RHP Jake Knapp A Walters State Community College transfer, Knapp started off his North Carolina career with a well-pitched game against Longwood. LSU had a successful weekend at the Karbach Round Rock Classic and remains the No. Lefthander/first baseman Jac Caglianone homered three times in Sundays winwhich he started on the moundand he now is hitting .414/.485/1.069 with six home runs and has struck out 15 batters in 11.1 innings. Alabama; 41. National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, "Collegiate Baseball Div. A very skilled hitter with a career .313/.390/.488 line in the minors, Vargas made his big league debut in 2022 and is poised to play a more prominent role for the Dodgers this season after their many free agent departures, though probably not at third base. Now its time to unveil the entire Top 100, in chart form. The Aggies, who dropped two of three at home to the Pilots, dropped a whopping 10 spots from No. Winns huge arm is icing on a cake made mostly of plus bat-to-ball skills and viable shortstop defense. We gravitate toward up-the-middle defenders littered all throughout the minor leagues, and really only tend to push corner bats onto the list when theyre close to the big leagues, or if we have an abnormal degree of confidence that they will continue to hit all the way through the minors. The latter is more important at this stage of his career. As a disclaimer, we don't know a whole lot about these teams yet, and with small sample sizes, movement based on losses isn't too drastic. He has been a hot knife slicing butter all the way through Double-A and shows little signs of stopping. In 2021, Olson spent time at both High- and Double-A, and ended the season with a combined strikeout rate of 26%, while walking 11.6%. RPI (Live) Records include games against Division I opponents only. A small school draft-and-dev success, Stone is starting to have that mid-rotation look after growing into more velocity and a great changeup. His footwork on throws to second is clunky and variable, which often impacts his throw times and accuracy, but the pure arm strength is in there. Maryland; 39. Zavala isnt as physically projectable as some other youngsters on this list, but he might have a better hit plus power profile thanks to the rotation and subsequent bat speed he generates in his athletic, lefty swing. That outcome seems in play for Merrill after his first full season in pro ball, even though a fractured wrist and strained hamstring both limited his reps and probably impacted his power output in A-ball. Tech. That said, Wood is already defying convention by looking as good as he does out there at his current size. Parada was the rare high-profile California high schooler who left the state for college, traveling all the way to Atlanta for two years at Georgia Tech. The Phillies moved McGarry to the bullpen just before he was promoted to Triple-A at the end of 2022. His wispy, 6-foot-3 frame has room for another 30 pounds at least, and with that weight and strength could come huge raw thunder. Especially in the Venezuelan Winter League, Rocchio has been struggling (and perhaps regressing) in the field. His ability to locate his arsenal showed improvement over previous seasons as well. The switch-hitting Quero demonstrated improved feel for getting his barrel on the ball from both sides of the plate, bopping 17 homers and 35 doubles. They do not store directly personal information . Now on the 40-man roster, Cartaya is poised to be a power-hitting All-Star catcher who gets eased into the big league waters in 2024 and 2025, toward the back end of Will Smiths arbitration years. Its important to acknowledge the risk of his profile at this stage, but Mayer still projects as an extra-base machine at shortstop and an impact big leaguer. Hes performed as a young-for-the-level hitter at each stop despite a raw approach at the plate and uncertainty around his defense, with his third base fit in question due to middling arm strength. The rest of the Top 25 remains the same. The SEC also occupies each of the top four spots in the rankings for the second time in a row, although the order of that top four has shuffled a bit since our 2019 update. Abel has been the best pitching prospect his age since his sophomore year of high school, and hes continued to track like an impact starter early on as a pro, reaching Double-A in 2022. He showed a tendency to expand the zone and make some sub-optimal contact as an amateur and in his 2022 pro sample, but there are times when Johnson does this and rather than frustrate scouts and analysts, he impresses them with his ability to identify and adjust to breaking balls, his barrel feel, and his hand-eye coordination. 25MiamiACC6FL3-4211413 Graceffo starts his windup with a pronounced step backward, then marches toward the plate, throwing from a high arm slot to create a downhill approach. He has no underlying swing-and-miss issues and his massive 6-foot-5 frame still has room for more strength. The Padres pitching development track record isnt great and perhaps theyre not the team best suited to coax a great breaking ball out of Lesko, but as long as his stuff is the same coming off of TJ, hes already in position to project as a 50. Combine that with your standard issue Astros breaking ball complement (a hard 90-mph cutter/slider and a slower knuckle curveball) and you very likely have an impact big league arm, if a somewhat inefficient one. Outfielder Dillon Carter went 9-for-14 with two home runs on the weekend to lead the Red Raiders. Back in Port St. Lucie to start 2022, Ramirez was red hot for the first month of the season, slashing a whopping .385/.423/.606 while cutting his strikeout rate by about 42% (from 31% to 18%), though his walk rate also dipped. M.J. Melendezs 2019 and Bo Naylors 2020 are recent examples of otherwise good-hitting catchers who had a terrible offensive season in the mid-minors followed by an immediate and significant rebound the following year. Before the 2022 draft there was again buzz that some teams were off Lee because of his medical, and also that Lee and his family preferred that he stay as close to home as possible by joining a team that trains in Arizona. Lawlar is a slick shortstop defender with big power and a somewhat shaky hit tool. 2023 Fantasy Baseball Top 100 . SP. But assuming that third base is now his likeliest position, more pressure will be put on Martes bat, and while theres good news in that regard, there also needs to be