Top 50 Update No. 4
And we’re back with another update with our Top 50 prospects. There are some changes in store, so stay tuned to MLB.com tomorrow for an exciting new way to look/view/peruse our top prospects lists. I think you’ll find it pretty cool to take a look at. In that, there will be some changes to the initial Top 50 which I’ve been updating, thanks to players on the list surpassing the at-bats or service time levels to maintain rookie status, the benchmark I use when compiling the list.
Let’s start with the hitters, shall we?
Hitter of the Week: Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
Remember when he was “strugggling?” That lasted a long while. Last week, April 25-May 1, Harper went 9-for-24 (.375) with four doubles, three homers and 6 RBIs. That allowed him to raise his triple-slash line from .306/.414/.551 to .329/.424/.671. And he’s not done. He went 3-for-3 today (Tuesday) with another double. He’s now got a seven-game hitting streak going. Over his last 10 games, last year’s No. 1 pick is hitting .500/.600/1.156 over 32 at-bats. Of his 16 hits, 11 have been for extra-bases. He’s now hitting .355/.456/.697 for the year.
| RANK | PLAYER | TEAM | LEVEL | AVG | SLG | OBP | OPS | AB | HR | RBI | SB |
| 1 | Trout, Mike | LAA | AA | 0.268 | 0.535 | 0.342 | 0.877 | 71 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
| 3 | Harper, Bryce | WAS | A | 0.329 | 0.671 | 0.424 | 1.095 | 73 | 6 | 20 | 4 |
| 4 | Brown, Domonic | PHI | A+ | 0.368 | 0.737 | 0.429 | 1.165 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | Ackley, Dustin | SEA | AAA | 0.212 | 0.303 | 0.345 | 0.648 | 99 | 2 | 7 | 4 |
| 7 | Moustakas, Mike | KC | AAA | 0.227 | 0.398 | 0.299 | 0.697 | 88 | 4 | 20 | 0 |
| 8 | Hosmer, Eric | KC | AAA | 0.407 | 0.535 | 0.490 | 1.025 | 86 | 2 | 12 | 3 |
| 9 | Montero, Jesus | NYY | AAA | 0.359 | 0.462 | 0.370 | 0.832 | 78 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 11 | Jennings, Desmond | TB | AAA | 0.269 | 0.419 | 0.395 | 0.814 | 93 | 2 | 9 | 7 |
| 16 | Myers, Wil | KC | AA | 0.261 | 0.435 | 0.300 | 0.735 | 46 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| 17 | Freeman, Freddie | ATL | MLB | 0.217 | 0.38 | 0.314 | 0.695 | 92 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| 24 | Machado, Manuel | BAL | A | 0.337 | 0.639 | 0.451 | 1.09 | 83 | 5 | 20 | 3 |
| 26 | Belt, Brandon | SF | MLB | 0.192 | 0.269 | 0.300 | 0.569 | 52 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| 26 | Belt, Brandon | AAA | 0.458 | 0.833 | 0.594 | 1.427 | 24 | 2 | 8 | 2 | |
| 28 | Lawrie, Brett | TOR | AAA | 0.373 | 0.618 | 0.413 | 1.03 | 102 | 4 | 15 | 5 |
| 30 | Singleton, Jonathan | PHI | A+ | 0.306 | 0.408 | 0.424 | 0.832 | 49 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 32 | Sanchez, Gary | NYY | A | 0.211 | 0.31 | 0.250 | 0.56 | 71 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 36 | Chisenhall, Lonnie | CLE | AAA | 0.256 | 0.395 | 0.350 | 0.745 | 86 | 2 | 13 | 0 |
| 38 | Franklin, Nick | SEA | A+ | 0.241 | 0.405 | 0.388 | 0.793 | 79 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| 39 | Hicks, Aaron | MIN | A+ | 0.205 | 0.282 | 0.309 | 0.591 | 78 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 41 | Rosario, Wilin | COL | AA | 0.263 | 0.561 | 0.311 | 0.873 | 57 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| 42 | Iglesias, Jose | BOS | AAA | 0.232 | 0.232 | 0.264 | 0.496 | 69 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 44 | Gordon, Dee | LAD | AAA | 0.302 | 0.36 | 0.354 | 0.715 | 86 | 0 | 8 | 9 |
| 45 | Mesoraco, Devin | CIN | AAA | 0.314 | 0.543 | 0.410 | 0.952 | 70 | 3 | 12 | 0 |
| 46 | Jackson, Brett | CHI | AA | 0.302 | 0.512 | 0.408 | 0.919 | 86 | 3 | 12 | 8 |
| 48 | Arencibia, J.P. | TOR | MLB | 0.261 | 0.536 | 0.320 | 0.856 | 69 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| 49 | Alonso, Yonder | CIN | AAA | 0.295 | 0.474 | 0.341 | 0.815 | 78 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
Pitcher of the Week: Jake Odorizzi, KC
There were a few candidates for weekly honors with several pitchers pitching well (and kudos to Jameson Taillon for getting his pro career officially started, albeit in a rain-shortened/suspended, two-inning stint). But Odorizzi, who is a step or two behind most of the Royals’ pitching prospects — perhaps in level only — deserves the shout out. On April 29, the right-hander tossed seven shutout innings for Wilmington in the Carolina League, allowing just three hits, walking none and striking out 10. It was the second straight 10-K performance for the young pitcher the Royals got from the Brewers in the Zack Greinke deal. For the year, Odorizzi’s got 30 K’s in 20 IP, while walking just four. I’m no stats genius, but I think a K/BB ratio of over 7/1 is good, right?
