It seems to be prospect season again! After Baseball Prospectus released their midseason top 50 yesterday, Baseball American went ahead and dropped their Top 100 list today. Included on the list are four Rockies prospects: shortstop Brendan Rodgers at number seven, outfielder Raimel Tapia at 63, right-handed pitcher Riley Pint at 77, and infielder Ryan McMahon at 91.
The growing consensus seems to be that Brendan Rodgers (no. 1 PuRP) is a top 10 prospect in all of baseball and, given some anticipated promotions this year, could end up in the top 5 come next offseason. It’s no wonder. After hitting .400/.419/.700 in 222 plate appearances for High-A Lancaster (after missing the first month due to injury) he was promoted to Double-A Hartford. He struggled in his first two weeks before going 3-for-4 with a double and a home run on Thursday. Though it’s possible he’ll be with the big club in 2018, expect the Rockies to take their time—and hold on tightly—to the coveted shortstop.
This will likely be Raimel Tapia’s (no. 4 PuRP) last appearance on any prospect list, as he is three at bats away from exhausting his rookie eligibility. No matter: he’s hitting .315/.365/.483 in 89 at bats this season and figures to see enough playing time going forward with Ian Desmond’s injury and Carlos Gonzalez’s struggles. He did drop from 45 to 63 on Baseball America’s list, but that could very well be from a number of new draftees and younger players leap-frogging him.
Riley Pint (no. 3 PuRP) has had his share of struggles adjusting to the professional game, which is probably why BA dropped him from 42 on their previous list to 77 on this one. While it’s easy to freak out about a 7.0 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9 in Low-A, Pint is still only 19 years old and the Rockies seems to be very intent on bringing him along slowly, if his 70-75 pitch limit in his starts is any indication.
Heading into 2016, Ryan McMahon (no. 7 PuRP) had risen to Top 50 status among the major prospect outlets: he was 43 on Baseball America’s list, 48 on MLB Pipeline’s, and 36 (!) on Baseball Prospectus. A .242/.325/.399 line in Double-A led him to falling off most lists heading into 2017. But thanks to a bounce-back year in Hartford (.326/.390/.536 in 205 plate appearances), he earned a promotion to Triple-A Albuquerque (where he’s slashed .390/.419/.676 in 148 PA) and a spot back on Baseball America’s Top 100.
Once again, it is evident that the Rockies system is set up to provide them with high level talent for the next few years and that promotion of top prospects like David Dahl, Jeff Hoffman, and German Marquez are just the beginning of that pipeline.
The Atlanta Braves led the way with nine prospects on the list, with the New York Yankees close behind at eight. Yoan Moncada of the White Sox held on to the top spot.