quite ready for major-league caliber stuff yet.
35. Ronny Mauricio, SS, New York Mets
Mauricio has unbelievably loose hands and bat speed, with 10 homers already for High-A Brooklyn as a 20-year-old, although he’s also been too aggressive and given away some at-bats for the Cyclones, showing his youth and inexperience. He’s built for shortstop with the arm strength for it, but when I saw him in June he was about a 40 defender there, and either he wasn’t focusing in the field or he needs to move to another position — maybe third, maybe centerfield. Or maybe he’s the guy the Mets trade because they just signed a shortstop for the next decade. Mauricio has All-Star upside, and he’s still so young, but I would like to see more consistency in his at-bats and in the field.
36. Edward Cabrera, RHP, Miami Marlins
Cabrera missed the start of 2021 with an inflamed nerve in his right biceps, but he has since returned and threw very well in High A and Double A, with 44 strikeouts and 6 walks in 32 innings at those levels, before a promotion this week to Triple-A Jacksonville. He’s up to 100 mph, sitting in the upper 90s, with a devastating changeup that has huge tumble and will miss bats in the majors. His slider is a clear third pitch, a little above-average now, and improving that would boost his ceiling somewhat, but even as is he has two pitches that might grade out as 80s and just has to stay healthy to get to the Marlins’ rotation this year.
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37. Jordan Balazovic, RHP, Minnesota Twins
As I write this, Balazovic hasn’t given up a run in four weeks — 25.2 innings, 10 hits, 4 walks, 30 strikeouts, zero runs. He’s made nine starts in Double A this year, and in six of them, he hasn’t surrendered any runs at all. The Canadian righty has added 2 mph to his fastball this year, averaging 95 mph on it, and his curveball has been sharper with more depth, giving him two plus pitches in his arsenal that have helped him lay waste to right-handed batters this year — they’re hitting .134/.202/.195 against him. His changeup is still a third offering, maybe just on the low side of average, and he will have to improve that to be an above-average or better starter in the majors. He has the size, delivery, and now the two plus pitches to get there.
38. Alek Thomas, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks
Thomas is a four-tool guy, lacking anything more than average power, with an advanced approach at the plate that favors contact and that has seen him hit well against lefties as well as righties. He’s a center fielder and likely to stay at the position unless he’s pushed aside by a 70 defender at some point, and has the patience to potentially end up a leadoff guy. He’s a safe prospect, without big upside unless he finds some extra power lying on the sidewalk, very likely to get to the majors and play a long time as a regular or an above-average one.
39. Orelvis Martinez, SS, Toronto Blue Jays
Martinez has been on an incredible tear of late, with seven homers in his last seven games to seize the lead in the Low-A East League by three over Anthony Volpe, who’s already been promoted; no one else in the league has more than 10 homers. Martinez has tremendous bat speed and the ball comes off his bat extremely well, while he’s played mostly shortstop this year and has the plus arm and soft hands for it. He’s 6’1″ and is going to end up over 200 pounds, so he might move over to third, but this hit/power tool combination is going to play anywhere, and it’s going to come down mostly to how good his plate discipline — which still lags his other tools — becomes.
40. Max Meyer, RHP, Miami Marlins
Meyer was the Marlins’ first-rounder in 2020, a six-foot right-hander who’d been up to 100 with a plus-plus slider up to 92. Double-A hitters haven’t been able to touch him, although he hasn’t struck out as many batters as I might have expected, and he’s not touching triple digits now that he’s pitching every fifth day instead of every seventh. He and lefty Jake Eder, who would be in the 51-75 group if I continued the rankings, give the Marlins two more high-upside starters from the 2020 draft, and maybe some small solace after Sixto Sánchez went down with shoulder surgery.
41. Anthony Volpe, SS, New York Yankees
I was way off on Volpe, who looks like a star at this point. He’s at least a 60 hitter, with bat speed and an advanced eye at the plate, and a 60 runner too. He’s definitely a shortstop, although he could get pushed off the position if the Yankees (or whoever) have a plus-plus defender there; what Volpe might lack naturally in range he makes up for in instincts and quick reactions. And while I don’t think there’s power per se, he hits the ball hard enough that I could see him hitting 15 homers, if not a little more. The Yankees’ scouts deserve a lot of credit here, as Volpe, their first-round pick in 2019, looks like their best first-rounder since Aaron Judge.
42. Brett Baty, 3B, New York Mets
Baty crushed high-A pitching to a .309/.397/.514 line before a promotion last week to Double A, and I think that line doesn’t even reflect how much raw power he has. He’s also slimmed down a little bit and looks like he’s more than capable of staying at third base, as he was visibly lighter on his feet and he’s always had the arm for it. He’s 21 now and young for his level for the first time in his career, which will probably tell us just how advanced his bat is, but I think there’s 30 homers in here when he reaches his peak.
