At lengthy final, the brand new Top 100, staff prime 30s and prime 10 by place lists are stay. And, as all the time, they’ve created some (often) wholesome debate and dialogue. So I made a decision to dedicate this week’s MLB Pipeline Inbox to wading into these waters and answering questions you had about the entire lists.
Which prospects had been the toughest to rank within the up to date Top 100 Prospects List? — @StevieDAles97
In basic, the pitchers with accidents or well being questions had been those that had been a little bit powerful to position. Typically, we strive to not knock a man down due to Tommy John surgical procedure, however clearly that must be given consideration. Phillies prospect Andrew Painter was actually powerful as a result of if he comes again at full power, and there’s no actual purpose to assume he received’t, why wouldn’t he nonetheless be the perfect pitching prospect in baseball, or not less than nearer to No. 1 Draft decide Paul Skenes? At the identical time, he isn’t actually going to be pitching at actually full power till 2025, provided that he didn’t have the surgical procedure till July, so we took that under consideration after we put him at No. 29.
We had just a few questions on how we might have Kyle Harrison (Giants) forward of Ricky Tiedemann (Blue Jays) among the many left-handed pitchers, given the command points Harrison has had. Again, the very fact Tiedemann has thrown simply 20 2/3 innings this 12 months, has been coping with biceps points a 12 months after having his work load so carefully monitored, is why he’s a little bit behind Harrison. And sure, we all know Harrison has missed time, too, nevertheless it was a hamstring situation that the Giants had been being very cautious with (understandably), which worries us lower than the arm points which have saved Tiedemann off the mound a lot this 12 months. We’ll be watching these two carefully although as we transfer forward.
One different man who has change into very tough to determine the best way to rank is Jasson Domínguez…. Which I’ll speak extra about within the subsequent query.
Mr. Mayo, your final rankings had Jasson Domínguez at no. 44. Now he is dropped like a rock to 80?! What provides? — @JGaeche
A number of folks weighed in on The Martian; I selected this query as a result of, effectively, he was extra respectful than among the others. But I digress.
Domínguez has change into probably the most tough prospects to determine the place to placed on the Top 100. I’ll let you know that we did have him a bit larger in our first draft of the record, however we received pretty overwhelming suggestions from the scouting business that we had him excessive. And once they speak that loudly, we hear.
It’s bizarre to have a little bit “prospect fatigue” over a man who is simply 20 years previous, however right here we’re. There are these within the business who assume he was over-hyped from the second the Yankees signed him. On the constructive aspect, he’s younger for his stage and if he can preserve attending to his energy, might edge near a 20-40 season. He’s been significantly better since July 1, with a .336/.404/.464 line.
The flip aspect of the coin is general, scouts haven’t beloved his method on the plate, the place he appears passive at instances, letting good pitches go, and over-aggressive at different instances, chasing pitches. In different phrases, his swing choices have been very inconsistent. He’s pretty bodily mature and whereas he’s nonetheless working effectively and was reportedly in higher form this 12 months, some assume he leads to a nook outfield spot.
Even inside the Yankees system, it’s not like Domínguez was the clear selection, and we listened to suggestions from evaluators who’ve Spencer Jones forward of Dominguez (which is how they’re ranked on this version). In the tip, I believe Domínguez’s rating is extra a matter of us maybe correcting after getting too carried away from the outset. He nonetheless has each probability to be an excellent Major Leaguer, which is why he’s within the Top 100, however possibly he received’t be some monster mixture of Mickey Mantle, Mike Trout and Bo Jackson, as some had steered.
Hey MLB Pipeline, how is Aidan Miller a Top 100 prospect and Colin Houck not when Houck was ranked larger within the prime Draft prospects record? Literally nothing has modified about both moreover them signing with groups — @Eddie_Mets
How shut was Matt Shaw to creating the Top 100? — @InvoiceHecht74
I made a decision to group these collectively so I might focus on the location of the 2023 Draft class. We have 11 of them on the Top 100, which really shocked us a bit, as we thought there could be extra given the power of the category. Look for extra to get added as we now have guys graduate and don’t be shocked to see Shaw land there quickly — he was shut to creating the brand new record from the get-go.
As for the Miller vs. Houck debate, I get it. Houck (Mets) was certainly at No. 12 and Miller (Phillies) was at 13, however that’s splitting hairs a bit; there isn’t actually that a lot (if something) separating the 2 highschool infielders. I believe if Houck had been an excellent 10-20 spots forward of Miller, that might be a greater argument when it comes to why Miller is on the Top 100 and Houck isn’t. That mentioned, we’re not afraid to confess/modify from our Draft rankings if, after the very fact, we had been off on some rankings.
In this case, Miller was powerful to rank on the Draft record as a result of his hamate harm sidelined him all spring, however we all the time had a sense that had he been wholesome and scouted all his senior 12 months, he’d have been within the prime 10 (and doubtless chosen that prime). So that was taken under consideration.
As was the truth that Miller was taken sooner than Houck (No. 27 vs. No. 32) and received paid extra ($3.1 millon vs. $2.75 million). Miller has gotten off to an excellent begin, although that didn’t actually determine into the equation as a result of it’s a small pattern measurement, however scouts did observe how good Miller seemed out of the gate and that he might take off subsequent 12 months. I believe Houck definitely might work his means on sooner or later — we actually like him — however these are the explanations Miller has the sting proper now.
Are prospect gurus too gun shy on Phillies’ Johan Rojas? He is enjoying like Superman within the majors for a staff within the playoff hunt. He definitely must be a top-100 man at this level. — @ADRellim
I do the Phillies record, so I’ve recognized and written about Rojas for fairly a while. And for a very long time, I’ve recognized he might defend at a Gold Glove stage within the massive leagues for years. And his velocity was going to play, too. He’s all the time made contact on the plate, however the factor that’s held him again prospect-wise was the affect of the contact. He was driving the ball a bit extra in Double-A Reading this 12 months (the place it’s a extremely good place to hit and his home-road splits converse to that), however general, that’s been missing. And I’d warn towards placing an excessive amount of inventory into the small pattern of his massive league play. Yes, he’s been dynamic. Yes, he’s hitting effectively. But sure, he’s slugging .386. I believe Rojas goes to be a giant leaguer for a very long time, however he wasn’t a Top 100 man due to that concern a few lack of affect on the plate.
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