MLB Pipeline Top 100 Prospects

How often have any of us in the last 20 years been jealous of the Orioles?

The Top 10
1. Gunnar Henderson, 3B/SS, Orioles
2. Corbin Carroll, OF, D-backs
3. Francisco Álvarez, C, Mets
4. Jordan Walker, OF, Cardinals
5. Anthony Volpe, SS, Yankees
6. Andrew Painter, RHP, Phillies
7. Grayson Rodriguez, RHP, Orioles
8. Jackson Chourio, OF, Brewers
9. Marcelo Mayer, SS, Red Sox
10. Elly De La Cruz, SS/3B, Reds

The Baseball America Prospects Holiday Quiz

At Baseball America we love to as best we can attempt to tell the future. Since 1981, we’ve been ranking and writing up reports on prospects. As we send our latest Prospect Handbook to the printer, the 23rd edition of the book, I’ve spent some time going back through older editions.

That got me thinking that Baseball America readers may enjoy a quiz as you relax and hopefully are enjoying the holidays.

The following are all reports pulled from Prospect Handbooks, as well as a few from our magazine’s Top 10 Prospect rankings from years before the Prospect Handbook began in 2021. We’ll start with some easy ones, and then work our way up to more difficult ones. At the bottom of the story, we’ll link to the answer key, but no peeking until you’ve settled on your answers.

Early 2022-23 winter league prospect roundup

Ronny Mauricio, SS, Tigres Del Licey (D.R.)
NYM No. 6

The star of the winter league campaign thus far—at least from a prospect standpoint—has far and away been Mauricio, the switch-hitting Mets shortstop. After a fast start for Licey last winter that quickly dissipated, Mauricio has kept up the consistency this year with a .317/.356/.492 line in 30 games. That slugging percentage, as well as his .848 OPS and 25 RBIs, leads the LIDOM. Mauricio’s electrifying style of play has also helped the Tigres to a league-best 21-9 record.

2022 All-Arizona Fall League Team

A few players who weren’t on Top 30 lists made the team. Are they players who have taken a real step or are they just guys who got hot at the right time?

C: Stephen Scott, Scottsdale (unranked among BOS Top 30)
The 2019 10th-rounder out of Vanderbilt made the full-time move back to catcher this season, so you might have expected there to be a heavier emphasis on his defense with the Scorpions. Instead, he showed he can swing it a bit too with a .298/.394/.614 line over 15 games. Five of his seven extra-base hits left the yard, putting him in a five-way tie for third on the AFL HR leaderboard. That’s a solid showing for a player who went deep 10 times in 96 games at High-A and Double-A during the regular season.
Honorable mention: Henry Davis (PIT), Jeferson Quero (MIL)

Complex League All-Stars MVP Pitcher of Year 2022 | MiLB.com

Some potential deep-dive keepers.

Dominican Summer League

Most Valuable Player: Jose Rodriguez, Twins (MIN)
Rodriguez showcased tremendous power in his first taste of pro ball, leading the DSL with 13 homers and 49 RBIs in 55 games. The 17-year-old was no slouch in other offensive facets, batting .289/.361/.605 with 31 extra-base hits across 190 at-bats. Rodriguez took off in July, leaving the yard seven times and plating 23 runs while hitting .325 with a 1.105 OPS in 22 games.

Pitcher of the Year: Wandy Abreu, Red Sox Blue (BOS)
Debuts don’t come much better than the one Abreu put together as a 20-year-old after signing with Boston last November. Abreu made 18 appearances, won eight games—all in relief—and posted a miniscule 1.22 ERA to go along with an 0.97 WHIP. The 6-foot-4, 238-pound right-hander held opposing batters to a .191 average and ran a sparkling 45-to-11 K/BB ratio in 37 frames. Abreu ended the season by surrendering two earned runs over his final 13 appearances spanning 25 2/3 innings.

Arizona Fall League 40-man roster Rule 5 Draft 2022

Does he hit with enough power and can he find a defensive home?