43. Joey Bart, C, San Francsico Giants
Bart, like Campusano, probably just needs to play regularly in the majors at this point, although at least the Giants can credibly point to an MVP candidate playing behind the plate for them in the big leagues. Bart is a plus defender with a plus arm and plus raw power; he’s going to strike out more than you’d like and I don’t think he’ll ever hit for average, but a catcher who has his power and his value on defense will never lack for work.
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44. Cole Winn, RHP, Texas Rangers
Winn has been outstanding in Double A as a 21-year-old despite just 68 pro innings before this season, allowing just 22 hits in 52.2 innings with 61 strikeouts and 19 walks allowed for Frisco. He’s a four-pitch guy with a plus changeup and fastball up to 95, showing good feel for his breaking stuff (despite hanging a slider at the Futures Game). If that changeup keeps getting better, maybe his ceiling is better than that of a No. 2 starter, but even that would have to be welcome for the Rangers at this point.
45. Nick Pratto, 1B, Kansas City Royals
Pratto reworked his swing at the alternate site last year to get back to where he was in high school, using the whole field more while also looking for pitches he can drive out to right, and it’s worked. He hit .271/.404/.570 for Double-A Northwest Arkansas — which also had M.J. Melendez, another top-100 prospect for the Royals — before a promotion last week to Omaha. Pratto is an above-average defender at first, and with this power and patience, he should be at least an above-average regular. Here’s your one warning sign: He punched out 29 percent of the time in Double A, even with the swing changes and the newfound patience. That’s down from 2019 (34 percent) but still higher than it should be against Double-A pitching.
46. Nolan Gorman, 3B, St. Louis Cardinals
Gorman is among the minor-league leaders in home runs with 15, splitting his season so far between Double A and Triple A at age 21, and he’s kept his strikeouts under control at both levels. Gorman has a big swing with 80 raw power, and he still has trouble with left-handed pitching, with a huge platoon split so far this year. He’s played both third and second base this year, but given his arm (great) and agility (so-so) I think the hot corner is his destination.
47. Quinn Priester, RHP, Pittsburgh Pirates
Priester was the Pirates’ first-round pick in 2019, took a step forward at the alternate site and in instructs last year, and now looks like he’s close to hitting his projection; he was 95-97 at the Futures Game in Denver and comfortably sits 92-95 with four pitches, including a new cutter at 89-92 that is one reason why lefties have done nothing against him this year. He’s still just 20 and has to refine his control, which has been a bit worse the last month, but his delivery is so good I don’t think throwing quality strikes will be a problem for him. He has more No. 2 starter ceiling but as long as he stays healthy he has a strong chance to get there.
48. Jordan Walker, 3B, St. Louis Cardinals
Walker was the Cardinals’ first-round pick in 2020, a high-upside but very high-risk athlete from Georgia whose hit tool was still in doubt. Signed by area scout Charles Peterson, who died last August from COVID-19, Walker debuted this year and hit .374/.475/.687 in Low A before a promotion to High A, where he’s scuffled initially, but even that is miles ahead of expectations from when he was an amateur. He’s a big kid, 6-foot-5, and might end up moving to the outfield despite a plus arm, although his plus speed could make him an elite defender in right — and he has plus raw power, too. If his hit tool really is a grade or more better than we thought last spring, the Cards might have found a superstar.
49. Xavier Edwards, 2B, Tampa Bay Rays
Edwards is an outstanding contact hitter with plus speed who could probably play shortstop if he weren’t in an organization that grows shortstops in a greenhouse they keep outside their stadium. He’s played almost exclusively second base this year, with a little third, and given his speed he could probably handle center. There’s no power here and I don’t expect that to come in the future, but his ability to put the ball in play and run will generate some extra on-base value, and the positional versatility up the middle adds even more.
50. Keibert Ruiz, C, Washington Nationals
One of the two main players going back to the Nats for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, Ruiz hit .311/.381/.631 for Triple-A Oklahoma City with almost as many walks as strikeouts, with 16 homers in 52 games, a breakout season for a prospect who’s long had more ability than we saw in games. He’s always hit for contact, but would show power more in BP than in actual games. With this power/contact/OBP combination, he could be a frequent All-Star as long as he stays behind the plate, even though he’s probably a 45 defender there and has a fringy arm. If he has to move to another position, this bat should play anywhere. The Nats should exhaust every possibility for him to catch before doing so, though, because he could be a .375 OBP/20-homer guy as an everyday catcher.
(Top photo of Abrams: Matt Thomas / San Diego Padres via Getty Images)