| Rank | PLAYER | TEAM | LEVEL | W | L | ERA | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| 2 | Hellickson, Jeremy | TB | MLB | 2 | 2 | 4.31 | 0 | 31.1 | 30 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 23 |
| 6 | Chapman, Aroldis | CIN | MLB | 2 | 0 | 1.42 | 0 | 12.2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 15 |
| 10 | Teheran, Julio | ATL | AAA | 3 | 0 | 1.8 | 0 | 30 | 25 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 25 |
| 12 | Drabek, Kyle | TOR | MLB | 2 | 1 | 4.45 | 0 | 32.1 | 31 | 17 | 16 | 21 | 25 |
| 13 | Pineda, Michael | SEA | MLB | 4 | 1 | 2.01 | 0 | 31.1 | 22 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 30 |
| 14 | Montgomery, Mike | KC | AAA | 1 | 1 | 2.67 | 0 | 27 | 20 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 23 |
| 15 | Turner, Jacob | DET | AA | 0 | 1 | 2.7 | 0 | 26.2 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 24 |
| 18 | Taillon, Jameson | PIT | A | 0 | 0 | 4.5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | Britton, Zach | BAL | MLB | 5 | 1 | 2.63 | 0 | 37.2 | 30 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 20 |
| 20 | Miller, Shelby | STL | A+ | 0 | 2 | 3.68 | 0 | 22 | 18 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 32 |
| 21 | Minor, Mike | ATL | MLB | 0 | 1 | 10.38 | 0 | 4.1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| 21 | Minor, Mike | AAA | 1 | 1 | 1.75 | 0 | 25.2 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 29 | |
| 22 | Kelly, Casey | SD | AA | 2 | 0 | 4.1 | 0 | 26.1 | 30 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 19 |
| 23 | Perez, Martin | TEX | AA | 1 | 0 | 2.74 | 0 | 23 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
| 25 | Sale, Chris | CWS | MLB | 2 | 0 | 5.91 | 1 | 10.2 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 12 |
| 27 | Moore, Matthew | TB | AA | 1 | 2 | 5.18 | 0 | 24.1 | 24 | 14 | 14 | 4 | 32 |
| 29 | Parker, Jarrod | ARI | AA | 2 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 12 | 16 |
| 31 | Lyles, Jordan | HOU | AAA | 1 | 2 | 3.67 | 0 | 27 | 29 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 19 |
| 33 | Matzek, Tyler | COL | A+ | 0 | 2 | 8.31 | 0 | 17.1 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 19 |
| 34 | Lamb, John | KC | AA | 0 | 1 | 3.86 | 0 | 16.1 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 12 |
| 35 | Banuelos, Manny | NYY | AA | 0 | 0 | 1.56 | 0 | 17.1 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| 37 | Odorizzi, Jake | KC | A+ | 1 | 0 | 2.25 | 0 | 20 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 30 |
| 40 | Gibson, Kyle | MIN | AAA | 1 | 1 | 3.46 | 0 | 26 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 27 |
| 43 | Scheppers, Tanner | TEX | AAA | 0 | 0 | 13.5 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 47 | Archer, Christopher | TB | AA | 0 | 1 | 5.96 | 0 | 22.2 | 31 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 23 |
| 50 | Friedrich, Christian | COL | AA | 1 | 2 | 7.65 | 0 | 20 | 26 | 18 | 17 | 8 | 16 |
Don’t forget … keep an eye out for exciting new prospect coverage on MLB.com in the very near future.
Jonathan Mayo
OK , I just don’t get it . How can a player who’s leading his league and at one point all of the minors in strikeouts not make your list and a player who has more walks than strikeouts and a higher ERA make your list ? I have to wonder what’s wrong with this picture.. It sounds personal to me. I’m 63 and played , coached and umpired many a game. I travel alot and i have seen many Minor league games all over California and the Mid-West. I feel I’m a good judge of talent. So convince me why Skaggs was left off your list. As a Visalia season ticket holder I have to fight for my team. So put up yer dukes and lets battle this out. My son’s think I’m nut’s but I really think this kid ( Skaggs ) is going to be special. I have yet to see anyone hit his curve. His change up had hitters jumping at the ball. His last outting = 11 Ks , 2 BB in 5 2/3 inn. Love the game and the people like you who also love the game. Thank you, Bill
Bill –
Might I suggest a switch to decaf? I think I explained in detail how the list was derived initially last time. And it was completed back in January. These blog posts aren’t updates on the actual rankings, rather just a status update on how those on that initial Top 50 are doing.
That being said, if you check out the new Prospect Watch section: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2011/. There have been some updates to the list made. When a player gets past rookie status, we take him out. As a result, your favorite lefty is now in the Top 50.
As for a full re-ranking, I don’t do that typically during the season, and certainly not after one month of the season. There have been plenty of players who’ve had one great (or one awful) month and to judge them based solely on that would be wrong. I’m sure if Skaggs continues to pitch well, he will move up as he is well-thought of in the scouting industry.