I’m rearranging the rankings this week, so I figured I’d highlight the players that are rising so fast it’s hard to place them.
10. Padres SS Leo De Vries
11. Brewers SS Jesus Made
12. Giants 1B Bryce Eldridge
It’s more than just attrition: these guys have locked in their place among the top ten prospects in baseball until proven otherwise.
De Vries has a 132 wRC as an 18-year-old in High-A, which puts him on track to join the Double-A club this summer before he turns 19 in October? Sorry, that’s not a question. I just . . . it’s hard to put a period there. That means he’s 19 in Triple-A to open 2025 if everything just stays peachy keen? Short list. Wouldn’t find many failures on that one, I’d guess.
Made had every good metric in his favor coming out of the Dominican Summer League, but you never know how that will translate stateside, especially when a club invites a player to skip the complex league. He’s got a 142 wRC+ through 31 games, which is a much better start than De Vries had following the same path. Made turned 18 on May 8th. The age-to-level math can get out of hand in a hurry here, too, but both of these organizations push that envelope as far is it’ll go, which is much, much better than the alternative in my opinion.
Eldridge played just nine games at Double-A last year but had no trouble dropping back into a season already underway and posting a 161 wRC+ in 22 games. He’ll probably make the next stash list as a corner-only 20-year-old who can’t order a drink until October 20th. Just brain-breaking, Cthulhu-calling stuff.
31. Cardinals SS JJ Wetherholt
33. Red Sox SS Marcelo Mayer
34. Reds RHP Chase Burns
37. Dodgers OF Zyhir Hope
46. Dodgers OF Josue De Paula
50. Red Sox SS Franklin Arias (19, A+)
Every one of these guys went from someone you could probably acquire in most leagues via draft or trade to someone you cannot acquire without “a significant overpay,” as the cool kids say these days if they don’t want to engage in trying to price a player on the rise. Chase Burns is my favorite target among the group. If you’re going to overpay for a prospect, you could do a lot worse than Mr. Burns, which is also something you might hear Smithers whispering into his pillow at night.
55. Pirates SS Konnor Griffin
57. Athletics SS Jacob Wilson
58. Braves C Drake Baldwin
59. Cubs RHP Cade Horton
60. Rays OF Chandler Simpson
61. Blue Jays SS Arjun Nimmala
Holy cow I was cooking in this section, although, paradoxically, perhaps I missed an ingredient or two up until this point. Also, I traded Baldwin away everywhere I had him, and to that I say: Ouch. He’s slashing .357/.400/.583 with five home runs in 29 games. I wasn’t even low on him or whatever. He was just the piece people wanted to push a deal over the line. So it goes.
I felt like I was really high on Jacob Wilson coming into the year, but I still don’t have him in any leagues. Mostly because I only play a couple redrafts a year.
Konnor Griffin could’ve gone in the group above. He’s pushing toward five. Feels like a matter of time more than it does some distant hope. Could probably say something similar about Nimmala.
66. Athletics RHP Luis Morales
69. Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski
74. Marlins C Agustin Ramirez
77. Royals 1B Jac Caglianone
Gross. I was way too low on Caglianone. I mean, you could say the same for these other guys, but it’s less egregious. Woof, let’s move along to some guys who didn’t make the hundred but have a helluva case this time around.
Brewers SS Luis Pena (18, A)
Reds RHP Luis Mey (23, MLB)
Marlins C Joe Mack (22, AAA)
Phillies RHP Mick Abel (23, MLB)
Mets RHP Jonah Tong (21, AA)
Mets OF AJ Ewing (20, A+)
Nationals OF Daylen Lile (22, AAA)
Dodgers OF Mike Sirota (21, A+)
Diamondbacks OF Kristian Robinson
Dodgers RHP Sean Linan (20, AAA)
Royals OF Asbel Gonzalez (19, A)
Cardinals C Rainiel Rodriguez (18, CPX)
Athletics LHP Gage Jump (22, AA)
Had to stop somewhere to resist just listing names forever. The number of guys rewriting their scouting report can be a little overwhelming this time of year. This is by no means an exhaustive sample.
Luis Pena feels like the highest jumper to me. Will be tough to keep him out of the top 25.
Luis Mey has made the late-inning-arm jump from dynasty free agent to borderline untouchable in trade.
Sean Linan made his last start on May 17 in Triple-A, skipping the Double-A level entirely after starting just one game in High-A. I wouldn’t say it means a whole lot. Chances are it’s an issue created by them toggling the big league pitching staff as much as they have.
Gage Jump is living up the name. Hard to measure how much he’s moved in the echo chamber because pitchers with stats are a dime a dozen this time of year, but Jump looks like a freight train coming for that rotation.
Let me know in the comments who you think should be under the microscope as I reshuffle the rankings.
Thanks for reading!