Edouard Julien, 2B, Twins (No. 14): The 2019 18th-rounder out of Auburn has won not one, but two Player of the Week honors already and is certainly in contention for AFL MVP—an award won by fellow Twin Royce Lewis in 2019. Entering this week, Julien leads the Fall League in OBP (.535), slugging (.683), OPS (1.218), walks (20) and runs scored (21) through 19 games with Glendale. His .365 average, five homers and 10 extra-base hits also ranked among the top five in the loop.

Julien already showed a strong approach that led to a .300/.441/.490 line and 19.3 percent walk rate over 508 plate appearances at Double-A Wichita during the regular season, making him a likely add for Minnesota anyway. These past five weeks have moved that modifier from “likely” to “certain.”

A little further down the pipeline, these are 8 Cardinals prospects to keep tabs on

I love this type of deep dive on lower level prospects in a system. It’s helped me find hidden gems with late draft picks.

Law’s scouting notes: Latest on Blue Jays’ Ricky Tiedemann ... - The Athletic

Keith does a phenomenal job covering the minors. The depth and breadth of his work are fantastic. 

BA and MLB Pipeline do tremendous work. They provide awesome content. Fortunately for them, they are parts of teams of writers. Law, Kiley McDaniel and Eric Cross amaze me by producing exceptional prospect info by pretty much by themselves. They must have tremendous organizational skills. I also check out the work of other sites and groups but these are the prospect mavens that I always use to generate my own prospect lists.

I have a few others bookmarked. What others do people recommend? (I know about Fangraphs as well. Unfortunately, the lack of timeliness makes their current prospect work unusable.)

Mets top prospect Francisco Alvarez ankle injury 

On a prospect podcast (sorry, either Keith Law or MLB Pipeline) someone said that Alvarez’s defense was simply not ready for the majors BUT his bat was ready. This is despite his numbers in AAA. 

I guess we’ll have to wait until next year to see him on the Mets.

Francisco Álvarez, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the top prospect in baseball, is in jeopardy of missing significant time due to a right ankle injury, according to a source briefed on the situation. A second source acknowledged the injury but called the idea of Álvarez missing the rest of the season “premature.” He will undergo testing in New York in the coming days to determine next steps.

Top 100 prospects updated 2022 midseason rankings

Top 100 and all team Top 30s were updated.

Amid the madness, let’s check in on that latter group with an updated version of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list.

Mets catcher Francisco Álvarez—a 20-year-old with plus-plus power who has already reached Triple-A—sits atop our ranking as the top prospect in the game. He’s just the third catcher to hold the crown as baseball’s No. 1 overall prospect, joining Joe Mauer (preseason 2004) and Adley Rutschman (midseason 2021).

Tucking in behind Álvarez at No. 2 is Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson. D-backs outfielder Corbin Carroll rounds out the top three.

Jasson Domínguez updates

Aug. 13: Swipes two bases, drives in run
While he went hitless for High-A Hudson Valley, Jasson Domínguez still made a big impact in the Renegades’ win over Aberdeen. Domínguez swiped two bases, bringing him to 29 on the year, and drove in a run on a sac fly. His bid for three steals went awry, though, as he was thrown out trying to take third in the sixth inning. Gameday »

Aug. 12: Reaches three times
Jasson Domínguez was the lone bright spot for High-A Hudson Valley on Friday, which lost 10-0 to Aberdeen. Domínguez went 1-for-2 with a single and two walks. Domínguez is now hitting .279/.410/.441 for Hudson Valley. Gameday »

Aug. 11: Swipes two bags in loss
Jasson Domínguez continued his hot play on Thursday, swiping two bases for High-A Hudson Valley. The two steals bring him to 27 on the season, with eight of those coming with the Renegades. He went 1-for-

Chandler Redmond makes history with home run cycle for Springfield | MiLB.com

Solo HR ✔️
2-run HR ✔️
3-run HR ✔️
Grand slam ✔️@Cardinals prospect Chandler Redmond hit for the "home run cycle" with the @Sgf_Cardinals in a historic performance: https://t.co/Aj0oyX4iMF pic.twitter.com/UP993ggWIq

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 11, 2022