refinement if Marte is going to hit enough to play an everyday role at third base. Hes a good hitter who will stabilize an infield spot in Cincinnati for the next half decade or so. Right now, hes notching six outs every five days or so, a number the org would surely like to see increase as he ramps up his innings. RHP Janzen Keisel The BYU transfer had a loud fall for the Cowboys, leading many to believe that he will be dominant this year. Prospect status is a factor, to be sure, but this list strives to be much more than that. Subscribe to get the best baseball coverage. Hes going to be a star if he ends up with even average raw power, and even if he doesnt, were talking about a switch-hitting catcher who can make an impact on both offense and defense. Carroll has evolved in some surprising ways as a hitter. He had a breakout 2021 at Double-A, his first full season in pro ball, posting a .98 WHIP across 15 starts while working about five innings per start until August, when he blew out and needed Tommy John. The extreme shift in his strikeout and walk rates from 2021 to 2022 has as much to do with the change in Chourios style of swinging as it does the quality of opposing pitchers stuff. This was in part due to a notable adjustment to his pitch mix. Baltimore Orioles. Previous ranking: No. Hes an okay receiver and framer, catching on one knee with the bases empty, utilizing a traditional crouch with two strikes and with runners on base. His 2022 throwing was not quite as good as previous notes indicate, with lots of one-hoppers to the bag or throws sailing on him, though Naylors pop times remain close to average. Keith was on the SS/3B line as a high school defender, but his extra heft has pushed him down the defensive spectrum. He projects to third base, where the offensive bar is much higher. 23 Last Week: 3-0-1 Overall: 5-1-1, 0-0 in SEC (0-0 vs. Top 25) Weekend Record: 2-0 Results Feb. 21: vs. North Alabama (Huntsville, Ala.): W 13-1 Feb. 24-26: Southern California: W 5-3, W 12-6, T 12-12 Upcoming March 1: Florida A&M March 3-5: Lipscomb Bad weather in Los Angeles forced Auburns series against USC to be relocated to The Plains and the Tigers picked up a solid series win. Its a mid-rotation starters stuff, and healthy Williams should produce as such at the big league level, though the pitchers who tend to get hurt are the ones who have been hurt in the past, and theres enough of a track record here to alter how Williams lines up with similarly talented peers. Our hope is that the distribution graphs reflect these kinds of differences. Like Harper, Collier got his GED a year before he was originally set to graduate, went to a prominent junior college to play against older guys during his draft spring, and then (going beyond Harper) used the later timing of the draft to also play on Cape Cod against an even better collection of talent between the end of the JUCO season and the draft. He took a throw to the face during extended spring training, but was back for the start of the Complex League season and was one of that leagues most dominant hitters, slashing .326/.403/.492 with a 13% K% and 10% BB%, and earning a promotion to full-season ball, which also went swimmingly (.299/.359/.505). Southern Miss; 32. It has been his best in-zone bat misser thanks largely to the breadth of his arsenal. Catcher Calvin Harris went 4-for-5 with two home runs and drove in eight runs in the series finale. And lvarez wants to show you his power. He is similar to Henry Davis and Kyle Schwarber, in that he may have to move out from behind the plate due to poor receiving, ball-blocking, and his raw arm strength, though he is pretty accurate. Teams 91-100, Enter your information to receive emails about offers, promotions from NCAA.com and our partners. Rafaela had a breakout 2022 season, hitting .299/.342/.539 mostly at Double-A Portland. His mid-90s fastball missed bats up in the zone and above it, and he commanded all three secondaries, with above-average spin across the board. All of the prospects below also appear on The Board, a resource the site offers featuring sortable scouting information for every organization. Thats a decrease of four teams for California since 2019, and an increase of one team for Texas. Jameson is also a extremely competitive and has the makeup for a late-inning role should he eventually have to make way for some of Arizonas other good young starters. Late in 2022, the Cardinals started giving Walker reps in the outfield, mostly in right, and he looked fine out there. He also dealt with an eye condition that would later require surgery to strengthen the collagen fibers within his cornea, surgery he had in 2020 while he also reworked his mechanics. Even when he has to shorten up to protect, the strength in his hands enables him to do extra-base damage. The Razorbacks this weekend welcome Wright State, the Horizon League favorite, to Baum-Walker Stadium. 37MarylandBig Ten2MD133703439 The junior backstop started all four games, slashing .526/.571/1.000 with a pair of homers and three doubles. Hes set up to throw about 135 innings in 2023 (assuming a typical 20-inning increase) and, if his annual pattern of promotion is any indication, hell be given his first big league opportunity late this year (and push for a playoff roster spot), then compete for an Opening Day rotation job in 2024. When an opposing pitcher releases the ball, the scoop in Johnsons bat head is pointing at the mound with his back elbow hiked way up above his shoulder in a position that seems to defy the rules of normal human physiology. A patient, discerning hitter, Carters breaking ball recognition and feel for the strike zone is excellent. 23OklahomaBig 125OK217403527 Though his lower half looks a little stiff and he plays defense with a high center of gravity, hes capable of acrobatic defensive plays and at least has a shot to stay at shortstop long-term. His ceiling is as lofty as he is. 4 starter fairly soon even if the arrow is currently pointing down. Teams not listed above are: 31. Speaking of the Seminoles, the Link Jarrett effect is already real in Tallahassee, as the Seminoles vaulted from unranked last week to No. 8 TCU. Jobe was the consensus top high school arm in the 2021 draft and earned a bonus of nearly $7 million as the third overall pick. Tennessee; 35. He was on pace to start 2023 at Double-A and be in the mix for a big league roster spot at some point in 2024 if he kept hitting. 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